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1607 - Eighty Years' War: Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.

1707 - The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.

1719 - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is published.

1792 - Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.

1792 - "La Marseillaise" (French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

1829 - Charles Fremantle arrives in the HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.

1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.

1847 - The last survivors of the Donner Party are out of the wilderness. See Donner Party timeline for detailed chronology.

1849 - The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.

1859 - Ground is broken for the Suez Canal.

1862 - American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Marks' Mills – Confederate forces seize a Union wagon supply train on its way to Camden, Arkansas forcing Union General Frederick Steele to withdraw his troops to Little Rock, Arkansas.

1881 - Caulfield Grammar School is founded in Melbourne, Australia.

1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.

1901 - New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.

1915 - The ANZAC tradition begins during World War I with a landing at Gallipoli on the Turkish coast.

1916 - Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.

1916 - ANZAC Day commemorated for the first time.

1926 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name Reza Pahlavi.

1935 - Fire claimed the second capitol building in Salem, Oregon and burned down.

1938 - U.S. Supreme Court delivers opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.

1940 - The Faroese flag Merkið is made the official flag for the Faroe Islands.

1943 - The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket was instituted.

1944 - The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.

1945 - Elbe Day: United States and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe.

1945 - The U.S. Army blows the swastika from the top of the Zeppelintribüne.

1945 - Nazi occupation army leaves Milan after a partisan insurrection. This day is taken as symbol of the liberation of Italy.

1945 - Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.

1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.

1959 - The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.

1961 - Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.

1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.

1974 - Carnation Revolution: A coup in Portugal restores democracy.

1975 - As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.

1981 - More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.

1982 - Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Camp David Accords.

1983 - American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.

1983 - Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.

1986 - Mswati III was crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.

1988 - In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. He was accused of being a notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp known as "Ivan the Terrible" by survivors.

1989 - James Richardson is freed from a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of his seven children.

1993 - 300,000 gay, lesbian, transgender, and allied activists march on Washington, DC demanding freedom from discrimination.

2005 - The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.

2005 - Bulgaria and Romania sign ascession treaties gaining entrance into the European Union.

2005 - 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.

2006 - Three miners trapped (one dies) in the Beaconsfield mine collapse.

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32 - Marcus Salvius Otho, Roman Emperor (d. 69)

1214 - King Louis IX of France (d. 1270)

1228 - Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)

1284 - King Edward II of England (d. 1327)

1287 - Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, de facto ruler of England (d. 1330)

1502 - Georg Major, German Protestant theologian (d. 1574)

1545 - Yi Sun Shin, Korean admiral (d. 1598)

1599 - Oliver Cromwell, English statesman (d. 1658)

1608 - Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (d. 1660)

1621 - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, British soldier, statesman, and dramatist (d. 1679)

1694 - Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (d. 1753)

1710 - James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (d. 1776)

1725 - Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, British admiral (d. 1786)

1767 - Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (d. 1847)

1770 - Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist (d. 1850)

1849 - Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)

1874 - Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1937)

1898 - Fred Haney, baseball player (d. 1977)

1900 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)

1902 - Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)

1903 - Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1987)

1906 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1997)

1908 - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)

1909 - William Pereira, American architect (d. 1985)

1914 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)

1917 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)

1918 - Gerard Henri de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer (d. 1995)

1921 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter (d. 2006)

1923 - Albert King, American musician (d. 1992)

1925 - Sammy Drechsel, German journalist, film director, and cabaret performer (d. 1986)

1925 - Kay E. Kuter, American actor (d. 2003)

1927 - Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist

1930 - Paul Mazursky, American film director and writer

1931 - Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician (d. 1980)

1932 - William Roache, British television actor (Coronation Street)

1932 - Meadowlark Lemon, American basketball player

1933 - Jerry Leiber, American composer

1934 - Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer

1939 - Ted Kooser, American poet and US Poet Laureate

1940 - Al Pacino, American actor

1945 - Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer and songwriter (ABBA)

1945 - Stu Cook, American rock bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

1946 - Talia Shire, American actress

1946 - Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician

1947 - Johan Cruijff, Dutch footballer

1947 - Jeffrey DeMunn, American Actor

1949 - Vicente Pernía, Argentine footballer

1950 - Steve Ferrone, British drummer

1952 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist

1952 - Vladislav Tretiak, Soviet Union Ice Hockey Goalie from 1972-1984

1958 - Fish (b/ Derek Dick), Scottish singer and lyricist (ex-Marillion)

1960 - Bruce Redman, Australian film producer

1964 - Hank Azaria, American actor

1964 - Andy Bell, British singer and songwriter (band Erasure)

1964 - Wisit Sasanatieng, Thai film director

1965 - Eric Avery, American musician (Jane's Addiction)

1969 - Joe Buck, baseball and American football broadcaster

1969 - Gina Torres, American actress

1969 - Darren Woodson, American football player

1969 - Renée Zellweger, American actress

1970 - Jason Lee, American actor

1973 - Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer (Millencolin)

1976 - Tim Duncan, West Indian basketball player

1976 - Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player

1976 - Gilberto, Brazilian footballer

1977 - Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer

1977 - Marguerite Moreau, American actress

1978 - Letícia Birkheuer, Brazilian model

1980 - Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist

1981 - Felipe Massa, Brazilian Formula One driver

1981 - Anja Pärson, Swedish skier

1983 - DeAngelo Williams, American football player

1988 - Sara Paxton, American actress

1989 - Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama

1996 - Allisyn Ashley Arm, American actress

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1185 - Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)

1265 - Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, English Crusader

1295 - King Sancho IV of Castile

1472 - Leon Battista Alberti, Italian artist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)

1516 - John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)

1566 - Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)

1566 - Louise Labé, French poet

1595 - Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (b. 1544)

1605 - Naresuan, King of Siam (b. 1555)

1644 - Chongzhen, Emperor of China (b 1611)

1660 - Henry Hammond, English churchman (b. 1605)

1690 - David Teniers the Younger, Flemish artist (b. 1610)

1744 - Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (b. 1701)

1770 - Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot and physicist (b. 1700)

1800 - William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)

1840 - Siméon-Denis Poisson, French mathematician (b. 1781)

1878 - Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)

1911 - Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)

1915 - Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)

1928 - Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1878)

1937 - Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b.1857)

1943 - Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (b. 1858)

1944 - Tony Mullane, Major League Baseball player (b. 1859)

1968 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)

1972 - George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)

1976 - Carol Reed, British film producer and director (b. 1906

1980 - Katia Mann, wife of German writer Thomas Mann (b. 1883)

1982 - John Cardinal Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)

1990 - Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist (b. 1923)

1995 - Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)

1995 - Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer (b. 1911)

1996 - Saul Bass, American graphics designer (b. 1920)

1998 - Morris Wright, American writer (b. 1910)

1999 - Lord Killanin, Irish International Olympic Committee president (b. 1914)

2000 - David Merrick, American theatrical producer (b. 1911)

2000 - Lucien le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)

2001 - Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)

2002 - Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)

2002 - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, rapper (b. 1971)

2003 - Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. 1966)

2004 - Thom Gunn, British poet (b. 1929)

2005 - Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk and president of the Ramakrishna Mission (b. 1908)

2006 - Jane Jacobs, influential critic of urban planning.

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ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand).

Carnation Revolution commemorated in Portugal (National Holiday).

''Festa della Liberazione'', (Italy), annual commemoration to mark the liberation of Italy at the end of the Second World War.

''Sinai Liberation Day'', (Egypt), Celebrates the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai peninsula.

Faroe Islands - National Flag Day.

Swaziland - National Flag Day.

Fuck the Earth Day - Declared by Jon Stewart in the April 24th, 2006 episode.

Rastafari movement - Celebration of Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica.

Roman Empire - Robigalia in honor of Robigus.

Official Red Hat Society day.

Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, falls on April 25 in 2006.

Alice Day - celebration of the relationship between Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll.

World Penguin Day

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Liturgical Feast days

Easter Sunday - 1886, 1943, 2038. In the Gregorian Calendar 25th April is the latest date on which Easter Sunday can fall (22nd March is the earliest).
Saint Mark the Evangelist
Saint Anianus
Saint Ermin
Saint Filo.