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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.

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 come across 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.

1865 - Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President of the United States.

1892 - The General Electric Company is formed through the merger of the Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Company.

1912 - The British passenger liner RMS ''Titanic'' sinks at about 2:20 a.m. after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic almost three hours earlier.

1920 - Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.

1923 - Insulin first became generally available for use by diabetics.

1924 - Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.

1927 - Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma and Constance Talmadge become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1940 - The Allies start their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which was occupied by Nazi Germany.

1942 - George Cross 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, leaving 936 dead civilians in its wake.

1945 - The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

1947 - Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, breaking that sport's color line.

1955 - The first McDonald's restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1986 - The United States launch Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya.

1989 - Hillsborough disaster: A human stampede occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, a football stadium in Sheffield, resulting in the loss of 96 lives.

1989 - Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.

1992 - 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 setting up 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 hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan, South Korea, killing 128.

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1452 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance Roman Catholic polymath (d. 1519)

1489 - Sinan, Ottoman architect (d. 1588)

1552 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)

1580 - George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English colonizer

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)

1651 - Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician

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)

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)

1843 - Henry James, American author (d. 1916)

1858 - Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (d. 1917)

1861 - Bliss Carman, Canadian poet (d. 1929)

1874 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1957)

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

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, Holocaust survivor (d. 1983)

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)

1907 - Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)

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)

1920 - Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany

1921 - Georgi Beregovoi, Soviet 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 - Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995)

1933 - Boris Strugatsky, Russian author

1936 - Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist

1938 - Hso Khan Pha, Burmese politician

1939 - Claudia Cardinale, Tunisian-born actress

1940 - Jeffrey Archer, British author

1940 - Robert Walker Jr., American actor

1940 - Willie Davis, American baseball player

1942 - Francis X. DiLorenzo, American Catholic prelate

1942 - Walt Hazzard, American baketball 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 - Mike Chapman, British songwriter

1948 - Michael Kamen, American composer (d. 2003)

1949 - Tonio K, American singer

1949 - Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer

1950 - Amy Wright, American actress

1951 - Heloise, American newspaper columnist

1954 - Seka, American pornographic actress

1955 - Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (d. 1997)

1957 - Evelyn Ashford, American athlete

1958 - Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer

1959 - Emma Thompson, English actress

1959 - Thomas F. Wilson, American actor

1960 - Tony Jones (snooker), English snooker player

1960 - Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist

1962 - Nawal El Moutawakel, Morrocan hurdler

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

1968 - Ed O'Brien, British musician (Radiohead)

1968 - Stacey Williams, American model

1969 - Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player

1969 - Milton Bradley, American baseball player

1970 - Flex Alexander, American actor

1972 - Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer

1974 - Danny Pino, American actor

1974 - Josh Todd, American musician (Buckcherry)

1975 - Paul Dana, American race car driver (d. 2006)

1977 - Chandra Levy, American Congressional intern (d. 2001)

1978 - Austin Aries, American wrestler

1980 - Raúl López, Spanish basketball player

1980 - Victor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer

1980 - Fränk Schleck, Luxembourgish cyclist

1981 - Andrés d'Alessandro, Argentine football player

1981 - Seth Wulsin, American artist

1983 - Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian hockey player

1986 - Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, Dutch footballer

1990 - Emma Watson, English actress

1992 - Amy Diamond, Swedish singer

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1053 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex

1220 - Adolf of Altena, Archbishop of Cologne

1415 - Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist

1446 - Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)

1610 - Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (b. 1546)

1621 - John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony

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 XIV of France (b. 1721)

1764 - Peder Horrebow, Danish atronomer (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 scientific writer (b. 1773)

1865 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)

1868 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)

1888 - Matthew Arnold, English poet (b. 1822)

1888 - Father Damien, Belgian missionary (b. 1840)

1898 - Kepa Te Rangihiwinui, Maori military leader

1912 - Victims of the RMS Titanic

Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic (b. 1850)

John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman (b. 1864)

Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)

1938 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (b. 1892)

1942 - Robert Musil, German novelist (b. 1880)

1943 - Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist (d. 1882)

1948 - Radola Gajda, Czech military commander and politician (d. 1892)

1949 - Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885)

1962 - Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1881)

1969 - Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen of Spain (b. 1887)

1970 - Ripper Collins, baseball player (b. 1904)

1971 - Dan Reeves - Owner of the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (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 Prize laureate (declined) (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)

1986 - Jean Genet, French author (b. 1910)

1988 - Kenneth Williams, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)

1989 - Nesuhi Ertegun, Co-founder of Atlantic Records (b. 1917)

1989 - Hu Yaobang, leader of China (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)

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)

2004 - Ray Condo, Canadian rockabilly musician (b. 1950)

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In the United States, is the official deadline for filing tax returns: all forms mailed to the IRS must be postmarked no later than this day, so many post offices across the country stay open until midnight to accommodate procrastinators or those who owe tax and want to wait as late as possible to pay. If this day falls on the weekend, as in 2006, the following Monday becomes the deadline. Additionally in 2006, Patriot's Day moved the tax deadline to Tuesday, April 18, for those in the seven states and the District of Columbia which celebrate Patriot's Day.

Ancient Latvia — Tipsa Diena was observed.

Arirang Festival is held in North Korea to commemorate Kim Il-sung's birth.

Father Damien Day — celebrated annually in Hawai'i.

Roman Empire — the Fordicia was celebrated in honor of Terra.

Major League Baseball celebrates "Jackie Robinson Day" each April 15 in all MLB ballparks.

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Saint Petrus Gonzalez

Saint Paternus

Blessed Waltman of Antwerp

Saint Basilissa

Saint Hunna