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1478 - The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Florence Cathedral.

1607 - English colonists of the Jamestown settlement make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.

1802 - A general amnesty signed by Napoleon Bonaparte allowed all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France, as part of a reconciliary gesture to make peace with the various factions of the Ancien Regime that would ultimately consolidate his own rule.

1805 - United States Marines captured Derne, Tripoli under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.

1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina.

1865 - Union cavalry troopers corner John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin, in a barn in Virginia. Booth is shot dead by cavalryman Boston Corbett.

1925 - Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected Reichspräsident, the head of state of the Weimar Republic.

1933 - The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.

1937 - Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe.

1942 - The worst-ever mining accident in history kills 1,549 miners in an explosion at the Honkeiko Colliery, Manchuria.

1945 - Battle of Bautzen (World War II) - last successful German tank-offensive

1946 - Father Divine, a controversial religious leader who claims to be God, marries the much-younger Edna Rose Ritchings, a celebrated anniversary in the International Peace Mission movement.

1954 - The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.

1956 - First container ship left Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas

1962 - NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.

1963 - in Libya Amendments to the constitution, transforming Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya), and allowing for female participation in elections.

1964 - Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.

1986 - In Ukraine, a nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant explodes, creating the world's worst nuclear disaster.

1991 - Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before its end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado (see Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak).

1994 - A China Airlines Airbus A-300-600R crashes at Nagoya Airport, Japan killing 264.

1999 - Last release of the Nemesis OS.

2002 - 19-year-old Robert Steinhäuser shoots and kills 17 people at his school in Erfurt, Germany.

2005 - Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.

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121 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (d. 180)

570 - Muhammed, founder of Islam, according to the Shi'a sect. Other sources suggest April 20.

1538 - Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (d. 1600)

1573 - Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)

1564 (baptized) - William Shakespeare, English writer (d. 1616)

1648 - King Peter II of Portugal (d. 1706)

1710 - Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (d. 1796)

1711 - David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1776)

1718 - Esek Hopkins, American Revolutionary War admiral (d. 1802)

1765 - Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Horatio Nelson (d. 1815)

1774 - Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (d. 1853)

1785 - John James Audubon, French-American naturalist and illustrator (d. 1851)

1787 - Ludwig Uhland, German poet (d. 1862)

1798 - James Beckwourth, American explorer (d. 1867)

1798 - Eugène Delacroix, French painter (d. 1863)

1801 - Ambrose Dudley Mann, American diplomat (d. 1889)

1812 - Alfred Krupp, German industrialist (d. 1887)

1822 - Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (d. 1903)

1826 - George Hull Ward, American general (d. 1863)

1826 - Ambrose R. Wright, American Civil War General (d. 1872

1878 - Bishop Rafael Guizar Valencia, Mexican Catholic bishop

1879 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)

1886 - Ma Rainey, American singer (d. 1939)

1886 - Ğabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet (d. 1913)

1888 - Anita Loos, American writer (d. 1981)

1889 - Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1951)

1893 - Draza Mihajlovic, Serbian WW2 Hero and war criminal (d. 1946)

1894 - Rudolf Hess, Nazi official (d. 1987)

1896 - Ernst Udet, WWI pilot and film actor, Luftwaffe officer (d. 1941)

1897 - Eddie Eagan, American sportsman (d. 1967)

1897 - Douglas Sirk, German-born film director (d. 1987)

1898 - Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1984)

1898 - John Grierson, Scottish filmmaker (d. 1972)

1900 - Charles Richter, American geophysicist (d. 1985)

1911 - Marianne Hoppe, German actress (d. 2002)

1912 - A. E. van Vogt, Canadian writer (d. 2000)

1914 - Bernard Malamud, American author (d. 1986)

1914 - James W. Rouse, American investor (d. 1996)

1916 - Morris West, Australian writer (d. 1999)

1917 - I.M. Pei, Chinese-born architect

1917 - Sal Maglie, baseball player (d. 1992)

1918 - Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (d. 2004)

1918 - Stafford Repp American actor (d. 1974)

1925 - Jørgen Ingmann, Danish musician

1926 - Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)

1932 - Michael Smith, English-born chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)

1933 - Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist (d. 2005)

1933 - Carol Burnett, American comedian

1933 - Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate

1938 - Duane Eddy, American musician

1940 - Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer

1940 - Cliff Watson, English rugby league player

1942 - Claudine Auger, French actress

1942 - Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat

1942 - Bobby Rydell, American singer

1943 - Gary Wright, American singer

1943 - Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect

1944 - Amien Rais, Indonesian politician

1949 - Carlos Bianchi, Argetinian football player

1949 - Jerry Blackwell, wrestler (d. 1995)

1955 - Mike Scott, American baseball player

1956 - Koo Stark, American actress

1958 - Jeffrey Guterman, American mental health counselor

1960 - Roger Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)

1960 - Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player

1961 - Joan Chen, Chinese-born actress

1961 - Chris Mars, American rock drummer (The Replacements)

1962 - Colin Anderson, English footballer

1963 - Anthony Cumia, American radio personality

1963 - Jet Li, Chinese martial artist

1963 - Colin Scotts, Australian-born NFL football player

1965 - Kevin James, American comedian

1967 - Glen Jacobs, American professional wrestler

1970 - Melania Trump, Slovenian model

1970 - Tionne Watkins, American singer (TLC)

1971 - Marc Andreessen, Co-founder of Netscape

1973 - Chris Perry, English footballer

1975 - Joey Jordison, American musician (Slipknot)

1975 - Nerina Pallot, British singer

1976 - Jose Pasillas, American musician (Incubus)

1977 - Tom Welling, American actor

1978 - Avant, American R&B Singer

1979 - Janne Wirman, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom)

1980 - Jordana Brewster, American actress

1980 - Anna Mucha, Polish actress

1980 - Channing Tatum, American actor

1981 - Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer

1982 - Joanne Gobure, Nauruan poet

1983 - Jessica Lynch, American P.O.W.

1984 - Mija Martina, Bosnian singer

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1192 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127)

1444 - Robert Campin, Flemish painter (b. 1378)

1478 - Giuliano di Piero de' Medici, ruler of Florence (assassinated) (b. 1453)

1489 - Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (b. 1465)

1716 - John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1651)

1784 - Nano Nagle, Irish convent founder (b. 1718)

1789 - Count Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian soldier (b. 1721)

1865 - John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin (shot) (b. 1838)

1881 - Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815)

1892 - Sir Provo Wallis, British Admiral and naval hero (b. 1791)

1910 - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1832)

1920 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)

1932 - Hart Crane, American poet (suicide) (b. 1899)

1932 - William Lockwood, English cricketer (b. 1868)

1938 - Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (b. 1859)

1940 - Carl Bosch, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b.g 1874)

1944 - Violette Morris, French athlete (b. 1893)

1945 - Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general (b. 1871)

1951 - Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (b. 1868)

1956 - Edward Arnold, American actor (b. 1890)

1957 - Gichin Funakoshi, Father of Japanese Shotokan Karatedo (b. 1868)

1964 - E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet born Newfoundland (b. 1882)

1969 - Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883)

1970 - Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress (b. 1911)

1973 - Irene Ryan, American actress (b. 1902)

1976 - Sid James, British comedian (b. 1913)

1981 - Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)

1984 - Count Basie, American musician and composer (b. 1904)

1986 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (stroke) (b. 1911)

1986 - Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)

1987 - John Ernest Silkin, British politician, (b. 1923)

1988 - James McCracken, American tenor (b. 1926)

1989 - Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (b. 1911)

1991 - Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (b. 1910)

1991 - Emily McLaughlin, American actress (b. 1930)

1996 - Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (b. 1918)

1999 - Jill Dando, British television presenter (b. 1961)

2003 - Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (b. 1930)

2003 - Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist (b. 1904)

2003 - Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)

2004 - Hubert Selby Jr., American author (b. 1928)

2005 - Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919)

2005 - Blade Icewood, American rapper (b. 1977)

2005 - Maria Schell, Austrian-born actress (b. 1926)

2005 - Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan author (n.1917)

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Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

Saint Alda (d. 1309)

Richarius or Riquier (d. 643)

Paschasius (d. 865)

Saint Cletus (Pope Anacletus) and Marcellinus (Popes and martyrs)

Lucidius (4th century)

Trudpert (Irish monk martyred in Germany in 607).

Feast day of the following saint in the Russian Orthodox Church:

Stephen of Perm - also Old Permic Alphabet Day

Tanzania - Union Day.

Shi'a Islam - Mawlid, Muhammad's birthday (2005).

Florida and Georgia, USA - Confederate Memorial Day.

World Intellectual Property Day (since 2001).

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