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753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional).

1509 - Henry VIII ascends the throne of England (unofficially) at the death of his father, Henry VII

1792 - Tiradentes, a revolutionary who was leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged and quartered.

1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto – Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1863 - Bahá'u'lláh declares his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest". Considered the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.

1863 - Quantrill's Raiders launch a reprisal raid Lawrence, Kansas in the Battle of Lawrence, killing a number of civilians.

1894 - Norway formally adopts the Krag-Jørgensen 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 U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.

1918 - World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France.

1930 - A fire at a Columbus, Ohio, USA, penitentiary kills 320 people.

1944 - Women in France receive the right to vote.

1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.

1952 - Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.

1956 - Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" becomes the "King's" first song to reach the top of the Cash Box magazine * music charts.

1960 - Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 9:30 am the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1960 - Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, DC.

1962 - The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the U.S. since World War II. *

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.

1975 - Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

1987 - The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that explodes in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, killing 106 people.

1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

1994 - The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

2005 - John Negroponte becomes the first United States Director of National Intelligence.

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1555 - Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter (d. 1619)

1651 - Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (d. 1711)

1652 - Michel Rolle, French mathematician (d. 1719)

1671 - John Law, Scottish economist (d. 1729)

1713 - Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, Marshal of France (d. 1793)

1729 - Empress Catherine II of Russia (d. 1796)

1774 - Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist (d. 1862)

1775 - Alexander Anderson, American illustrator (d. 1870)

1810 - John Putnam Chapin, American politician (d. 1864)

1811 - Alson Sherman, American politican (d. 1903)

1814 - Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, English philanthropist (d. 1906)

1816 - Charlotte Brontë, English author (d. 1855)

1837 - Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician, Nobel laureate (d. 1922)

1838 - John Muir, American environmentalist (d. 1914)

1851 - Charles Barrois, French geologist (d. 1939)

1864 - Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (d. 1920)

1870 - Edwin S. Porter, American film pioneer (d. 1941)

1879 - Kartini, Indonesian national figure (d. 1904)

1882 - Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1961)

1889 - Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)

1905 - Pat Brown, American politician (d. 1996)

1911 - Ivan Combe, American inventor (d. 2000)

1912 - Marcel Camus, French film director (d. 1982)

1915 - Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born actor (d. 2001)

1919 - Don Cornell, American singer (d. 2004)

1920 - Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)

1922 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish author (d. 1987)

1923 - John Mortimer, English barrister and writer

1926 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

1927 - Gerald Flood, British actor (d. 1989)

1930 - Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)

1932 - Elaine May, American comedian

1935 - Charles Grodin, American actor

1935 - Thomas Kean, former Governor of New Jersey and 9/11 Commission Chairman

1936 - James Dobson, American evangelist

1939 - Helen Prejean, American writer

1947 - Iggy Pop, American musician (The Stooges)

1947 - John Weider, British rock musician (Eric Burdon and the Animals, Family)

1948 - Gary Condit, American politician

1949 - Patti Lupone, American singer and actress

1951 - Tony Danza, American actor and talk show host

1951 - Michael Hartley Freedman, American mathematician

1951 - Steve Vickers, Canadian ice hockey player

1954 - James Morrison, American actor

1955 - Ebiet G. Ade, Indonesian singer

1956 - Phillip Longman, American demographer

1958 - Andie MacDowell, American actress

1959 - Gene Callahan, American writer

1959 - Robert Smith, British musician (The Cure)

1959 - Jerry Only, American musician (The Misfits)

1959 - Michael Timmins, Canadian musician (Cowboy Junkies)

1960 - Michel Goulet, Canadian ice hockey player

1962 - Les Lancaster, American baseball player

1963 - Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (d. 2004)

1963 - Roy Dupuis, Canadian actor

1964 - Ludmila Engquist, Russian-born Swedish athlete

1965 - Ed Belfour, Canadian ice hockey player

1965 - Karen Foster, American model (Playboy)

1970 - Rob Riggle, American comedian

1970 - Nicole Sullivan, American actress

1971 - Eric Mabius, American actor

1971 - Michael Turner, American comic book artist

1972 - Severina Vučković, Croatian singer

1977 - Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater

1978 - Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish drummer (Nightwish)

1978 - Branden Steineckert, American drummer (The Used)

1979 - Adam Drucker, (Dose One), rapper

1980 - Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player

1982 - Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, American football player

1983 - Paweł Brożek, Polish footballer

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748 - Empress Gensho of Japan (b. 680)

1073 - Pope Alexander II

1109 - Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury

1142 - Pierre Abélard, French writer (b. 1079)

1329 - Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)

1509 - King Henry VII of England (b. 1457)

1551 - Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)

1557 - Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (b. 1495)

1574 - Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)

1699 - Jean Racine, French dramatist (b. 1639)

1701 - Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (b. 1667)

1719 - Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and historian (b. 1640)

1720 - Antoine Hamilton, French writer (b. 1646)

1722 - Robert Beverley, Jr., historian of Colonial Virginia (b. 1673)

1793 - John Michell, English seismologist (b. 1724)

1815 - Joseph Winston, U.S. Congressman from North Carolina (b. 1746)

1825 - Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathemattician (b. 1765)

1852 - Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (b. 1787)

1868 - Henry James O'Farrell, Australian would-be assassin of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (hanged)

1910 - Mark Twain, American author and humorist (b. 1835)

1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1892)

1924 - Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)

1930 - Robert Bridges, English poet (b. 1844)

1938 - Allama Iqbal, Muslim philosopher and poet (b. 1877)

1945 - Walter Model, German field marshal (b. 1891)

1946 - John Maynard Keynes, English economist (b. 1883)

1956 - Charles MacArthur, American writer (b. 1895)

1965 - Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)

1971 - François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, Haitian dictator (b. 1907)

1973 - Arthur Fadden, thirteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)

1977 - Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1892)

1978 - Sandy Denny, British vocalist (b. 1947)

1978 - Thomas Wyatt Turner, American civil rights advocate and agricultural engineer

1980 - Aleksandr Oparin, Russian biochemist (b. 1894)

1983 - Walter Slezak, Austrian actor (b. 1902)

1985 - Rudi Gernreich, Austrian fashion designer (b. 1922)

1985 - Tancredo de Almeida Neves, Brazil banker and elected president (b. 1910)

1989 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (b. 1912)

1990 - Erté, French artist (b. 1892)

1991 - Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (b. 1909)

1996 - Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen leader (b. 1944)

1996 - Jimmy the Greek, American bookie and sports broadcaster (b. 1919)

1999 - Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, American actor and musician (b. 1904)

2000 - Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (b. 1929)

2003 - Nina Simone, American singer and pianist (b. 1933)

2004 - Mary McGrory, American journalist (b. 1918)

2005 - Gerry Marshall, British racing driver (b. 1941)

2006 - Telê Santana, Brazilian football manager (b. 1931)

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Bahá'í Faith - First day of the festival of Ridván.

Roman Empire - the Parilia was held in honor of Pales.

Rome - city birthday.

Sunni Islam - Mawlid, Prophet Muhammad's birthday (2005).

Tiradentes - Brazil.

Grounation Day in Rastafari movement.

Texas - San Jacinto Day

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Liturgical feasts

Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury
Saint Anastasius I
Saint Konrad von Parzham
Saint Wolbodo