April 8

April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 267 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated. He is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
• 632 – King Charibert II is assassinated at Blaye (Gironde), along with his infant son Chilperic.
• 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
• 1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
• 1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
• 1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
• 1232 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols begin their siege on Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty.
• 1271 – In Syria, sultan Baibars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers.
• 1665 – English colonial patents are granted for the establishment of the Monmouth Tract, for what would eventually become Monmouth County in northeastern New Jersey.
• 1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
• 1740 – War of Jenkins' Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa, taken into service as HMS Princess.
• 1808 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
• 1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos.
• 1832 – Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield: Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
• 1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against the Austrian Empire.
• 1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
• 1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
• 1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
• 1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of The Book of the Law.
• 1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
• 1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, dies.
• 1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
• 1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
• 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
• 1916 – In Corona, California, race car driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three (including himself), and badly injuring five spectators.
• 1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City's financial district.
• 1924 – Sharia courts are abolished in Turkey, as part of Atatürk's Reforms.
• 1929 – Indian independence movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
• 1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
• 1942 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad: Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
• 1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
• 1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
• 1945 – World War II: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
• 1946 – Électricité de France, the world's largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
• 1950 – India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat–Nehru Pact.
• 1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
• 1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by Kenya's British rulers.
• 1954 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
• 1954 – South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
• 1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
• 1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
• 1960 – The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
• 1961 – A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238.
• 1964 – Gemini 1 (unmanned test flight) launched.
• 1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after take off. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
• 1970 – Bahr El-Baqar primary school bombing: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. Forty-six children are killed.
• 1974 – At Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth's 39-year-old record.
• 1975 – Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball's first African American manager.
• 1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
• 1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
• 1993 – The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations.
• 1999 – Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
• 2004 – War in Darfur: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
• 2005 – Over four million people attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
• 2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.
• 2008 – The construction of the world's first building to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.
• 2013 – The Islamic State of Iraq enters the Syrian Civil War and begins by declaring a merger with the Al-Nusra Front under the name Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham

Births

• 1320 – Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
• 1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (d. 1604)
• 1536 – Barbara of Hesse (d. 1597)
• 1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (d. 1593)
• 1605 – Philip IV of Spain (d. 1665)
• 1641 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English general and politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (d. 1704)
• 1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1770)
• 1726 – Lewis Morris, American judge and politician (d. 1798)
• 1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1796)
• 1761 – William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founded the Society of Mary (d. 1850)
• 1770 – John Thomas Campbell, Irish-Australian banker and politician (d. 1830)
• 1798 – Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet and author (d. 1857)
• 1818 – Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
• 1818 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist and academic (d. 1892)
• 1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier (d. 1890)
• 1827 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican ophthalmologist, journalist, and politician (d. 1898)
• 1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author and educator (d. 1933)
• 1859 – Edmund Husserl, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1938)
• 1864 – Carlos Deltour, French rower and rugby player (d. 1920)
• 1867 – Allen Butler Talcott, American painter and educator (d. 1908)
• 1869 – Harvey Cushing, American surgeon and academic (d. 1939)
• 1871 – Clarence Hudson White, American photographer and educator (d. 1925)
• 1874 – Manuel Díaz, Cuban fencer (d. 1929)
• 1874 – Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
• 1875 – Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
• 1883 – R. P. Keigwin, English cricketer and academic (d. 1972)
• 1883 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia (d. 1936)
• 1885 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek-French soldier, composer, and educator (d. 1951)
• 1886 – Margaret Ayer Barnes, American author and playwright (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Dennis Chávez, American journalist and politician (d. 1964)
• 1889 – Adrian Boult, English conductor (d. 1983)
• 1892 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (d. 1970)
• 1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded United Artists (d. 1979)
• 1896 – Yip Harburg, American composer (d. 1981)
• 1896 – Einar Juhl, Danish actor (d. 1982)
• 1901 – Carmen Boni, Italian actress (d. 1963)
• 1902 – Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1924)
• 1902 – Maria Maksakova, Sr., Russian soprano (d. 1974)
• 1904 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
• 1904 – Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer (d. 1970)
• 1905 – Joachim Büchner, German sprinter and graphic designer (d. 1978)
• 1905 – Helen Joseph, English-South African activist (d. 1992)
• 1905 – Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
• 1906 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor and educator (d. 1974)
• 1908 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentinian director and screenwriter (d. 1987)
• 1909 – John Fante, American author and screenwriter (d. 1983)
• 1910 – George Musso, American football player and police officer (d. 2000)
• 1911 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and academic (d. 1995)
• 1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian-German SS officer (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
• 1914 – María Félix, Mexican actress and singer (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Ivan Supek, Croatian physicist, philosopher and writer; President of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991-1997) (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Winifred Asprey, American mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Lloyd Bott, Australian public servant (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Hubertus Ernst, Dutch bishop
• 1917 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer (d. 1988)
• 1918 – Betty Ford, American wife of Gerald R. Ford, 40th First Lady of the United States (d. 2011)
• 1918 – Glendon Swarthout, American author and academic (d. 1992)
• 1919 – Ian Smith, Zimbabwean lieutenant and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Carmen McRae, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (d. 1994)
• 1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor and actor (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
• 1921 – Herman van Raalte, Dutch footballer (d. 2013)
• 1923 – George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
• 1923 – Edward Mulhare, Irish-American actor (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Frédéric Back, German-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English general and historian (d. 2006)
• 1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect and academic, co-founded Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
• 1926 – Shecky Greene, American actor
• 1926 – Shirley Mills, American actress and dancer (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian and academic
• 1927 – Tilly Armstrong, English author (d. 2010)
• 1927 – Ollie Mitchell, American trumpet player and bandleader (The Wrecking Crew) (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Leah Rabin, German-Israeli wife of Yitzhak Rabin (d. 2000)
• 1929 – Walter Berry, Austrian actor and singer (d. 2000)
• 1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1978)
• 1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (d. 1996)
• 1930 – Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (d. 2010)
• 1931 – John Gavin, American actor and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Mexico
• 1932 – Iskandar of Johor (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Fred Ebb, American composer (d. 2004)
• 1933 – James Lockhart (historian), American scholar of colonial Latin America, especially Nahua peoples (d. 2014)
• 1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Oscar Zeta Acosta, American lawyer and politician (d. 1974)
• 1935 – Albert Bustamante, American soldier, educator, and politician
• 1937 – Seymour Hersh, American journalist and author
• 1937 – Momo Kapor, Serbian author and painter (d. 2010)
• 1938 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian economist and diplomat, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
• 1938 – John Hamm, Canadian physician and politician, 25th Premier of Nova Scotia
• 1939 – Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (d. 1989)
• 1939 – John Arbuthnott, Scottish microbiologist and academic
• 1939 – Mary Leona Gage, American model and actress, Miss USA 1957 (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Trina Schart Hyman, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
• 1940 – John Havlicek, American basketball player
• 1941 – Darlene Gillespie, Canadian-American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1941 – Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
• 1942 – Roger Chapman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Family and Streetwalkers)
• 1942 – Douglas Trumbull, American director, producer, and special effects artist
• 1943 – Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Irish politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics (d. 2006)
• 1943 – Michael Bennett, American dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 1987)
• 1943 – Miller Farr, American football player
• 1943 – James Herbert, English author and illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Jack O'Halloran, American boxer and actor
• 1943 – Chris Orr, English painter and illustrator
• 1944 – Jean Benguigui, French actor
• 1944 – Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor
• 1944 – Odd Nerdrum, Swedish-Norwegian painter and illustrator
• 1944 – Deke Richards, American songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
• 1944 – Joey D. Vieira, American actor and composer
• 1945 – Derrick Walker, Scottish businessman
• 1946 – Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
• 1946 – Stuart Pankin, American actor
• 1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor and producer
• 1947 – Tom DeLay, American lawyer and politician
• 1947 – Steve Howe, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Yes, Asia, Tomorrow, GTR, and Bodast)
• 1947 – Robert Kiyosaki, American businessman, co-founded Cashflow Technologies
• 1947 – Pascal Lamy, French businessman and politician, European Commissioner for Trade
• 1947 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (People!) (d. 2008)
• 1948 – Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, Scottish academic and politician
• 1949 – K. C. Kamalasabayson, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 39th Attorney General of Sri Lanka (d. 2007)
• 1949 – John Madden, English director and producer
• 1949 – Joe Royle, English footballer and manager
• 1949 – Brenda Russell, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1949 – John Scott, English sociologist and academic
• 1950 – Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer and coach
• 1951 – Gerd Andres, German politician
• 1951 – Geir Haarde, Icelandic economist, journalist, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Iceland
• 1951 – Mel Schacher, American bass player (Question Mark & the Mysterians and Grand Funk Railroad)
• 1951 – Joan Sebastian, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician (d. 2004)
• 1952 – Kaori Momoi, Japanese actress
• 1954 – Gary Carter, American baseball player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1954 – Princess Lalla Amina of Morocco (d. 2012)
• 1954 – G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American engineer and academic (d. 2007)
• 1955 – Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
• 1955 – Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
• 1955 – Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
• 1955 – Ron Johnson, American businessman and politician
• 1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American author and poet
• 1955 – David Wu, Taiwanese-American lawyer and politician
• 1956 – Christine Boisson, French actress
• 1956 – Roman Dragoun, Czech singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Progres 2)
• 1956 – Jim Piddock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Justin Sullivan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (New Model Army)
• 1957 – Anthony Michaels-Moore, English opera singer
• 1957 – Fred Smerlas, American football player and radio host
• 1958 – Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
• 1958 – Maarten Ducrot, Dutch cyclist and journalist
• 1958 – Tom Petranoff, American javelin thrower and coach
• 1959 – Alain Bondue, French cyclist
• 1960 – Daniël Dekker, Dutch radio host
• 1960 – John Schneider, American actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1961 – Élise Guilbault, Canadian actress
• 1961 – Brian McDermott, English footballer and manager
• 1962 – Paddy Lowe, English engineer
• 1962 – Izzy Stradlin, American guitarist and songwriter (Guns N' Roses and Hollywood Rose)
• 1963 – Julian Lennon, English singer-songwriter, actor, and photographer
• 1963 – Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
• 1963 – Donita Sparks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (L7 and Donita Sparks and the Stellar Moments)
• 1963 – Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian bassist
• 1963 – Seth Tobias, American businessman (d. 2007)
• 1964 – Biz Markie, American rapper, producer, and actor (Juice Crew)
• 1964 – John McGinlay, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1965 – Steven Blaney, Canadian businessman and politician, 5th Canadian Minister of Public Safety
• 1965 – Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
• 1966 – Mazinho, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1966 – Iveta Bartošová, Czech singer and actress (d. 2014)
• 1966 – Mark Blundell, English race car driver
• 1966 – Charlotte Dawson, New Zealand-Australian television host (d. 2014)
• 1966 – Dalton Grant, English high jumper
• 1966 – Harri Rovanperä, Finnish race car driver
• 1966 – Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister for the Interior
• 1966 – Robin Wright, American actress, director, producer
• 1967 – Arwyn Davies, Welsh actor
• 1968 – Patricia Arquette, American actress and director
• 1968 – Patricia Girard, French runner and hurdler
• 1968 – Tracy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer)
• 1972 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (Slipknot and Unida) (d. 2010)
• 1972 – Sergei Magnitsky, Russian lawyer and accountant (d. 2009)
• 1972 – Sung Kang, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
• 1973 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
• 1974 – Holger Hott, Norwegian orienteering competitor and engineer
• 1974 – Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American author and educator
• 1974 – Chino XL, American rapper and actor
• 1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
• 1975 – Funda Arar, Turkish singer
• 1975 – Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
• 1975 – Timo Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1977 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist and author (d. 2008)
• 1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer and engineer
• 1978 – Daigo, Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, and voice actor
• 1978 – Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
• 1978 – Bernt Haas, Austrian-Swiss footballer
• 1978 – Mario Pestano, Spanish discus thrower
• 1978 – Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
• 1978 – Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player and coach
• 1978 – Evans Rutto, Kenyan runner
• 1979 – Raven, American drag queen performer
• 1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Impaled Nazarene, and Kylähullut)
• 1980 – Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
• 1980 – Katee Sackhoff, American actress
• 1980 – Mariko Seyama, Japanese announcer, photographer, and model
• 1981 – Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
• 1981 – Taylor Kitsch, Canadian model, actor, and director
• 1981 – Ofer Shechter, Israeli model, actor, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Natalia, Greek singer
• 1983 – Allu Arjun, Indian actor and singer
• 1983 – Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russian runner
• 1984 – Ezra Koenig, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors)
• 1984 – Pablo Portillo, Mexican singer and actor (MDO)
• 1984 – Kirsten Storms, American actress
• 1985 – Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
• 1985 – Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian runner
• 1986 – Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
• 1986 – Félix Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
• 1986 – Osvaldo Martínez, Paraguayan footballer
• 1986 – Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress and singer
• 1987 – Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Belgian-Moroccan terrorist (d. 2015)
• 1987 – Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
• 1987 – Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player
• 1988 – Jenni Asserholt, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1988 – Stephanie Cayo, Peruvian actress and singer
• 1988 – Rachael Finch, Australian model and journalist, Miss Universe Australia 2009
• 1988 – Kim Myung-sung, South Korean baseball player
• 1989 – Matthew Healy, English singer-songwriter (The 1975)
• 1989 – Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer
• 1989 – Gabriella Wilde, English actress
• 1990 – Kim Jonghyun, South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (Shinee and SM the Ballad)
• 1991 – Minami Takahashi, Japanese singer and actress (AKB48 and no3b)
• 1993 – Gaku Matsumoto, Japanese actor
• 1993 – Kanae Yoshii, Japanese singer and actress (9nine)

Deaths

• 217 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (b. 188)
• 622 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (b. 572)
• 632 – Charibert II, Frankish king (b. 607)
• 956 – Gilbert, Duke of Burgundy
• 1143 – John II Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1087)
• 1364 – John II of France (b. 1319)
• 1450 – Sejong the Great, Korean king (b. 1397)
• 1461 – Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
• 1551 – Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
• 1586 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran theologian and reformer (b. 1522)
• 1612 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (b. 1575)
• 1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect, designed the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto (b. 1611)
• 1697 – Niels Juel, Norwegian-Danish admiral (b. 1629)
• 1704 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (b. 1624)
• 1704 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English colonel and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1641)
• 1725 – John Wise, American minister (b. 1652)
• 1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian prince (b. 1676)
• 1839 – Du Pre Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon (b. 1777)
• 1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
• 1857 – Mangal Pandey, Indian soldier (b. 1827)
• 1861 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (b. 1811)
• 1870 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1802)
• 1894 – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Indian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1838)
• 1906 – Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (b. 1850)
• 1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist, academic, and politician, Hungarian Minister of Education (b. 1848)
• 1920 – Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer (b. 1884)
• 1925 – Thecla Åhlander, Swedish actress (b. 1855)
• 1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1864)
• 1936 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
• 1936 – Božena Benešová, Czech poetess and novelist (b. 1873)
• 1942 – Kostas Skarvelis, Greek guitarist and composer (b. 1880)
• 1947 – Olaf Frydenlund, Norwegian target shooter (b. 1862)
• 1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish dancer and choreographer (b. 1890)
• 1961 – Joseph Carrodus, Australian public servant (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Juan Belmonte, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1892)
• 1965 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
• 1969 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian astronomer (b. 1900)
• 1973 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1881)
• 1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal (b. 1894)
• 1981 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
• 1983 – Isamu Kosugi, Japanese actor and director (b. 1904)
• 1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1894)
• 1985 – John Frederick Coots, American pianist and composer (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Yukiko Okada, Japanese singer and actress (b. 1967)
• 1990 – Ryan White, American activist, inspired the Ryan White Care Act (b. 1971)
• 1991 – Per "Dead" Ohlin, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mayhem and Morbid) (b. 1969)
• 1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
• 1993 – Marian Anderson, American singer (b. 1897)
• 1994 – François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (b. 1899)
• 1996 – Ben Johnson, American actor and stuntman (b. 1918)
• 1996 – León Klimovsky, Argentinian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1947)
• 2000 – František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
• 2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
• 2002 – María Félix, Mexican actress and singer (b. 1914)
• 2002 – Harvey Quaytman, American painter (b. 1937)
• 2004 – Werner Schumacher, German actor (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author and poet (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Sol LeWitt, American painter and sculptor (b. 1928)
• 2008 – Stanley Kamel, American actor (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Richard de Mille, American Scientologist, author, investigative journalist, and psychologist (b. 1922)
• 2009 – Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (b. 1976)
• 2010 – Malcolm McLaren, English singer-songwriter and fashion designer (b. 1946)
• 2010 – Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-American painter and photographer (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Bram Bart, Dutch voice actor (b. 1962)
• 2012 – John Egan, Irish footballer (b. 1952)
• 2012 – Blair Kiel, American football player and coach (b. 1961)
• 2012 – Jack Tramiel, Polish-American businessman, founded Commodore International (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Janusz K. Zawodny, Polish-American soldier, historian, and political scientist (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Mikhail Beketov, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
• 2013 – Richard Brooker, English actor and stuntman (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Sara Montiel, Spanish-Mexican actress and singer (b. 1928)
• 2013 – José Luis Sampedro, Spanish economist and author (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Margaret Thatcher, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Emmanuel III Delly, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Eric Harroun, American criminal (b. 1982)
• 2014 – Ivan Mercep, New Zealand architect, designed the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Adrianne Wadewitz, American scholar and academic (b. 1977)
• 2014 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (b. 1959)
• 2015 – Jayakanthan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Rayson Huang, Hong Kong chemist and academic (b. 1920)
• 2015 – Sergei Lashchenko, Ukrainian kick-boxer (b. 1987)
• 2015 – David Laventhol, American journalist and publisher (b. 1933)
• 2015 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances

• Birkat Hachama (observed once every 28 years), last in 2009 and next in 2037 (Hebrew)
• Buddha's Birthday, also known as Hana Matsuri, "Flower Festival" (Japan)
• Christian feast day:
  • Anne Ayres (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Constantina
  • Julie Billiart of Namur
  • Perpetuus
  • Walter of Pontoise
  • William Augustus Muhlenberg (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • April 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Earliest day on which Fast and Prayer Day can fall, while April 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Friday in April (Liberia)
• Feast of the First Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema)
• International Day of the Roma

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada