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456 - St. Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary Bishop.

1242 - During a battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.

1566 - 200 Netherlands noblemen, led by Hendrik van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Inquisition in the Netherlands and demanding its immediate dismantling. Margaret agrees to suspend the Inquisition while a delegation is sent to Spain to petition Philip II himself.

1609 - Daimyo (Lord) of the Satsuma clan in Southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa.

1614 - In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.

1621 - The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth on a return trip to Great Britain.

1654 - The Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War, is signed.

1792 - U.S. President George Washington vetoes a bill designed to apportion representatives among U.S. states. This was the first time the presidential veto had been used in the United States.

1804 - The first recorded meteorite falls in Possil, Scotland (High Possil Meteorite).

1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Yorktown. The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.

1874 - Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, was opened in Birkenhead.

1923 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company starts production of balloon-tires.

1930 - In an act of civil disobedience, Mohandas Gandhi breaks British law after marching to the sea and making salt.

1936 - Tupelo-Gainesville Outbreak: An F5 tornado slams into the north side of Tupelo, Mississippi, killing 233. It is the 4th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

1942 - Second World War: Japanese Navy attacks Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy Cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.

1945 - Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip "Tito" Broz signs an agreement with the USSR allowing "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory."

1946 - Soviet troops leave the island of Bornholm, Denmark after occupying it for approximately 11 months.

1949 - Fireside Theater debuts on television.

1949 - A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, United States, kills 77 people resulting in nationwide fire code improvements.

1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for performing espionage for the Soviet Union.

1955 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.

1956 - Fidel Castro declares himself at war with the President of Cuba.

1956 - In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna won the general elections in a lanslide and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike sworn in as the Prime Minister.

1957 - In India, Communists won the first elections in united Kerala and E. M. S. Namboodiripad sworn in as the first chief minister.

1969 - Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations are held in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the United States.

1971 - In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches insurrection against the United Front government of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

1972 - Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces invade Binh Long Province, launching a second front of the Nguyen Hue Offensive.

1973 - Pierre Messmer becomes Prime Minister of France.

1976 - In the People's Republic of China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen incident.

1986 - Bombing of the La Belle Discotheque in West Berlin, Germany, kills three.

1991 - ASA Embraer EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, United States, killing all 23 aboard.

1992 - Several hundred-thousand abortion rights demonstrators march in Washington, D.C.

1992 - Siege of Sarajevo begins when Serb paramilitaries murder peace protestor Suada Dilberovic on the Skenderija Bridge.

1993 - The Child Support Act 1991, administered by the Child Support Agency, comes into effect in the United Kingdom.

1994 - Lead Singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain commits suicide, and is found three days later (April 8th).

1998 - In Japan, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshu and costing about US$3.8 billion, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.

1999 - Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.

2002 - Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley dies of a heroin overdose.

2005 - ABC News anchor Peter Jennings informs his viewers that he has Lung Cancer. This was his final broadcast.

2006 - The first case of H5N1 avian flu was confirmed in the UK after tests on a dead swan found in Cellardyke, Fife.

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1288 - Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d. 1336)

1472 - Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)

1479 - Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (d. 1574)

1523 - Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer (d. 1596)

1588 - Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)

1604 - Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1675)

1622 - Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician (d. 1703)

1649 - Elihu Yale, American benefactor of Yale University (d. 1721)

1692 - Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d. 1730)

1732 - Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French artist (d. 1806)

1784 - Louis Spohr, German violinist (d. 1859)

1816 - Samuel Freeman Miller, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1890)

1827 - Joseph Lister, English surgeon (d. 1912)

1832 - Jules Ferry, French statesman (d. 1893)

1837 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (d. 1909)

1856 - Booker T. Washington, American educator (d. 1915)

1869 - Sergei Chaplygin, Russian physicist and engineer (d. 1942)

1871 - Mirko Seljan, Croatian explorer

1875 - Mistinguett, French vaudeville performer (d. 1956)

1893 - Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d. 1973)

1900 - Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)

1901 - Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d. 1981)

1908 - Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)

1908 - Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)

1908 - Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (d. 1986)

1909 - Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (d. 1996)

1911 - Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960)

1912 - John Le Mesurier, British actor (d. 1983)

1916 - Gregory Peck, American actor (d. 2003)

1917 - Robert Bloch, American author (d. 1994)

1920 - Arthur Hailey, American writer (d. 2004)

1920 - Rafique Zakaria, Indian author (d. 2005)

1922 - Christopher Hewett, British actor (d. 2001)

1922 - Gale Storm, American singer

1923 - Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (d. 1995)

1923 - Nguyen Van Thieu, President of South Vietnam (d. 2001)

1926 - Roger Corman, American film director

1929 - Hugo Claus, Belgian writer

1929 - Ivar Giaever, Norwegian physicist, Nobel laureate

1929 - Nigel Hawthorne, British actor (d. 2001)

1929 - Joe Meek, English record producer

1933 - Larry Felser, American sports columnist

1934 - Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)

1934 - Roman Herzog, German politician

1935 - Peter Grant (music manager), British manager (Led Zeppelin, Bad Company) (d. 1995)

1937 - Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State

1941 - Michael Moriarty, American actor

1942 - Peter Greenaway, Welsh film director

1943 - Max Gail, American actor

1944 - Pedro Rossello, Puerto Rican politician

1945 - Tommy Smith, English footballer

1946 - Jane Asher, British actress

1947 - Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 14th President of the Philippines

1948 - Dave Holland, British musician (Judas Priest)

1949 - Judith Resnik, astronaut (d. 1986)

1950 - Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer (ABBA)

1952 - Mitch Pileggi, American actor

1954 - Stan Ridgway, American musician (Wall of Voodoo)

1955 - Janice Long, English broadcaster

1955 - Akira Toriyama, Japanese manga artist

1961 - Lisa Zane, American actress

1962 - Lana Clarkson, American actress (d. 2003)

1964 - Christopher "Kid" Reid, American rapper (Kid 'n Play)

1965 - Mike McCready, American musician (Pearl Jam)

1965 - Cris Carpenter, baseball player

1968 - Paula Cole, American musician

1970 - Miho Hatori, Japanese singer and songwriter (Cibo Matto)

1973 - Pharrell Williams, American producer (The Neptunes)

1975 - John Hartson, Welsh footballer

1976 - Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer

1976 - Kim Collins, Nevisian sprinter

1976 - Ross Gload, professional baseball player

1976 - Ryan Drese, Baseball player

1978 - Stephen Jackson, American basketball player

1978 - Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer

1979 - Timo Hildebrand, German footballer

1980 - Matt Bonner, NBA player

1982 - Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer

1985 - Lastings Milledge, Baseball player

1988 - Asumi Nakata, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)

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582 - Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople

1168 - Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (b. 1104)

1419 - Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)

1605 - Adam Loftus, English Protestant archbishop in Ireland

1617 - Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer

1676 - John Winthrop, the Younger, American politican (b. 1606)

1693 - Anne, Duchess of Montpensier, French writer (b. 1627)

1695 - George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, English writer (b. 1633)

1697 - King Charles XI of Sweden (b. 1655)

1717 - Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)

1735 - William Derham, English minister and writer (b. 1657)

1735 - Samuel Wesley, English poet (b. 1662)

1765 - Edward Young, English poet (b. 1683)

1794 - Georges Danton, French Revolutionary leader (b. 1759)

1923 - George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier (b. 1866)

1928 - Roy Kilner, English cricketer (b. 1890)

1964 - General Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)

1966 - General Arthur Ernest Percival, British Army officer(b. 1887)

1967 - Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (b. 1890)

1967 - Mischa Elman, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1891)

1969 - Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi (b. 1903)

1969 - Shelby Storck, American television producer (b. 1917)

1970 - Alfred Henry Sturtevant, American geneticist (b. 1891)

1972 - Brian Donlevy, American actor (b. 1901)

1974 - A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b. 1882)

1975 - Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese nationalist leader (b. 1887)

1976 - Howard Hughes, American aviator (b. 1905)

1976 - Wilder Penfield, Canadian surgeon (b. 1891)

1979 - Eugène Gabritschevsky, Russian biologist and artist (b. 1893)

1982 - Abe Fortas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1910)

1983 - Danny Rapp, American musician (Danny & the Juniors) (b. 1941)

1991 - John Tower, American politican(b. 1925)

1991 - Sonny Carter, astronaut (b. 1947)

1992 - Molly Picon, French actress (b. 1898)

1992 - Sam Walton, American retailer (b. 1918)

1994 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (b. 1967)

1997 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)

1998 - Cozy Powell, British musician (b. 1947)

2000 - Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)

2001 - Brother Theodore, German comedian (b. 1906)

2002 - Layne Staley, American musician (Alice in Chains) (b. 1967)

2004 - Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician (b. 1936)

2004 - Sławomir Rawicz, (b. 1915)

2005 - Saul Bellow, Canadian-born writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1915)

2005 - Dale Messick, American comic strip artist (b. 1906)

2005 - Debralee Scott, American actress (b. 1953)

2006 - Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)

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Mauritius: Ougadi.

Qingming Festival in the Chinese calendar

Arbor Day in South Korea

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Saint Geeraard

Saint Vincent Ferrer

Saint Irena (d. 304)

Blessed Kreszentia Hoess

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The last day of the tax year in the United Kingdom.