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April 5 is the 95th day of the year (96th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 270 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power.
• 1242 – During a battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
• 1536 – Royal Entry of Charles V into Rome: the last Roman triumph.
• 1566 – Two-hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrik van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands. The Inquisition is suspended and a delegation is sent to Spain to petition Philip II.
• 1609 – Daimyo (Lord) of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
• 1614 – In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
• 1621 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
• 1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.
• 1792 – U.S. President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
• 1804 – High Possil Meteorite: The first recorded meteorite in Scotland falls in Possil.
• 1818 – In the Battle of Maipú, Chile's independence movement – led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín – win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
• 1847 – Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, is opened in Birkenhead.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
• 1879 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
• 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
• 1904 – The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh & Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England.
• 1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated.
• 1923 – Firestone Tire and Rubber Company begins production of balloon-tires.
• 1932 – Alcohol prohibition in Finland ends. Alcohol sales begin in Alko liquor stores.
• 1932 – Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
• 1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs two executive orders: 6101 to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps, and 6102 "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates" by U.S. citizens.
• 1936 – Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
• 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean Raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
• 1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. The target is the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
• 1944 – World War II: 270 inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
• 1945 – Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip "Tito" Broz signs an agreement with the Soviet Union to allow "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory".
• 1946 – Soviet troops leave the island of Bornholm, Denmark after an 11-month occupation.
• 1949 – Fireside Theater debuts on television.
• 1949 – A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.
• 1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.
• 1956 – Fidel Castro declares himself at war with the President of Cuba.
• 1956 – In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the general elections in a landslide and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister.
• 1957 – In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E.M.S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first chief minister.
• 1958 – Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
• 1971 – In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
• 1976 – In the People's Republic of China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen incident.
• 1986 – Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle Discothèque in West Berlin, Germany.
• 1991 – An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard.
• 1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
• 1992 – The Siege of Sarajevo begins when Serb paramilitaries murder peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić on the Vrbanja Bridge.
• 1998 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge linking Awaji Island with Honshū and costing about $3.8 billion USD, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
• 1998 – Cozy Powell, was an English rock drummer, died following a car crash while driving his Saab 9000 at 104 mph (167 km/h) in bad weather on the M4 motorway near Bristol.
• 1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
• 2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
• 2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.

Births

• 1170 – Isabella of Hainault (d. 1190)
• 1288 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d. 1336)
• 1472 – Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)
• 1523 – Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer and diplomat (d. 1596)
• 1588 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
• 1595 – John Wilson, English composer and educator (d. 1674)
• 1604 – Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1675)
• 1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician (d. 1703)
• 1649 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
• 1692 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d. 1730)
• 1719 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish soldier and politician (d. 1794)
• 1727 – Pasquale Anfossi, Italian composer (d. 1797)
• 1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter (d. 1806)
• 1752 – Sébastien Érard, French instrument maker (d. 1831)
• 1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1839)
• 1784 – Louis Spohr, German violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1859)
• 1805 – Samuel Forde, Irish painter (d. 1828)
• 1816 – Samuel Freeman Miller, American physician, lawyer, and jurist (d. 1890)
• 1827 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon (d. 1912)
• 1832 – Jules Ferry, French politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (d. 1893)
• 1835 – Carl Theodor Schulz, Norwegian gardener (d. 1914)
• 1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, author, and playwright (d. 1909)
• 1839 – Robert Smalls, American pilot and politician (d. 1915)
• 1840 – Ghazaros Aghayan, Armenian historian and linguist (d. 1911)
• 1856 – Booker T. Washington, American author and educator (d. 1915)
• 1857 – Alexander of Battenberg (d. 1893)
• 1858 – Washington Atlee Burpee, Canadian businessman, founded Burpee Seeds (d. 1915)
• 1863 – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1950)
• 1869 – Sergey Chaplygin, Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1942)
• 1869 – Albert Roussel, French composer (d. 1937)
• 1871 – Mirko Seljan, Croatian explorer (d. 1912)
• 1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, American biologist (d. 1962)
• 1875 – Mistinguett, French actress and singer (d. 1956)
• 1878 – Paul Weinstein, German high jumper (d. 1964)
• 1883 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor (d. 1950)
• 1884 – Ion Inculeț, Bessarabian politician (d. 1940)
• 1893 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d. 1973)
• 1899 – Alfred Blalock, American surgeon (d. 1964)
• 1899 – Elsie Thompson, American super-centenarian (d. 2013)
• 1900 – Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American graphic designer (d. 1985)
• 1900 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrsetler (d. 1928)
• 1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
• 1901 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d. 1981)
• 1906 – Lord Buckley, American actor and singer (d. 1960)
• 1908 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, American author (d. 2006)
• 1908 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1986)
• 1908 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (d. 1989)
• 1909 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer, co-founded Eon Productions (d. 1996)
• 1912 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (d. 1983)
• 1912 – István Örkény, Hungarian author (d. 1979)
• 1916 – Albert Henry Ottenweller, American bishop (d. 2012)
• 1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1917 – Robert Bloch, American author (d. 1994)
• 1920 – Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Arthur Hailey, English-Canadian author (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Rafiq Zakaria, Indian scholar and politician (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Tom Finney, English footballer
• 1922 – Harry Freedman, Polish-Canadian horn player, composer, and educator (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and director (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Gale Storm, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
• 1923 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor and playwright (d. 1995)
• 1923 – Nguyen Van Thieu, Vietnamese general and politician, 5th President of South Vietnam (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Roger Corman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1928 – Fernand Dansereau, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1928 – Tony Williams, American singer (The Platters) (d. 1992)
• 1929 – Hugo Claus, Belgian author (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Ivar Giaever, Norwegian-American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1929 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (d. 2001)
• 1929 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (d. 1967)
• 1931 – Jack Clement, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Billy Bland, American singer-songwriter
• 1933 – Larry Felser, American journalist (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Barbara Holland, American author (d. 2010)
• 1933 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan Tamil journalist and academic (d. 1982)
• 1934 – Roman Herzog, German politician, 7th President of Germany
• 1934 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2000)
• 1935 – Peter Grant, English talent manager (d. 1995)
• 1936 – John Kelly, Irish politician (d. 2007)
• 1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State
• 1937 – Allan R. Thieme, American businessman, founded Amigo Mobility International Inc
• 1938 – Colin Bland, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer
• 1939 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
• 1939 – Ronald White, American singer-songwriter (The Miracles) (d. 1995)
• 1940 – Tommy Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1940 – Gilles Proulx, Canadian historian, radio host
• 1941 – Michael Moriarty, American-Canadian actor and singer
• 1941 – Dave Swarbrick, English singer-songwriter and fiddler (Fairport Convention, Whippersnapper, and Swarb's Lazarus)
• 1942 – Allan Clarke, English singer-songwriter (The Hollies)
• 1942 – Peter Greenaway, Welsh director
• 1943 – Max Gail, American actor
• 1943 – Jean-Louis Tauran, French cardinal
• 1944 – Peter T. King, American politician
• 1944 – Pedro Rosselló, Puerto Rican physician and politician, 7th Governor of Puerto Rico
• 1945 – Tommy Smith, English footballer
• 1946 – Jane Asher, English actress
• 1946 – Björn Granath, Swedish actor
• 1947 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Filipino politician, 14th President of the Philippines
• 1948 – Les Binks, Irish drummer (Judas Priest, Lionheart, Tytan, and Axis Point)
• 1948 – Dave Holland, English drummer (Judas Priest, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Finders Keepers, and Trapeze)
• 1949 – John Berg, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1949 – Judith Resnik, American engineer and astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer (ABBA)
• 1950 – Harpo, Swedish singer
• 1950 – Miki Manojlović, Serbian actor
• 1951 – Dean Kamen, American inventor and businessman, founded Segway Inc.
• 1951 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hello Sailor) (d. 2013)
• 1951 – Bernie Ward, American radio host
• 1952 – Mitch Pileggi, American actor
• 1953 – Frank Gaffney, American journalist and radio host
• 1954 – Guy Bertrand, Canadian linguist and radio host
• 1954 – Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wall of Voodoo and Drywall)
• 1954 – Peter Case, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Nerves and The Plimsouls)
• 1955 – Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1955 – Janice Long, English radio host
• 1955 – Akira Toriyama, Japanese illustrator
• 1956 – Dwight Hicks, American football player and actor
• 1956 – Anthony Horowitz, English author and screenwriter
• 1956 – Diamond Dallas Page, American wrestler and actor
• 1958 – Johan Kriek, South African-American tennis player
• 1958 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan lawyer and journalist (d. 2009)
• 1960 – Asteris Koutoulas, Romanian-German record producer, manager, and author
• 1960 – Greg Mathis, American judge and author
• 1961 – Jim LeRoy, American pilot (d. 2007)
• 1961 – Lisa Zane, American actress and singer
• 1962 – Charlie Adam, Scottish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1962 – Prince Carl Christian of Hohenzollern
• 1962 – Lana Clarkson, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1962 – Gord Donnelly, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Kalmyk businessman and politician, 1st President of Kalmykia
• 1964 – Steve Beaton, English darts player
• 1964 – Princess Erika, French singer-songwriter and actress
• 1964 – Marius Lăcătuș, Romanian footballer and coach
• 1964 – Christopher Reid, American rapper and actor (Kid 'n Play)
• 1965 – Cris Carpenter, American baseball player
• 1965 – Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer and manager
• 1966 – Mike McCready, American guitarist and songwriter (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, and The Rockfords)
• 1967 – Gary Gait, Canadian lacrosse player and coach
• 1967 – Anu Garg, Indian-American journalist and author
• 1967 – Troy Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Montgomery Gentry)
• 1968 – Gianna Amore, American model and actress
• 1968 – Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Ryan Birch, English martial artist (d. 2013)
• 1970 – Soheil Ayari, French race car driver
• 1970 – Thea Gill, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Krishnan Guru-Murthy, English journalist
• 1970 – Miho Hatori, Japanese singer-songwriter (Cibo Matto, Smokey & Miho, and Butter 08)
• 1971 – Dong Abay, Filipino singer-songwriter (Yano)
• 1971 – Krista Allen, American actress
• 1972 – Tim Coronel, Dutch race car driver
• 1972 – Tom Coronel, Dutch race car driver
• 1972 – Pat Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 – Paul Okon, Australian footballer and manager
• 1972 – Waylon Payne, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1972 – Yasuhiro Takemoto, Japanese animator and director
• 1973 – Tony Banks, American football player and journalist
• 1973 – Élodie Bouchez, French-American actress
• 1973 – Jason Done, English actor
• 1973 – Cho Sung-min, South Korean baseball player (d. 2013
• 1973 – Pharrell Williams, American rapper, producer, and fashion designer (N.E.R.D, The Neptunes, and All City Chess Club))
• 1974 – Sahaj, American singer-songwriter and producer (Ra)
• 1974 – Uhm Tae-woong, South Korean actor
• 1975 – John Hartson, Welsh footballer
• 1975 – Juicy J, American rapper and producer (Three 6 Mafia)
• 1975 – Shammond Williams, American basketball player
• 1976 – Aleksei Budõlin, Estonian judoka
• 1976 – Kim Collins, Nevisian sprinter
• 1976 – Ryan Drese, American baseball player
• 1976 – Ross Gload, American baseball player
• 1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
• 1976 – Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer and coach
• 1976 – Indrek Tobreluts, Estonian biathlete
• 1977 – Chad Rogers, American real estate agent
• 1978 – Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
• 1978 – Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
• 1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
• 1979 – Mitsuo Ogasawara, Japanese footballer
• 1979 – Benji Radach, American mixed martial artist
• 1979 – Dante Wesley, American football player
• 1979 – Kalchev, Bulgarian cuisine connoisseur
• 1980 – Erik Audé, American actor, stuntman, and poker player
• 1980 – Matt Bonner, American basketball player
• 1980 – David Chocarro, Argentinian baseball player and actor
• 1980 – Mary Katharine Ham, American journalist
• 1980 – Lee Jae-won, South Korean actor and singer (H.O.T. and jtL)
• 1980 – Joris Mathijsen, Dutch footballer
• 1981 – Jorge de la Rosa, Mexican baseball player
• 1981 – Stefan Ludik, Namibian cricketer, actor, and singer
• 1981 – Michael A. Monsoor, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
• 1981 – Tom Riley, English actor
• 1982 – Hayley Atwell, English actress
• 1982 – Lacey Duvalle, American porn actress
• 1982 – Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
• 1982 – Kelly Pavlik, American boxer
• 1982 – Matt Pickens, American soccer player
• 1982 – Alexandre Prémat, French race car driver
• 1983 – Jorge Andrés Martínez, Uruguayan footballer
• 1984 – Marshall Allman, American actor
• 1984 – David Dillehunt, American director, producer, and composer
• 1984 – Maartje Goderie, Dutch field hockey player
• 1984 – Shin Min-a, South Korean model and actress
• 1984 – Kisho Yano, Japanese footballer
• 1985 – Daniel Congré, French footballer
• 1985 – Kim Ji-hoo, South Korean model and actor (d. 2008)
• 1985 – Lastings Milledge, American baseball player
• 1986 – Anna Sophia Berglund, American model and actress
• 1986 – Ashley Fliehr, American wrestler
• 1986 – Jenny Hendrix, American porn actress and model
• 1987 – Max Grün, German footballer
• 1987 – Sergei Lepmets, Estonian footballer
• 1988 – Christopher Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
• 1988 – Alex Valentini, Italian footballer
• 1990 – Haruma Miura, Japanese actor and singer
• 1990 – Sophia Papamichalopoulou, Cypriot skier
• 1999 – Sharlene San Pedro, Filipino actress

Deaths

• 517 – Patriarch Timothy I of Constantinople
• 582 – Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople (b. 512)
• 1168 – Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1104)
• 1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)
• 1605 – Adam Loftus, English-Irish archbishop (b. 1513)
• 1617 – Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (b. 1555)
• 1673 – François Caron, Belgian-French politician, 8th Governor of Formosa (b. 1600)
• 1676 – John Winthrop the Younger, American politician, 1st Governor of Connecticut (b. 1606)
• 1693 – Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (b. 1627)
• 1695 – George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, English politician (b. 1633)
• 1697 – Charles XI of Sweden (b. 1655)
• 1717 – Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)
• 1735 – William Derham, English minister and philosopher (b. 1657)
• 1735 – Samuel Wesley, English clergyman and poet (b. 1662)
• 1765 – Edward Young, English poet (b. 1683)
• 1794 – Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician (b. 1759)
• 1794 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (b. 1760)
• 1804 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
• 1834 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral (b. 1757)
• 1864 – Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (b. 1797)
• 1900 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician (b. 1822)
• 1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier (b. 1866)
• 1928 – Roy Kilner, English cricketer (b. 1890)
• 1932 – Phar Lap, New Zealand race horse (b. 1926)
• 1936 – Chandler Egan, American golfer (b. 1884)
• 1941 – Nigel Gresley, English engineer (b. 1876)
• 1943 – Aleš Hrdlička, Czech-American anthropologist (b. 1869)
• 1945 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (b. 1897)
• 1946 – Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (b. 1898)
• 1952 – Charles Collett, English engineer (b. 1871)
• 1964 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)
• 1967 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1891)
• 1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
• 1969 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian SS officer (b. 1903)
• 1969 – Shelby Storck, American journalist, actor, producer, and director (b. 1917)
• 1970 – Alfred Sturtevant, American geneticist (b. 1891)
• 1972 – Brian Donlevy, American actor (b. 1901)
• 1972 – Isabel Jewell, American actress (b. 1907)
• 1973 – John Coleman, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1928)
• 1974 – A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b. 1882)
• 1975 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1887)
• 1976 – Howard Hughes, American pilot, engineer, and director (b. 1905)
• 1976 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian surgeon (b. 1891)
• 1979 – Eugène Gabritschevsky, Russian biologist (b. 1893)
• 1981 – Bob Hite, American singer-songwriter (Canned Heat) (b. 1945)
• 1982 – Abe Fortas, American jurist(b. 1910)
• 1983 – Danny Rapp, American singer-songwriter (Danny & the Juniors) (b. 1941)
• 1984 – Nikolai Matvejev, Soviet cyclist (b. 1923)
• 1987 – Jan Lindblad, Swedish photographer (b. 1932)
• 1989 – María Cristina Gómez, Salvadoran educator (b. 1938)
• 1991 – Sonny Carter, American soccer player, physician, and astronaut (b. 1947)
• 1991 – John Tower, American navy officer and politician (b. 1925)
• 1992 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam's Club (b. 1918)
• 1993 – Divya Bharti, Indian actress (b. 1974)
• 1994 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nirvana and Fecal Matter) (b. 1967)
• 1995 – Françoise Loranger, Canadian playwright and producer (b. 1913)
• 1996 – Larry LaPrise, American songwriter (b. 1913)
• 1997 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
• 1998 – Cozy Powell, English drummer (Black Sabbath Rainbow, The Jeff Beck Group, and Emerson, Lake & Powell) (b. 1947)
• 1999 – Paul David, Canadian cardiologist and politician (b. 1919)
• 2000 – Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)
• 2001 – Brother Theodore, German-American comedian and actor (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (Alice in Chains, Class of '99, Mad Season, and Alice N' Chains) (b. 1967)
• 2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish lieutenant (b. 1915)
• 2004 – Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician (b. 1936)
• 2005 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Dale Messick, American illustrator (b. 1906)
• 2005 – Debralee Scott, American actress (b. 1953)
• 2005 – John Sichel, French-English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1937)
• 2006 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
• 2007 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (Kiss and White Tiger) (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Maria Gripe, Swedish author (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Leela Majumdar, Indian author (b. 1908)
• 2007 – Darryl Stingley, American football player (b. 1951)
• 2007 – Poornachandra Tejaswi, Indian ornithologist, author, and photographer (b. 1938)
• 2008 – Charlton Heston, American actor (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Constantine Papadakis, Greek-American businessman and academic (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Barney McKenna, Irish banjo player (The Dubliners) (b. 1939)
• 2012 – Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawian politician, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Amnon Dankner, Israeli journalist and author (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Piero de Palma, Italian tenor (b. 1924)
• 2013 – James Dickens, English politician (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Dave Hunt, American radio host and author (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian (b. 1946)
• 2013 – David Kuo, American author (b. 1968)
• 2013 – Nikolaos Pappas, Greek admiral (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Albert of Montecorvino
  • Ethelburga of Lyminge
  • Derfel Gadarn
  • Gerald of Sauve-Majeure
  • Juliana of Liège
  • Maria Crescentia Höss
  • Ruadán of Lorrha
  • Vincent Ferrer
  • April 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Cold Food Festival, held on April 4 if it is a Leap year (China); and its related observances:
  • Hansik and Arbor Day (South Korea)

External links

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

• Days of the year
• April