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April 12 is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 263 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 238 – Gordian II loses the Battle of Carthage against the Numidian forces loyal to Maximinus Thrax and is killed. Gordian I, his father, commits suicide.
• 467 – Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 627 – King Edwin of Northumbria is converted to Christianity by Paulinus, bishop of York.
• 1167 – King Karl Sverkersson of Sweden is murdered on Visingsö.
• 1204 – The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.
• 1606 – The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships.
• 1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.
• 1807 – The Froberg mutiny ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli.
• 1820 – Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.
• 1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England cause it to collapse.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
• 1877 – The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
• 1910 – SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.
• 1917 – World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
• 1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
• 1927 – Rocksprings, Texas was hit by an F5 tornado that destroyed 235 of the 247 buildings in the town and killed 72 townspeople and injured 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history.
• 1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
• 1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed.
• 1934 – The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.
• 1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
• 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry Truman, becomes President upon Roosevelt's death.
• 1945 – The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reached Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin.
• 1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
• 1961 – The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.
• 1963 – The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.
• 1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.
• 1980 – Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'état, ending over 130 years of minority Americo-Liberian rule over the country.
• 1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
• 1990 – Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there.
• 1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park's name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.
• 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred.
• 2002 – A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104.
• 2007 – A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.
• 2009 – Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency.
• 2013 – Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali.
• 2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes.

Births

• 1116 – Rikissa of Poland, queen in Sweden and grand princess of Minsk
• 1432 – Anne of Austria, Landgravine of Thuringia (d. 1462)
• 1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter's Basilica (d. 1546)
• 1484 – Maharana Sangram Singh, Rana of Mewar (d. 1527)
• 1500 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (d. 1574)
• 1526 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (d. 1585)
• 1550 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English courtier and politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (d. 1604)
• 1577 – Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648)
• 1705 – William Cookworthy, English minister and pharmacist (d. 1780)
• 1710 – Caffarelli, Italian actor and singer (d. 1783)
• 1713 – Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French historian and author (d. 1796)
• 1716 – Felice Giardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1796)
• 1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1793)
• 1724 – Lyman Hall, American physician, clergyman, and politician, 16th Governor of Georgia (d. 1790)
• 1748 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist and author (d. 1836)
• 1777 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
• 1792 – John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, English soldier and politician, Lord Privy Seal (d. 1840)
• 1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician and engineer (d. 1847)
• 1796 – George N. Briggs, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
• 1799 – Henri Druey, Swiss lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1855)
• 1801 – Joseph Lanner, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1843)
• 1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (d. 1886)
• 1839 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer (d. 1888)
• 1848 – José Gautier Benítez, Puerto Rican soldier and poet (d. 1880)
• 1851 – Edward Walter Maunder, English astronomer and author (d. 1928)
• 1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician and academic (d. 1939)
• 1856 – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English mountaineer, cartographer, and politician (d. 1937)
• 1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese admiral (d. 1918)
• 1869 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
• 1871 – Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general and politician, 130th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1941)
• 1874 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940)
• 1880 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1911)
• 1883 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer and educator (d. 1976)
• 1883 – Dally Messenger, Australian rugby player, cricketer, and sailor (d. 1959)
• 1884 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (d. 1932)
• 1884 – Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
• 1885 – Robert Delaunay, French painter (d. 1941)
• 1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor and director (d. 1918)
• 1888 – Dan Ahearn, Irish-American long jumper and police officer (d. 1942)
• 1888 – Cecil Kimber, English automobile engineer (d. 1945)
• 1892 – Henry Darger, American writer and artist (d. 1973)
• 1894 – Dorothy Cumming, Australian-American actress (d. 1983)
• 1894 – Francisco Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 13th President of Portugal (d. 1964)
• 1898 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
• 1901 – Lowell Stockman, American farmer and politician (d. 1962)
• 1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, 36th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
• 1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
• 1907 – Zawgyi, Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic (d. 1990)
• 1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (d. 2003)
• 1908 – Ida Pollock, English author and painter (d. 2013)
• 1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2006)
• 1910 – Gillo Dorfles, Italian art critic, painter and philosopher
• 1911 – Mahmoud Younis, Egyptian engineer (d. 1976)
• 1912 – Frank Dilio, Canadian businessman (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Hamengkubuwono IX, Indonesian politician, 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1988)
• 1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
• 1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (d. 2013)
• 1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1916 – Beverly Cleary, American author
• 1916 – Russell Garcia, American-New Zealand composer and conductor (d. 2011)
• 1916 – Benjamin Libet, American neuropsychologist and academic (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer and actress (d. 1999)
• 1917 – Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (d. 1978)
• 1917 – Robert Manzon, French racing driver (d. 2015)
• 1919 – István Anhalt, Hungarian-Canadian composer and educator (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Robert Cliche, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1978)
• 1922 – Simon Kapwepwe, Zambian politician, 2nd Vice President of Zambia (d. 1980)
• 1923 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Raymond Barre, French economist and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Peter Safar, Austrian physician and academic (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970)
• 1925 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer scientist and engineer
• 1925 – Ned Miller, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
• 1925 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
• 1926 – Jane Withers, American actress
• 1927 – Thomas Hemsley, English baritone (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Hardy Krüger, German actor
• 1928 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Elspet Gray, Scottish actress (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet and educator (d. 2010)
• 1930 – John Landy, Australian runner and politician, 26th Governor of Victoria
• 1930 – Bryan Magee, English philosopher and politician
• 1930 – Manuel Neri, American sculptor and painter
• 1930 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (d. 2006)
• 1931 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (d. 1995)
• 1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 5th Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor
• 1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
• 1933 – Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano and actress
• 1934 – Heinz Schneiter, Swiss footballer and manager
• 1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1936 – Kennedy Simmonds, Kittitian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
• 1937 – Dennis Banks, American author and activist
• 1937 – Igor Volk, Ukrainian-Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English director and playwright
• 1939 – Johnny Raper, Australian rugby league player and coach
• 1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1940 – Herbie Hancock, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
• 1941 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (d. 1993)
• 1942 – Bill Bryden, Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1942 – Carlos Reutemann, Argentinian race car driver and politician, Governor of Santa Fe
• 1942 – Jacob Zuma, South African politician, 4th President of South Africa
• 1943 – Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
• 1944 – Lisa Jardine, English historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
• 1944 – John Kay, German-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1945 – Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (d. 2006)
• 1946 – Ed O'Neill, American actor
• 1946 – George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Scottish politician and diplomat, 10th Secretary General of NATO
• 1947 – Roy M. Anderson, English epidemiologist, zoologist, and academic
• 1947 – Martin Brasier, English palaeontologist, biologist, and academic (d. 2014)
• 1947 – Alex Briley, American disco singer (Village People)
• 1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Woody Johnson, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
• 1947 – David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host
• 1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host and producer (d. 2008)
• 1948 – Joschka Fischer, German academic and politician, Vice Chancellor of Germany
• 1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian footballer, manager, and coach
• 1949 – Scott Turow, American lawyer and author
• 1950 – Flavio Briatore, Italian businessman
• 1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1950 – Nick Sackman, English composer and educator
• 1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
• 1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player
• 1952 – Leicester Rutledge, New Zealand rugby player
• 1952 – Gary Soto, American poet, novelist, and memoirist
• 1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004)
• 1953 – Tanino Liberatore, Italian author and illustrator
• 1954 – John Faulkner, Australian educator and politician, 52nd Australian Minister for Defence
• 1954 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg (d. 2015)
• 1954 – Pat Travers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1955 – Fabian Hamilton, English graphic designer, engineer, and politician
• 1956 – Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer
• 1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer-songwriter and actor
• 1957 – Greg Child, Australian mountaineer and author
• 1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1957 – Tama Janowitz, American novelist and short story writer
• 1958 – Will Sergeant, English guitarist
• 1958 – Klaus Tafelmeier, German javelin thrower
• 1958 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian hurdler
• 1959 – Howard Stableford, English radio and television host
• 1961 – Corrado Fabi, Italian race car driver
• 1961 – Charles Mann, American football player and sportscaster
• 1961 – Magda Szubanski, English-Australian actress, comedian and writer
• 1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer-songwriter and musician (Everclear)
• 1962 – Carlos Sainz, Spanish race car driver
• 1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle
• 1963 – Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist and author
• 1964 – Amy Ray, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer
• 1965 – Chi Onwurah, English politician
• 1965 – Gervais Rufyikiri, Burundian politician
• 1965 – Mihai Stoica, Romanian footballer and manager
• 1966 – Nils-Olav Johansen, Norwegian guitarist and singer
• 1966 – Lorenzo White, American football player
• 1967 – Sarah Cracknell, English singer-songwriter
• 1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
• 1968 – Toby Gad, German songwriter and producer
• 1968 – Adam Graves, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Jörn Lenz, German footballer and manager
• 1969 – Lucas Radebe, South African footballer and sportscaster
• 1969 – Michael Jackson, American football player and politician
• 1970 – Sylvain Bouchard, Canadian speed skater
• 1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
• 1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer
• 1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American author and illustrator
• 1973 – Ryan Kisor, American trumpet player and composer
• 1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican-American baseball player
• 1974 – Belinda Emmett, Australian actress (d. 2006)
• 1974 – Bryan Fletcher, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
• 1974 – Roman Hamrlík, Czech ice hockey player
• 1974 – Marley Shelton, American actress
• 1974 – Sylvinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
• 1976 – Olga Kotlyarova, Russian runner
• 1976 – Brad Miller, American basketball player
• 1977 – Giovanny Espinoza, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1977 – Sarah Monahan, Australian actress
• 1977 – Jason Price, Welsh footballer
• 1977 – Glenn Rogers, Australian-Scottish cricketer
• 1978 – Guy Berryman, Scottish bass player and producer
• 1978 – Scott Crary, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Svetlana Lapina, Russian high jumper
• 1978 – Robin Walker, English businessman and politician
• 1979 – Claire Danes, American actress
• 1979 – Elena Grosheva, Russian gymnast
• 1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
• 1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress
• 1979 – Cristian Ranalli, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Lee Soo-young, South Korean singer
• 1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer-songwriter
• 1981 – Yuriy Borzakovskiy, Russian runner
• 1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer
• 1981 – Grant Holt, English footballer
• 1981 – Hisashi Iwakuma, Japanese baseball pitcher
• 1981 – Brian Vandborg, Danish cyclist
• 1983 – Jelena Dokic, Serbian-Australian tennis player
• 1983 – Luke Kibet, Kenyan runner
• 1984 – Aleksey Dmitrik, Russian high jumper
• 1985 – Brennan Boesch, American baseball player
• 1985 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer
• 1986 – Brad Brach, American baseball pitcher
• 1986 – Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer
• 1986 – Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player
• 1986 – Jonathan Pitroipa, Burkinabé footballer
• 1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress
• 1987 – Shawn Gore, Canadian football player
• 1987 – Josh McCrone, Australian rugby league player
• 1987 – Luiz Adriano, Brazilian professional footballer
• 1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist
• 1988 – Ricardo Gabriel Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
• 1988 – Stephen Brogan, English footballer
• 1988 – Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Jessie James Decker, American singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Bethan Dainton, Welsh rugby union player
• 1989 – Miguel Ángel Ponce, American-Mexican footballer
• 1989 – Ádám Hanga, Hungarian basketball player
• 1989 – Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian-American ice dancer
• 1989 – Valentin Stocker, Swiss footballer
• 1990 – Francesca Halsall, English swimmer
• 1990 – Hiroki Sakai, Japanese footballer
• 1991 – Torey Krug, American ice hockey player
• 1991 – Oliver Norwood, English footballer
• 1991 – Magnus Pääjärvi, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1991 – Jazz Richards, Welsh footballer
• 1991 – Lionel Carole, French professional footballer
• 1992 – Chad le Clos, South African swimmer
• 1993 – Jordan Archer, English-Scottish footballer
• 1993 – Dorial Green-Beckham, American football player
• 1993 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1994 – Isabelle Drummond, Brazilian actress and singer
• 1994 – Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress
• 1994 – Eric Bailly, Ivorian professional footballer
• 1994 – Guido Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
• 1995 – Pedro Cachín, Argentine tennis player
• 1996 – Elizaveta Kulichkova, Russian tennis player

Deaths

• 45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, Roman general and politician (b. 75 BC)
• 238 – Gordian I, Roman emperor (b. 159)
• 238 – Gordian II, Roman emperor (b. 192)
• 352 – Pope Julius I
• 434 – Archbishop Maximianus of Constantinople
• 1125 – Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1065)
• 1167 – Charles VII, king of Sweden (b. c. 1130)
• 1212 – Vsevolod the Big Nest, Grand Prince of Vladimir (b. 1154)
• 1443 – Henry Chichele, English archbishop (b. 1364)
• 1500 – Leonhard of Gorizia, Count of Gorz (b. 1440)
• 1550 – Claude, Duke of Guise (b. 1496)
• 1555 – Joanna of Castile (b. 1479)
• 1675 – Richard Bennett, English politician, colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1609)
• 1684 – Nicola Amati, Italian instrument maker (b. 1596)
• 1687 – Ambrose Dixon, English-American soldier (b. 1619)
• 1704 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (b. 1627)
• 1748 – William Kent, English architect, designed Holkham Hall and Chiswick House (b. 1685)
• 1782 – Metastasio, Italian-Austrian poet and composer (b. 1698)
• 1788 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-Italian composer (b. 1719)
• 1795 – Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
• 1814 – Charles Burney, English composer and historian (b. 1726)
• 1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (b. 1730)
• 1850 – Adoniram Judson, American lexicographer and missionary (b. 1788)
• 1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded Fleetwood (b. 1801)
• 1872 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1795)
• 1878 – William M. Tweed, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
• 1879 – Richard Taylor, American general (b. 1826)
• 1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1820)
• 1902 – Marie Alfred Cornu, French physicist and academic (b. 1842)
• 1906 – Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar, academic, and philanthropist (b. 1836)
• 1912 – Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross (b. 1821)
• 1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Mississippi (b. 1835)
• 1937 – Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan, Turkish playwright and poet (b. 1852)
• 1938 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (b. 1873)
• 1943 – Viktor Puskar, Estonian colonel (b. 1889)
• 1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Lionel Logue, Australian actor and therapist (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish race car driver (b. 1923)
• 1966 – Sydney Allard, English racing driver and founder of the Allard car company (b. 1910)
• 1968 – Heinrich Nordhoff, German engineer (b. 1899)
• 1971 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and dentist (b. 1886)
• 1973 – Arthur Freed, American songwriter and producer (b. 1894)
• 1975 – Josephine Baker, French actress, activist, and humanitarian (b. 1906)
• 1977 – Philip K. Wrigley, American businessman, co-founded Lincoln Park Gun Club (b. 1894)
• 1980 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (b. 1913)
• 1981 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887)
• 1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer and wrestler (b. 1914)
• 1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944)
• 1984 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral and cryptanalyst (b. 1903)
• 1986 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (b. 1897)
• 1988 – Colette Deréal, French singer and actress (b. 1927)
• 1988 – Alan Paton, South African historian and author (b. 1903)
• 1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist, co-founded Youth International Party (b. 1936)
• 1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
• 1992 – Ilario Bandini, Italian race car driver and businessman (b. 1911)
• 1997 – George Wald, American neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Robert Ford, Canadian poet and diplomat (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
• 2001 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the smiley (b. 1921)
• 2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-American linguist and philologist (b. 1908)
• 2004 – Moran Campbell, Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (b. 1925)
• 2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Kevin Crease, Australian journalist (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Cecilia Colledge, English-American figure skater and coach (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader (b. 1916)
• 2010 – Werner Schroeter, German director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
• 2011 – Karim Fakhrawi, Bahraini journalist, co-founded Al-Wasat (b. 1962)
• 2012 – Mohit Chattopadhyay, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Rodgers Grant, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Johnny du Plooy, South African boxer (b. 1964)
• 2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter (b. 1962)
• 2013 – Brennan Manning, American priest and author (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist and politician (b. 1961)
• 2013 – William Y. Thompson, American historian and author (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Ya'akov Yosef, Israeli rabbi and politician (b. 1946)
• 2014 – Pierre Autin-Grenier, French author and poet (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Pierre-Henri Menthéour, French cyclist (b. 1960)
• 2014 – Maurício Alves Peruchi, Brazilian footballer (b. 1990)
• 2014 – Hal Smith, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Billy Standridge, American race car driver (b. 1953)
• 2015 – Paulo Brossard, Brazilian jurist and politician (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Patrice Dominguez, Algerian-French tennis player and trainer (b. 1950)
• 2015 – Alfred Eick, German commander (b. 1916)
• 2015 – André Mba Obame, Gabonese politician (b. 1957)
• 2016 – Anne Jackson, American actress (b. 1925)
• 2017 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (b. 1959)

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (Bolivia)
• Christian feast day:
  • Adoniram Judson (Episcopal Church)
  • Alferius
  • Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
  • Erkembode
  • Pope Julius I
  • Zeno of Verona
  • April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin:
  • Cosmonautics Day (Russia)
  • International Day of Human Space Flight
  • Yuri's Night (International observance)
• Halifax Day (North Carolina)
• National Redemption Day (Liberia)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

• Days of the year
• April