Events

Pre-1600

  • 753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional date).
  • 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.
  • 900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations.
  • 1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II.
  • 1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.
  • 1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
  • 1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi, is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.

1601–1900

  • 1615 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.
  • 1782 – The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
  • 1789 – John Adams sworn in as first US Vice President (nine days before George Washington).
  • 1789 – George Washington's reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his first inauguration.
  • 1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.
  • 1796 – War of the First Coalition: In the climax of the Montenotte Campaign, Napoleon Bonaparte decisively defeats the army of Piedmont at the Battle of Mondovi, leading to Piedmont's surrender a week later and decisively turning the Italian campaign in France's favor.
  • 1802 – Twelve thousand Wahhabis sack Karbala, killing over three thousand inhabitants.
  • 1806 – Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.
  • 1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.
  • 1821 – Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.
  • 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
  • 1856 – Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.
  • 1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
  • 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.

1901–present

  • 1914 – Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.
  • 1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
  • 1926 – Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi'a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.
  • 1934 – The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1994, it is revealed to be a hoax).
  • 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
  • 1946 – The U.S. Weather Bureau records that a tornado which struck Timber Lake, South Dakota was , among the widest tornadoes on record.
  • 1948 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.
  • 1950 – The Nainital wedding massacre occurs, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.22 guests slain, The Bend Bulletin (21 April 1950)22 guests slain as wedding held, The Ogden Standard-Examiner (21 April 1950)Drunk Gurkha Kills 22, Los Angeles Times (22 April 1950)Murders 22 at wedding, The Huntingdon Daily News (22 April 1950)
  • 1952 – Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.
  • 1958 – United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.
  • 1960 – Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
  • 1962 – The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.
  • 1963 – The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith.
  • 1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.
  • 1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.
  • 1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
  • 1967 – A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
  • 1967 – A tornado outbreak in Illinois, United States, kills over 50 and injures over 1,000. Belvidere sustains over 500 casualties as a violent tornado strikes the high school. Another tornado near Chicago causes another 500 casualties, devastating Oak Lawn.
  • 1972 – Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke fly Apollo 16's Apollo Lunar Module to the Moon's surface, the fifth NASA Apollo Program crewed lunar landing.Landing site/. Retrieved 25 March 2019
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
  • 1977 – Annie opens on Broadway.
  • 1982 – Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
  • 1985 – The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.
  • 1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
  • 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
  • 1993 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.
  • 1996 – Four people are killed and 75 are injured in a train accident in Jokela, Finland.
  • 2004 – Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.
  • 2010 – The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.
  • 2012 – Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, killing one person and injuring 116 others.
  • 2019 – Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 269.
  • 2021 – Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala (402) sinks in the Bali Sea during a military drill, killing all 53 on board.

Births

Pre-1600

  • 1132 – Sancho VI, king of Navarre (died 1194)
  • 1488 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (died 1523)
  • 1523 – Marco Antonio Bragadin, Venetian lawyer and military officer (died 1571)
  • 1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (died 1619)

1601–1900

  • 1619 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch founder of Cape Town (died 1677)
  • 1630 – Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, Dutch-English painter (died 1700)
  • 1631 – Francesco Maidalchini, Catholic cardinal (died 1700)
  • 1642 – Simon de la Loubère, French mathematician, poet, and diplomat (died 1729)
  • 1651 – Joseph Vaz, Sri Lankan priest, missionary, and saint (died 1711)
  • 1652 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician and academic (died 1719)
  • 1671 – John Law, Scottish economist (died 1729)
  • 1673 – Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1742)
  • 1713 – Louis de Noailles, French general (died 1793)
  • 1730 – Antonín Kammel, Czech violinist and composer (died 1788)
  • 1752 – Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, French engineer, hydrographer, and politician, French Minister of Marine and the Colonies (died 1807)
  • 1752 – Humphry Repton, English gardener and author (died 1818)
  • 1774 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (died 1862)
  • 1775 – Alexander Anderson, Scottish-American illustrator and engraver (died 1870)
  • 1783 – Reginald Heber, English priest (died 1821); re-printed 2015 by Facsimile Publisher and distributed by Gyan Books, New Delhi.
  • 1790 – Manuel Blanco Encalada, Spanish-Chilean admiral and politician, 1st President of Chile (died 1876)
  • 1810 – John Putnam Chapin, American politician, 10th Mayor of Chicago (died 1864)
  • 1811 – Alson Sherman, American merchant and politician, 8th Mayor of Chicago (died 1903)
  • 1814 – Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, English art collector and philanthropist (died 1906)
  • 1816 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (died 1855)
  • 1837 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish lieutenant and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1922)
  • 1838 – John Muir, Scottish-American environmentalist and author (died 1914)
  • 1854 – William Stang, German-American bishop (died 1907)
  • 1864 – Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (died 1920)
  • 1868 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (died 1932)
  • 1868 – Mary Rogers Miller, American author and educator (died 1971)
  • 1870 – Edwin Stanton Porter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1941)
  • 1874 – Vincent Scotto, French composer and actor (died 1952)
  • 1882 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961)
  • 1885 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (died 1967)
  • 1887 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (died 1978)
  • 1889 – Marcel Boussac, French businessman (died 1980)
  • 1889 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971)
  • 1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., Russian-American violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1985)
  • 1892 – Freddie Dixon, English motorcycle racer and racing driver (died 1956)
  • 1893 – Romeo Bertini, Italian runner (died 1973)
  • 1897 – Odd Lindbäck-Larsen, Norwegian Army general and war historian (died 1975)
  • 1898 – Maurice Wilson, English soldier, pilot, and mountaineer (died 1934)
  • 1899 – Randall Thompson, American composer and academic (died 1984)

1901–present

  • 1903 – Luis Saslavsky, Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1995)
  • 1904 – Jean Hélion, French painter (died 1987)
  • 1904 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer and Holocaust perpetrator (died 1945)
  • 1905 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (died 1996)
  • 1911 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, developed Clearasil (died 2000)
  • 1911 – Kemal Satır, Turkish physician and politician (died 1991)
  • 1912 – Eve Arnold, Russian-American photojournalist (died 2012)
  • 1912 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (died 1982)
  • 1913 – Norman Parkinson, English photographer (died 1990)
  • 1914 – Angelo Savoldi, Italian-American wrestler and promoter, co-founded International World Class Championship Wrestling (died 2013)
  • 1915 – Garrett Hardin, American ecologist, author, and academic (died 2003)
  • 1915 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor (died 2001)
  • 1916 – Estella B. Diggs, American businesswoman and politician (died 2013)
  • 1918 – Eddy Christiani, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)
  • 1919 – Don Cornell, American singer (died 2004)
  • 1919 – Roger Doucet, Canadian tenor (died 1981)
  • 1919 – Licio Gelli, Italian financer (died 2015)
  • 1922 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (died 1987)
  • 1922 – Allan Watkins, Welsh-English cricketer (died 2011)
  • 1923 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (died 2009)
  • 1924 – Ira Louvin, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player (died 1965)
  • 1925 – Anthony Mason, Australian soldier and judge, 9th Chief Justice of Australia (died 2026)
  • 1925 – John Swinton of Kimmerghame, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire (died 2018)
  • 1926 – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms (died 2022)
  • 1926 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer, manager, and cricketer (died 2002)
  • 1927 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (died 1991)
  • 1928 – Jack Evans, Welsh-Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 1996)
  • 1930 – Hilda Hilst, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (died 2004)
  • 1930 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (died 1989)
  • 1930 – Dieter Roth, German-Swiss illustrator and sculptor (died 1998)
  • 1930 – Jack Taylor, English footballer and referee (died 2012)
  • 1931 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (died 2020)
  • 1932 – Slide Hampton, African-American trombonist and composer (died 2021)
  • 1932 – Elaine May, American actress, comedian, director, and screenwriter
  • 1932 – Angela Mortimer, English tennis player (died 2025)
  • 1933 – Edelmiro Amante, Filipino lawyer and politician (died 2013)
  • 1933 – Easley Blackwood, Jr., American pianist, composer, and educator (died 2023)
  • 1933 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (died 2014)
  • 1935 – Charles Grodin, American actor and talk show host (died 2021)
  • 1935 – Thomas Kean, American academic and politician, 48th Governor of New Jersey
  • 1936 – James Dobson, American evangelist, psychologist, and author, founded Focus on the Family (died 2025)
  • 1936 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (died 2009)
  • 1937 – Gary Peters, American baseball player (died 2023)
  • 1937 – Ben Zinn, Israeli-born American academic and former international soccer player
  • 1939 – John McCabe, English pianist and composer (died 2015)
  • 1939 – Sister Helen Prejean, American nun, activist, and author
  • 1939 – Reni Santoni, American actor (died 2020)
  • 1940 – Jacques Caron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1940 – Souleymane Cissé, Malian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2025)
  • 1941 – David Boren, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Oklahoma (died 2025)
  • 1942 – Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand politician, 33rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
  • 1945 – Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Indian cricketer and umpire
  • 1945 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (died 2017)
  • 1945 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (died 2000)
  • 1947 – Al Bumbry, American baseball player
  • 1947 – Iggy Pop, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1947 – John Weider, English bass player
  • 1948 – Gary Condit, American businessman and politician
  • 1948 – Paul Davis, American singer-songwriter and musician (died 2008)
  • 1948 – Josef Flammer, Swiss ophthalmologist
  • 1948 – Dieter Fromm, German runner
  • 1949 – Patti LuPone, American actress and singer
  • 1950 – Shivaji Satam, Indian actor
  • 1951 – Tony Danza, American actor and producer
  • 1951 – Michael Freedman, American mathematician and academic
  • 1951 – Bob Varsha, American sportscaster
  • 1951 – Steve Vickers, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1951 – Soledad Gallego-Díaz, Spanish journalist (died 2026)
  • 1952 – Gerald Early, American author and academic
  • 1952 – Cheryl Gillan, British businesswoman and politician, Secretary of State for Wales (died 2021)
  • 1953 – John Brumby, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Victoria
  • 1954 – Ebiet G. Ade, Indonesian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – James Morrison, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Mike Wingfield, South African academic and scientist
  • 1955 – Murathan Mungan, Turkish author, poet, and playwright
  • 1956 – Peter Kosminsky, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Phillip Longman, German-American demographer and journalist
  • 1957 – Hervé Le Tellier, French linguist and author
  • 1957 – Herbert Wetterauer, German painter, sculptor, and author
  • 1958 – Andie MacDowell, American model, actress, and producer
  • 1958 – Yoshito Usui, Japanese illustrator (died 2009)
  • 1958 – Michael Zarnock, American author
  • 1959 – Tim Jacobus, American illustrator and painter
  • 1959 – Robert Smith, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1961 – David Servan-Schreiber, French physician, neuroscientist, and author (died 2011)
  • 1963 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (died 2004)
  • 1965 – Fiona Kelleghan, American academic, critic and librarian
  • 1969 – Toby Stephens, English actor
  • 1970 – Rob Riggle, American actor and comedian
  • 1971 – Michael Turner, American author and illustrator (died 2008)
  • 1973 – Steve Backshall, English naturalist, writer, and television presenter
  • 1974 – David Peachey, Australian rugby league playerRugby League Project
  • 1976 – Petero Civoniceva, Fijian-Australian rugby league playerRugby League Project
  • 1977 – Gyula Koi, Hungarian scholar and educator
  • 1977 – Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
  • 1979 – Virginie Basselot, French chef
  • 1979 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
  • 1980 – Tony Romo, American football player and announcer
  • 1983 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (died 2020)
  • 1983 – Kim Wall, British sprinter
  • 1988 – Ricky Berens, American swimmer
  • 1988 – Jencarlos Canela, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1989 – Nikki Cross, Scottish wrestler
  • 1992 – Isco, Spanish footballer
  • 1992 – Joc Pederson, American baseball player
  • 1994 – Ludwig Augustinsson, Swedish footballer
  • 1996 – Arianne Hartono, Dutch tennis player
  • 1997 – Mikel Oyarzabal, Spanish footballer
  • 1998 – Jarrett Allen, American basketball player
  • 1999 – Choi Hyun-suk, South Korean rapper
  • 2003 – Xavi Simons, Dutch footballer
  • 2007 – Princess Isabella of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik X and Queen Mary of DenmarkKongehuset – Aktuelt – Den Kongelige Families Kongehuset.dk (21 May 2010). Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  • 2008 – Hyein, South Korean singer

Deaths

Pre-1600

  • 234 – Emperor Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (born 181)
  • 586 – Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths
  • 847 – Odgar, Frankish archbishop of Mainz
  • 866 – Bardas, de facto regent of the Byzantine Empire
  • 941 – Bajkam, de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate
  • 1073 – Pope Alexander II
  • 1109 – Anselm of Canterbury, Italian-English archbishop and saint (born 1033)
  • 1136 – Stephen, Count of Tréguier Breton noblemen (born )
  • 1142 – Peter Abelard, French philosopher and theologian (born 1079)
  • 1213 – Maria of Montpellier, Lady of Montpellier, Queen of Aragon (born 1182)
  • 1329 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (born 1282)
  • 1400 – John Wittlebury, English politician (born 1333)
  • 1509 – Henry VII of England (born 1457)
  • 1557 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (born 1495)
  • 1574 – Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (born 1519)
  • 1591 – Sen no Rikyū, Japanese exponent of the tea ceremony (born 1522)

1601–1900

  • 1650 – Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, Japanese samurai (born 1607)
  • 1668 – Jan Boeckhorst, Flemish painter (born )
  • 1699 – Jean Racine, French playwright and poet (born 1639)
  • 1719 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (born 1640)
  • 1720 – Antoine Hamilton, Irish-French soldier and author (born 1646)
  • 1722 – Robert Beverley, Jr., English historian and author (born 1673)
  • 1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy (born 1663)
  • 1740 – Thomas Tickell, English poet and author (born 1685)
  • 1758 – Francesco Zerafa, Maltese architect (born 1679)
  • 1815 – Joseph Winston, American soldier and politician (born 1746)
  • 1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician and academic (born 1765)
  • 1852 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (born 1787)
  • 1863 – Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Baronet, Irish politician (born 1782)
  • 1900 – Vikramatji Khimojiraj, Indian ruler (born 1819)

1901–present

  • 1910 – Mark Twain, American novelist, humorist, and critic (born 1835)
  • 1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot, known popularly as the Red Baron (born 1892)
  • 1924 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (born 1858)
  • 1930 – Robert Bridges, English poet and author (born 1844)
  • 1932 – Friedrich Gustav Piffl, Bohemian cardinal (born 1864)
  • 1938 – Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistani National philosopher and poet (born 1877)
  • 1941 – Fritz Manteuffel, German gymnast (born 1875)
  • 1945 – Walter Model, German field marshal (born 1891)
  • 1946 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist and philosopher (born 1883)
  • 1947 – Meir Feinstein (born 1929, disputed) with Moshe Barazani (born 1927), suicide militants.<ref>{{cite news| title = כל הדרך לגרדום: ימיו האחרונים של מאיר פיינשטיין (All the way to the gallows: The last days of Meir Feinstein)

| url = https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/1/ART2/887/372.html

| date = 27 July 2017

| newspaper = Makor Rishon makorrishon.co.il

| language = he | script-quote = he: מאיר פיינשטיין נולד וגדל בירושלים. אם שואלים את אתר הזיכרון הרשמי של חללי צה"ל או את ויקיפדיה, תאריך הלידה שלו הוא 5 באוקטובר 1927. לדברי אחיינו, המועד הנכון הוא יולי 1929. | trans-quote = Meir Feinstein was born and raised in Jerusalem. If you ask the official IDF memorial website or Wikipedia, his date of birth is 5 October 1927. According to his nephew, the correct date is July 1929. }} — Age dispute: – </ref>

  • 1948 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (born 1887)
  • 1952 – Leslie Banks, American actor, director and producer (born 1890)
  • 1954 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (born 1897)
  • 1956 – Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (born 1895)
  • 1965 – Edward Victor Appleton, English-Scottish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892)
  • 1971 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (born 1907)
  • 1973 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1894)
  • 1973 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (born 1910)
  • 1977 – Gummo Marx, American vaudevillian and talent agent (born 1892)
  • 1978 – Sandy Denny, English singer-songwriter (born 1947)
  • 1978 – Thomas Wyatt Turner, American biologist and academic (born 1877)
  • 1980 – Alexander Oparin, Russian biochemist and academic (born 1894)
  • 1980 – Sohrab Sepehri, Iranian poet and painter (born 1928)
  • 1983 – Walter Slezak, Austrian-American actor and singer (born 1902)
  • 1984 – Marcel Janco, Romanian-Israeli artist (born 1895)
  • 1984 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian engineer and mountaineer (born 1943)
  • 1985 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the monokini (born 1922)
  • 1985 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian banker and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (born 1910)
  • 1986 – Marjorie Eaton, American painter and actress (born 1901)
  • 1986 – Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet, playwright, and composer (born 1930)
  • 1987 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (born 1906)
  • 1990 – Erté, Russian-French illustrator (born 1892)
  • 1991 – Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (born 1909)
  • 1992 – Väinö Linna, Finnish author (born 1920)
  • 1996 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer (born 1925)
  • 1996 – Jimmy Snyder, American sportscaster (born 1919)
  • 1997 – Diosdado Macapagal, Filipino lawyer and politician, 9th President of the Philippines (born 1910)
  • 1998 – Jean-François Lyotard, French sociologist and philosopher (born 1924)
  • 1999 – Buddy Rogers, American actor (born 1904)
  • 2003 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and activist (born 1933)
  • 2005 – Zhang Chunqiao, Chinese writer and politician, member of the Gang of Four (born 1917)
  • 2010 – Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1947)
  • 2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (born 1920)
  • 2010 – Kanagaratnam Sriskandan, Sri Lankan-English engineer and civil servant (born 1930)
  • 2011 – Catharina Halkes, Dutch theologian and academic (born 1920)
  • 2012 – Doris Betts, American author and academic (born 1932)
  • 2013 – Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician and astrologer (born 1929)
  • 2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, author, and educator (born 1905)
  • 2014 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (born 1936)
  • 2014 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (born 1930)
  • 2016 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (born 1958)
  • 2017 – Ugo Ehiogu, English footballer (born 1972)
  • 2018 – Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian (born 1900)
  • 2019 – Polly Higgins, Scottish barrister, author and environmental lobbyist (born 1968)
  • 2024 – Terry A. Anderson, American journalist (born 1947)
  • 2025 – Pope Francis (born 1936)

Holidays and observances

  • Christian feast day:
  • Abdecalas
  • Anastasius Sinaita
  • Anselm of Canterbury
  • Conrad of Parzham
  • Holy Infant of Good Health
  • Máel Ruba
  • Shemon Bar Sabbae
  • Wolbodo
  • April 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Natale di Roma (Rome)Plutarch, Parallel Lives - Life of Romulus, 12.2 (from LacusCurtius)
  • Parilia (ancient Rome)
  • Civil Service Day (India)
  • Grounation Day (Rastafari)
  • National Tea Day (United Kingdom)
  • National Tree Planting Day (Kenya)
  • San Jacinto Day (Texas)

References

Sources

  • BBC: On This Day
  • Historical Events on April 21