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193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans).

475 - Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysiste christological position.

1241 - Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeats the Polish and German armies.

1413 - Henry V is crowned King of England.

1667 - First public art exhibition opens in Paris.

1682 - Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.

1770 - Capt James Cook discovers Botany Bay in Australia

1865 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

1867 - Alaska purchase: Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.

1909 - The U.S. Congress passes the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act.

1913 - The Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field opens.

1916 - World War I: Battle of Verdun - German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.

1917 - World War I: Battle of Arras - The battle begins with Canadian forces executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.

1937 - The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London - it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.

1939 - Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial, after having been refused the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall.

1940 - World War II: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.

1942 - World War II: Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March - United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula. Japanese Navy launches air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the country's East Coast.

1945 - World War II: The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer is sunk.

1945 - The United States Atomic Energy Commission formed

1947 - The Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornadoes kill 181 and injure 970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

1947 - The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride of 16 black and white men traveling through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws begins. The riders, sponsored by CORE and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, are seeking to force southern states to enforce the United States Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.

1948 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in all of Colombia (La violencia).

1948 - Massacre at Deir Yassin.

1953 - Warner Brothers premieres the first 3-D film, entitled House of Wax

1957 - The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping

1959 - Mercury program: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts which the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven".

1967 - The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) takes its maiden flight.

1969 - The "Chicago Eight" plead not guilty on federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

1980 - Israeli troops move into Lebanon

1986 - The government of France rules against the privatization of French automaker Renault.

1989 - April 9 tragedy in Tbilisi, Georgia: An anti-Soviet demonstration was quashed by the Soviet army.

1991 - Georgia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

1992 - US Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty on 8 of 10 drug and racketeering charges. He is serving a 30-year prison sentence.

1992 - John Major's Conservative Party wins an unprecedented fourth general election victory in the United Kingdom.

1998 - The National Prisoner of War Museum is located in Andersonville, Georgia, on the site of an old American Civil War POW camp.

1999 - Ismail Omar Guelleh is elected president of Djibouti.

1999 - Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, President of Niger, is assassinated.

2002 - Funeral for Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, former Queen of England.

2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad, Iraq falls to American forces.

2005 - HRH Charles, Prince of Wales weds Camilla Parker Bowles.

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1336 - Tamerlane (Timur), Central Asian, Turkic conqueror (d. 1405)

1498 - John, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (d. 1550)

1597 - John Davenport, Connecticut pioneer (d. 1670)

1648 - Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Viscount Galway, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1720)

1649 - James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II of Great Britain (d. 1685)

1680 - Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist (d. 1754)

1686 - James Craggs the Younger, British politician (d. 1721)

1691 - Johann Matthias Gesner, German classical scholar (d. 1761)

1757 - Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, British admiral (d. 1833)

1770 - Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist (d. 1831)

1773 - Étienne Aignan, French writer (d. 1824)

1794 - Theobald Boehm, German inventor of the modern flute (d. 1881)

1806 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (d. 1859)

1821 - Charles Baudelaire, French poet (d. 1867)

1830 - Eadweard Muybridge, English-born photographer and motion picture pioneer (d. 1904)

1835 - King Léopold II of Belgium (d. 1909)

1865 - Erich Ludendorff, German general in World War I (d. 1937)

1867 - Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1941)

1872 - Léon Blum, French prime minister (d. 1950)

1888 - Sol Hurok, Russian-born impresario (d. 1974)

1889 - Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist (d. 1985)

1897 - John B. Gambling, American radio talk-show host (d. 1974)

1898 - Curly Lambeau, American football coach, executive (d. 1965)

1898 - Paul Robeson, American singer and activist (d. 1976)

1899 - P.L. Travers, Australian author (d. 1996)

1903 - Ward Bond, American actor (d. 1960)

1904 - Sharkey Bonano, American musician (d. 1972)

1905 - J. William Fulbright, U.S. Senator from Arkansas (d. 1995)

1906 - Antal Dorati, Hungarian conductor (d. 1988)

1908 - Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-born painter (d. 1997)

1910 - Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (d. 1998)

1912 - Lew Kopelew, Russian author (d. 1997)

1917 - Johannes Bobrowski, German lyricist, narrative writer, adaptor and essayist (d. 1965)

1917 - Brad Dexter, American actor (d. 2002)

1918 - Jørn Utzon, Danish architect

1919 - J. Presper Eckert, American computer pioneer (d. 1995)

1926 - Hugh Hefner, American editor and publisher

1928 - Tom Lehrer, American musician and mathematician

1931 - Larry Gluck, American painter and art educator

1932 - Jim Fowler, American zoologist

1932 - Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (d. 2006)

1932 - Carl Perkins, American musician (d. 1998)

1932 - Cheeta, animal actor, the longest living known chimpanzee in history

1933 - Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor

1934 - Bill Birch, New Zealand politician

1935 - Avery Schreiber, American actor (d. 2002)

1937 - Marty Krofft, children's television producer

1938 - Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian politician

1939 - Michael Learned, American actress

1942 - Brandon De Wilde, American actor (d. 1972)

1943 - Terry Knight, American music promoter (Grand Funk Railroad) (d. 2004)

1945 - Peter Gammons, baseball journalist

1945 - Steve Gadd, American session drummer

1946 - David Webb, English footballer, and football coach

1948 - Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress

1954 - Dennis Quaid, American actor

1954 - Iain Duncan Smith, British politician

1957 - Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer

1961 - Mark Kelly, British keyboard player (Marillion)

1962 - Imran Sherwani, British field hockey player

1964 - Rick Tocchet, Canadian ice hockey player

1964 - Rob Awalt, German football player

1965 - Jeff Zucker, American television executive

1965 - Paulina Porizkova, Czechoslovakian-born actress and supermodel

1965 - Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (d. 2002)

1966 - Cynthia Nixon, American actress

1967 - Rajendra Yadav, Indian doctor

1971 - Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver

1972 - Jude Rawlins, English rock singer and songwriter (Subterraneans)

1974 - Jenna Jameson, American porn star

1975 - Robbie Fowler, English footballer

1977 - Gerard Way, American singer (My Chemical Romance)

1978 - Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer

1978 - Rachel Stevens, English singer

1978 - Vesna Pisarović, Croatian singer

1979 - Keshia Knight Pulliam, American actress

1979 - Albert Hammond, Jr., American guitarist in NYC-based band The Strokes

1980 - Yoanna House, American model

1981 - Milan Bartovič, Slovak ice hockey player

1981 - Eric Harris, Columbine High school shooter (d. 1999)

1981 - Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer

1982 - Carlos Hernández, Costa Rican footballer

1985 - Yamashita Tomohisa, Japanese singer

1986 - Brian Larsen, American musician and record producer

1987 - Jesse McCartney, American singer/actor

1989 - Danielle Kahle, American figure skater

1990 - Kristen Stewart, American actress

1998 - Elle Fanning, American actress

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93 - Yuan An, Minister over the Masses of the Han dynasty

491 - Zeno, Byzantine Emperor

715 - Pope Constantine

1024 - Pope Benedict VIII

1137 - William X, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1099)

1483 - King Edward IV of England (b. 1442)

1484 - Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales (b. 1473)

1492 - Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian statesmen (b. 1449)

1553 - François Rabelais, French writer

1557 - Mikael Agricola, Finnish scholar (b. 1510)

1626 - Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman, and essayist (b. 1561)

1654 - Matei Basarab, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1588)

1693 - Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French writer (b. 1618)

1747 - Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Scottish clan chief

1754 - Christian Wolff, German philosopher (b. 1679)

1761 - William Law, British minister (b. 1686)

1804 - Jacques Necker, French statesman (b. 1732)

1806 - William V of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic

1889 - Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist (b. 1786)

1909 - Helena Modrzejewska, Polish-American actress (b. 1840)

1917 - James Hope Moulton, British scholar of Classical Greek (b. 1863)

1936 - Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist (b. 1855)

1940 - Mrs. Patrick Campbell, British actress (b. 1865)

1944 - Evgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (b. 1920)

1945 - Wilhelm Canaris, German Nazi leader (b. 1887)

1945 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (b. 1906)

1948 - George Carpenter, Australian Salvation Army general (b. 1872)

1948 - Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (b. 1903).

1951 - Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist (b. 1862)

1959 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)

1961 - King Zog of Albania (b. 1895)

1963 - Eddie Edwards, American jazz trombonist (b. 1891)

1976 - Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer, pianist (b. 1903)

1976 - Phil Ochs, American singer (b. 1940)

1988 - Brook Benton, American singer (b. 1931)

1991 - Martin Hannett, record producer (b. 1948)

1996 - Richard Condon, American novelist (b. 1915)

1996 - James W. Rouse, American real estate developer, activist, and philanthropist (b. 1914)

1999 - Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, Niger politician and general (b. 1949)

1999 - Emiko Kado, wrestler (b. 1976)

2001 - Willie Stargell, baseball player (b. 1940)

2002 - Leopold Vietoris, Austrian mathematician (b. 1891)

2005 - Andrea Dworkin, American feminist and writer (b. 1946)

2005 - Scott Mason, Australian cricketer(b.1976)

2006 - Billy Hitchcock, baseball player, coach, and official (b. 1916)

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Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Jalál (Glory) - First day of the second month of the Bahá'í Calendar.

Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor, celebrated as Bataan Day in Bataan) in the Philippines.

Day of National Unity- (ეროვნული ერთიანობის დღე), an annual public holiday in Georgia.

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Liturgical feasts

Saint Hugo of Rouan
Saint Ingofried
Saint Casilda
Saint Waltrudis