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1282 - The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.

1296 - Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England.

1492 - Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Alhambra decree aimed at expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism.

1533 - Thomas Cranmer becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris.

1822 - Florida Territory created in the United States.

1842 - Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.

1844 - One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.

1855 - Origins of the American Civil War: Bleeding Kansas - "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.

1856 - The Treaty of Paris (1856) is signed, ending the Crimean War.

1858 - Hymen Lipman patents a pencil with an attached eraser.

1867 - Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The news media call this Seward's Folly.

1870 - Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.

1910 - Mississippi Legislature founded The University of Southern Mississippi.

1912 - Sultan Abdelhafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.

1940 - Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking to be the capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Ching-wei.

1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna, Polish and Soviet forces liberate Gdańsk.

1951 - Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.

1954 - The first subway in Canada opens after five years of construction, in Toronto.

1961 - The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York.

1964 - Merv Griffin's game show Jeopardy! makes its debut on television. Art Fleming hosts the first episode on NBC.

1965 - Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.

1972 - Vietnam War: The Eastertide Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

1979 - Airey Neave, a British politician, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The INLA claims responsibility.

1981 - President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.

2006 - Marcos Pontes is the first Brazilian astronaut in space.

2006 - UK Terrorism Act 2006 becomes law.

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1135 - Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (d. 1204)

1326 - Ivan II of Russia, Grand Duke of Muscovy (d. 1359)

1432 - Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1481)

1640 - John Trenchard, English politician (d. 1695)

1746 - Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (d. 1828)

1750 - John Stafford Smith, English composer (d. 1836)

1820 - Anna Sewell, British author (d. 1878)

1844 - Paul Verlaine, French poet (d. 1896)

1853 - Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)

1857 - Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (d. 1926)

1864 - Franz Oppenheimer, German sociologist (d. 1943)

1879 - Coen de Koning, Dutch ice skater (d. 1954)

1880 - Sean O'Casey, Irish dramatist (d. 1964)

1892 - Fortunato Depero, Italian artist (d. 1960)

1892 - Erhard Milch, German field marshal (d. 1972)

1894 - Sergey Ilyushin, Russian aerospace engineer (d. 1977)

1895 - Nikolai Bulganin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1975)

1902 - Ted Heath, British musician and band leader (d. 1969)

1902 - Brooke Astor, American philanthropist

1903 - Countee Cullen, American poet (d. 1946)

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

1910 - Józef Marcinkiewicz, mathematician (d. 1940)

1913 - Marc Davis, American animator (d. 2000)

1913 - Richard Helms, American CIA director (d. 2002)

1913 - Frankie Laine, American singer

1913 - Censu Tabone, President of Malta

1914 - Sonny Boy Williamson I, American musician (d. 1948)

1919 - McGeorge Bundy, American National Security Advisor (d. 1996)

1922 - Turhan Bey, Turkish actor

1923 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (d. 1986)

1926 - Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish entrepreneur

1927 - Peter Marshall, American game show host

1928 - Robert Badinter, French politician

1929 - Richard Dysart, American actor

1930 - John Astin, American actor

1930 - Rolf Harris, Australian artist and entertainer

1932 - Ted Morgan, Swiss-born writer

1935 - Willie Galimore, American football player (d. 1964)

1937 - Warren Beatty, American actor and director

1940 - Jerry Lucas, American basketball player

1941 - Graeme Edge, British musician (Moody Blues)

1941 - Wasim Sajjad, President of Pakistan

1945 - Eric Clapton, British guitarist/singer

1949 - Lene Lovich, American singer

1949 - Naomi Sims, American fashion model and businesswoman

1950 - Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor and comedian

1952 - Peter Knights, Australian footballer and coach

1956 - Bill Butler, Scottish politician

1957 - Paul Reiser, American actor

1958 - Maurice LaMarche, Canadian voice actor

1959 - Peter Ellis, convicted child abuser

1962 - MC Hammer, American rapper

1963 - Eli-Eri Moura, Brazilian composer and conductor

1964 - Tracy Chapman, American singer

1964 - Ian Ziering, American actor

1964 - Dave Ellett, Canadian hockey player

1966 - Joey Castillo, American drummer (Queens of the Stone Age)

1967 - Megumi Hayashibara, Japanese voice actress and singer

1968 - Donna D'Errico, American actress and model

1968 - Céline Dion, Canadian singer

1970 - Mark Consuelos, American actor

1970 - Secretariat, American racehorse (d. 1989)

1973 - Jan Koller, Czech footballer

1976 - Obadele Thompson, Barbadian athlete

1976 - Jessica Cauffiel, American actress

1978 - Chris Paterson, Scottish rugby player

1978 - Fabian Basabe, American reality series star

1979 - Norah Jones, American singer and pianist

1979 - Simon Webbe, English singer

1980 - Yalin, Turkish singer and songwriter

1980 - Paul Wall, American rapper

1983 - Jeremie Aliadière, French footballer

1983 - Zach Gowen, American professional wrestler

1984 - Anna Nalick, American singer and songwriter

1984 - Mario Ancic, Croatian tennis player

1986 - Sergio Ramos, Spanish footballer

1986 - Beni Arashiro, Japanese singer

1988 - Stephen McLeod Blythe, Scottish singer songwriter The RipOffs

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1486 - Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury

1526 - Konrad Mutian, German humanist (b. 1471)

1540 - Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg, German statesman and Archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1469)

1559 - Adam Ries, German mathematician (b. 1492)

1587 - Ralph Sadler, English statesman (b. 1507)

1662 - François le Métel de Boisrobert, French poet (b. 1592)

1707 - Vauban, French architect (b. 1633)

1764 - Pietro Locatelli, Italian composer (b. 1695)

1783 - William Hunter, Scottish anatomist (b. 1718)

1804 - Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie, Marshal of France (b. 1718)

1840 - Beau Brummell, English celebrity and dandy (b. 1778)

1842 - Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, French painter (b. 1755)

1879 - Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (b. 1815)

1912 - Karl May, German author (b. 1842)

1936 - Conchita Supervia, Spanish oper singer (b. 1895)

1943 - Jan Bytnar, Polish activist

1943 - Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski, Polish activist (b. 1920)

1949 - Friedrich Bergius, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)

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

1959 - Daniil Andreev, Russian writer and mystic (b. 1906)

1965 - Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896)

1966 - Maxfield Parrish, American artist (b. 1870)

1968 - Bobby Driscoll, American actor (b. 1937)

1970 - Heinrich Brüning, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1885)

1972 - Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (b. 1890)

1977 - Abdel Halim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor (b. 1929).

1981 - DeWitt Wallace, American publisher (b. 1889)

1984 - Karl Rahner, German theologian (b. 1904)

1985 - Harold Peary, American actor and singer (heart attack) (b. 1908)

1986 - James Cagney, American actor (b. 1899

1999 - Gary Morton, American film and television producer (b. 1924)

2002 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)

2003 - Michael Jeter, American actor (b. 1952)

2003 - Valentin Pavlov, Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (b. 1937)

2004 - Alistair Cooke, English-born journalist (b. 1908)

2004 - Hubert Gregg, British broadcaster (b. 1914)

2004 - Michael King, New Zealand historian (b. 1945)

2004 - Timi Yuro, American singer (b. 1940)

2005 - Robert Creeley, American poet (b. 1926)

2005 - Milton Green, American athlete (b. 1913)

2005 - Fred Korematsu, American civil rights activist (b. 1919)

2005 - O. V. Vijayan, Indian author and cartoonist (b. 1930)

2005 - Derrick Plourde, American drummer (b. 1971)

2006 - Red Hickey, American football coach (b. 1917)

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Roman Empire - Festival devoted to Salus.

Land Day.

Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day - Public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago.

National Doctors' Day - observed in the USA.

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Liturgical feasts

Saint John Climacus (died 649)
Saint Quirinus (d. 117)
Saint Veronus
Blessed Amadeus IX of Savoy
Easter in 1975, 1986, 1991, and 1997.