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April Military History
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Born
| 1 | 1283 | Ludwig IV of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor (1314-47) | | | 1815 | Otto Von Bismarck | | | 1823 | Simon Bolivar Buckner, Lt Gen, C.S.A., d. 1914 | | | 1918 | The RAF, created from the Royal Flying Corps & Royal Navy Air Service | | | 1920 | Toshiro Mifune, IJAAF, actor (“Midway”), d. 1997 | | | 1922 | William Manchester, Marine, historian ("Goodbye Darkness") | | 2 | 323 | BC King Alexander IV of Macedon (323-309, son of Alexander the Great | | | 742 | Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Holy Roman Emperor, d. 814 | | | 1725 | Giacomo Casanova, who somehow found time to soldier | | | 1826 | Philip Dale Roddey, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1897 | | | 1833 | Thomas Howard Ruger, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1907 | | | 1914 | Alec Guinness, actor ("Lawrence of Arabia," "Bridge on the River Kwai") | | | 1920 | Jack Webb, actor ("The DI") | | | 1925 | George MacDonald Fraser, soldier, author ("Flashman"), d 2008 | | 3 | 963 | Duke William III of Aquitaine (935-963), b. 915. | | | 1245 | Philip III "the Stout" King of France (1270-1285) | | | 1367 | King Henry IV Bolingbroke of England (1399-1413) | | | 1783 | Washington Irving, historian (“The Conquest of Granada”) | | | 1798 | Charles D Wilkes, explorer, naval officer, U.S, d. 1877 | | | 1822 | Edward Everett Hale, author (“The Man Without a Country”) | | | 1842 | Ulric Dahlgren, Col., U.S., kia, 1864 | | | 1866 | James Herzog, Boer general | | | 1893 | Leslie Howard, soldier, actor (“The Scarlet Pimpernel”), k. 1943 | | | 1917 | Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, “A Soldier of Orange”; d. 2007 | | | 1926 | Virgil Grissom, USAF astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3) | | | 1955 | Aleksander Nikolayevich Yablontsev, cosmonaut | | 4 | 186 | Roman Emperor Caracalla (211-217), at Lugdunum | | | 1814 | John Blair Smith Todd, Brig Gen. U.S., d. 1872 | | | 1817 | John Wilson Sprague, Brig Gen., U.S., d. 1893 | | | 1820 | Charles Devens Jr, Brig Gen., U.S., d. 1891 | | | 1823 | Robert Byington Mitchell, Brig Gen, U.S. | | | 1831 | Edward Cary Walthall, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1898 | | | 1884 | Isoroku Takano, later Yamamoto, k. 1943 | | | 1897 | Pierre Fresnay, French actor ("The Grand Illusion") | | | 1943 | Ian Robertson, director, Britain's National Army Museum | | 5 | 1643 | Duke Charles V Leopold of Lorraine, Imperial Field Marshal | | | 1795 | Henry Havelock, British general, inventor of "the Havelock," d. 1857 | | | 1818 | Lewis Baldwin Parsons, Brig Gen, U.S. | | | 1822 | James Nagle, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1866 | | | 1825 | David Rumph "Neighbor" Jones, Maj Gen, C.S.A. | | | 1857 | Prince Alexander-Jozef von Battenberg of Bulgaria (1879-1886) | | | 1900 | Spencer Tracy, actor ("Thirty Second Over Tokyo") | | | 1908 | Herbert von Karajan, Austrian Nazi, conductor | | | 1923 | Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnamese soldier & president (1965-1975) | | | 1937 | Colin Powell, general, national security advisor, secretary of state | | 6 | 1498 | Giovanni de’Medici – Giovanni degli Bande Nere – condottiero, d/w 1526 | | | 1630 | Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonsle, founder of the Maratha Empire, d. 1680 | | | 1828 | Charles William Field, Maj Gen, C.S.A., d. 1892 | | | 1890 | Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker, Holland, aircraft designer | | | 1892 | Donald Douglas, aircraft designer (DC-3/C-47, etc.) | | | 1892 | Lowell Thomas, war correspondent | | 7 | 1756 | King Charles Felix of Sardinia (1821-1831) | | | 1771 | Michele "Fra Diavolo" Pezza, at Itri, Naples, resistance fighter, executed 1806 | | | 1801 | Henry Eagle, naval officer, U.S., d. 1882 | | | 1822 | Gershom Mott, Maj Gen, U.S. | | | 1882 | Kurt von Schleicher, German chancellor (12/2/32-1/28/33) | | | 1893 | Allan W Dulles, OSS, CIA | | 8 | 1460 | Ponce de Leon, conquistador and explorer | | | 1605 | King Philip IV of Spain (1621-65)& Portugal (1621-40) | | | 1726 | Lewis Morris, Signer of the Declaration of Independence | | | 1731 | William Williams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence | | | 1818 | King Christian IX of Denmark (1863-1906) | | | 1828 | George Baird Hodge, Brig Gen, C.S.A. | | | 1832 | Count Alfred von Waldersee, Prussian field marshal | | | 1875 | Albert I of Saxe-Coburg, King of Belgium (1909-34) | | | 1929 | Renzo de Felice, historian ("Mussolini"), d. 1996 | | 9 | 1812 | Randolph Barnes Marcy, Brig Gen, U.S.A., d. 1887 | | | 1826 | Thomas Hewson Neill, Brig Gen, U.S.A., d. 1885 | | | 1835 | King Leopold II of Belgium, Lord of the Congo Free State (1865-1909) | | | 1865 | Erich Ludendorff, German general | | | 1872 | Leon Blum, French Popular Front premier, appeaser | | | 1898 | Paul Robeson, Stalinist stooge, actor, folklorist | | | 1933 | Jean-Paul Belmondo, actor ("Dunkerque") | | 10 | 401 | Theodosius II the Younger, Roman Emperor (408-450) | | | 1512 | King James I of Scots (1513-42) | | | 1583 | Hugo Grotius, father of international law | | | 1769 | Jean Lannes, Marshal of France, kia 1809 | | | 1783 | Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s step-daughter, Queen of Holland (1806-10), mother of Napoleon III, d. 1837 | | | 1794 | Matthew Calbraith Perry, naval officer, who opened Japan | | | 1806 | Leonidas Polk, Episcopal Bishop, inept Lt Gen, C.S.A, KIA 1864 | | | 1823 | Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, Brig Gen, C.S.A. | | | 1827 | Lewis Wallace, Maj Gen, U.S., author ("Ben Hur") | | | 1833 | David McMurtrie Gregg, Brig Gen, U.S. | | | 1833 | James Edward Rains, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1862 | | 11 | 146 | Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor (193-211) | | | 1370 | Elector Frederick I “the Warlike” of Saxony | | | 1492 | Queen Marguerite d'Angouleme of Navarre | | | 1794 | Edward Everett, long-winded orator at Gettysburg | | | 1837 | Col. Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth, New York Fire Zouaves, k 1861 | | | 1902 | Quentin Reynolds, war correspondent, historian ("Custer's Last Stand") | | | 1919 | Hugh Carey, National Guardsman, N.Y. governor | | | 1942 | Anatoli Berezovoi, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-5) | | 12 | 1577 | King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway | | | 1579 | Francois de Bassompierre, Marshal of France | | | 1724 | Lyman Hall, Signer of the Declaration of Independence | | | 1793 | Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary | | | 1831 | George Burgwyn Anderson, Brig Gen, C.S.A. | | | 1831 | Grenville Mellen Dodge, Brig. Gen, U.S. | | | 1871 | Ioannis Metaxas, Greek general, dictator (1936-1941) | | | 1907 | Felix de Weldon, sculptor (“The Marine Corps Memorial”), d. 2003 | | | 1937 | Igor Petrovich Volk, Russia, cosmonaut | | 13 | 1570 | Guy Fawkes, the only man who went into Parliament knowing exactly what he wanted to do, executed 1606 | | | 1732 | Frederick, Lord North, inept British Prime Minister (1770-82) | | | 1743 | Thomas Jefferson, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, d. 1826 | | | 1822 | Leroy Augustus Stafford, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1864 | | | 1822 | William Stephen Walker, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1899 | | | 1907 | Harold Stassen, naval officer, perennial presidential candidate, d. 2001 | | | 1923 | Donald James Yarmy, Guadalcanal marine, actor (Don Adams of “Get Smart”), d. 2005 | | 14 | 1578 | King Philip III of Spain & Portugal (1598-1621) | | | 1721 | Duke William August of Cumberland –“Sweet William” or “Stinking Billy” | | | 1820 | Harry Thompson Hays, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1876 | | | 1832 | James Hewett Ledlie, incompetent Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1882 | | | 1907 | Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, dictator of Haiti, d. 1971 | | | 1912 | Bela Kiraly, Hungarian patriot, soldier, scholar | | | 1925 | Rod Steiger, actor ("Waterloo," “Lion of the Desert”), d. 2002 | | 15 | 1452 | Leonardo from Vinci, sometime military engineer | | | 1646 | King Christian V of Denmark and Norway | | | 1684 | Empress Catherine I of Russia (1725-27) | | | 1820 | Evander McNair, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1902 | | | 1822 | Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana, Maj Gen, U.S. | | | 1837 | Horace Porter, Bvt Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1921 | | | 1951 | Marsha S Ivins, astronaut (STS 32, 46, SK:66) | | | 1956 | Gregory J Harbaugh, astronaut (STS 39, 54) | | 16 | 1652 | Lorenzo Corsini – Pope Clement XII (1730-40) | | | 1816 | Edward "Allegheny" Johnson, Maj Gen, C.S.A., | | | 1823 | Orlando Bolivar Wilcox, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1907 | | | 1867 | Wilbur Wright, co-inventor of the airplane, 1903. | | | 1897 | John B Glubb "Pasha" of the Arab Legion | | | 1940 | Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (1972-) | | 17 | 1573 | Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria | | | 1788 | Joseph Gilbert Totten, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1864 | | | 1809 | Philip St George Cocke, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1861 | | | 1813 | Henry Washington Benham, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1884 | | | 1894 | N. S. Khrushchev, War Commissar (1941-1945), Dictator (1953-64) | | | 1915 | Anthony Quinn, actor (“Back to Bataan”) | | | 1918 | William Holden, actor ("Stalag 17", "Bridge Over River Kwai") | | | 1958 | Sergei Y Vozovikov, cosmonaut | | 18 | 359 | Flavius Gratianus, Roman Emperor (367-383) | | | 1480 | Lucrezia Borgia, a much maligned woman, d. 1519 | | | 1521 | Francois de Coligny, French general | | | 1590 | Sultan Ahmed I (1603-17) | | | 1797 | Louis-Adolphe Thiers, military historian, statesman | | | 1820 | Mariano Melgarejo, Dictator of Bolivia (1865-1870), k. 1871 | | | 1864 | Richard Harding Davis, intrepid war correspondent, d. 1916 | | 19 | 1320 | King Pedro I of Portugal (1357-67) | | | 1757 | Edward Pellew, Viscount Exmouth, sea dog | | | 1821 | Mortimer Dormer Leggett, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1896 | | | 1883 | Getulio Vargas, general, dictator/president of Brazil (1930-45, 1951-54) | | 20 | 1808 | Louis Napoleon Bonaparte – Napoleon III, d. 1873 | | | 1809 | John Smith Preston, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1881 | | | 1824 | Alfred Holt Colquitt, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1894 | | | 1827 | John Gibbon, Maj Gen, U.S., who held "The Angle," d. 1896 | | | 1839 | King Carol I of Romania (1881-1914) | | | 1889 | Adolph Hitler, Frontsoldat (1914-1918) | | 21 | 1713 | Louis Duke de Noailles, Marshal of France | | | 1729 | Empress Catharine II the Great of Russia (1762-96) | | | 1803 | Levin Minn Powell, naval officer, U.S., d. 1885 | | | 1816 | Louis Trezevant Wigfall, Brig Gen, C. S.A., d. 1874 | | | 1834 | William Rufus Terrill, Brig Gen, U.S., KIA 1862 | | | 1926 | Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, Queen of the United Kingdom (1952-) | | | 1962 | Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin, cosmonaut | | 22 | 1357 | King Jao I of Portugal (1383-1433) | | | 1451 | Queen Isabella I of Castilla-Leon (1479-1504), patron of Columbus | | | 1515 | Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, King of Navarre | | | 1610 | Pietro Ottoboni - Pope Alexander VIII (1689-91) | | | 1818 | Cadwallader Colden Washburn, Maj Gen, U.S., | | | 1823 | Alfred Gibbs, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1868 | | | 1827 | William Hopkins Morris, Maj Gen, U.S.. d. 1900 | | | 1831 | Alexander McDowell McCook, Maj Gen, U.S., of the "Fighting McCooks" | | | 1866 | Hans von Seeckt, German military reformer | | | 1870 | Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov Lenin, intellectual mass murderer | | | 1882 | Gen. Holland "Howling Mad" Smith, USMC | | | 1904 | J. Robert Oppenheimer, physicist, head of Manhattan Project | | | 1952 | Tamara Sergeyevna Zakharova, cosmonaut | | 23 | 1547 | Miguel de Cervantes, marine, "Glory of Spanish Literature" (see Deaths) [NS] | | | 1564 | The Bard [OS] | | | 1598 | Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral, kia, 1653 | | | 1697 | George Baron Anson, British admiral | | | 1775 | Joseph Mallord Turner, English artist ("The Fighting Temeraire") | | | 1791 | James Buchanan, volunteer, War of 1812, president, 1857-1861 | | | 1828 | King Albert of Saxony (1873-1902) | | | 1861 | Field Marshal Viscount Allenby of Megiddo | | | 1891 | Sergey Prokofiev, composer (“Leningrad Suite”) | | | 1897 | Lucius D. Clay, military governor of West Germany, d. 1978 | | 24 | 1194 | Ezzelino III da Romano, “cruel tyrant,” Ghibelline, d. 1259 | | | 1769 | Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington | | | 1804 | Thomas Oliver Selfridge, naval officer, U.S. | | | 1807 | Charles Ferguson Smith, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1862 | | | 1815 | James Edward Harrison, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1875 | | | 1822 | Erastus Barnard Tyler, Brig Gen, U.S. | | | 1828 | Robert Brank Vance, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1899 | | | 1829 | George Peabody Estey, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1881 | | | 1849 | Joseph S. Gallieni, Hero of the Marne | | | 1856 | Henri Philippe Petain, Marshal of France, Head of Vichy, d. 1951 | | | 1876 | Grand-Adm. Erich Raeder, CinC Kriegmarine (1928-1943), d. 1960 | | | 1882 | Hugh Dowding, Air Marshal, Hero of the Battle of Britain, d. 1970 | | | 1903 | Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera y Saenz de Heredia, Falangist, murdered, 1936 | | | 1906 | William “Lord Haw Haw” Joyce, executed 1946 | | 25 | 1214 | King Louis IX of France (1226-70) - "Saint Louis" | | | 1228 | Holy Roman Emperor Conrad IV (1237-54) | | | 1284 | King Edward II of England (1307-27) | | | 1599 | Oliver Cromwell, "Lord Protector" of England (1653-58), butcher | | | 1725 | Admiral Viscount Augustus Keppel, RN (1726-1786) | | | 1840 | James Dearing, Brig Gen, C.S.A., the last Confederate general KIA, 1865 | | | 1914 | Marcos Perez Jimenez, general, dictator of Venezuela | | 26 | 121 | Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (161-180) | | | 1228 | King Conrad IV of Germany | | | 1319 | King Jean II the Good of France (1350-64) | | | 1573 | Marie de'Medici, Mrs. Henri IV of France, who taught the French to cook | | | 1648 | King Pedro II of Portugal (1683-1706) | | | 1718 | Esek Hopkins, naval officer, U.S. | | | 1798 | Eugene Delacroix, artist (“The Massacre of Chios”) | | | 1812 | Alfred Krupp, German arms merchant | | | 1827 | Charles Edward Hovey, Brig Gen, U.S. | | | 1839 | Cyrus Hamblin, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1867 | | | 1894 | Rudolph Hess, Nazi, suicide in prison, 1987 | | | 1903 | Geoffrey Worthington, Air Vice-Marshal, RAF | | 27 | 1701 | King Charles Emanuel I of Sardinia | | | 1737 | Edward Gibbon, Captain of the Hampshire Grenadiers, historian | | | 1822 | Ulysses S Grant, general, 1861-1869, president 1869-1877 | | | 1835 | John Murray Corse, Brig Gen, U.S. | | | 1942 | Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov, Russian cosmonaut | | 28 | 32 | Marcus Salvius Otho, Roman Emperor (Jan 15-Apr 16, 69) | | | 1442 | King Edward IV of England (1461-70, 1471-83) | | | 1592 | George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, English admiral | | | 1758 | James Monroe, soldier, president, 1817-25 | | | 1810 | Daniel Ullmann, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1892 | | | 1812 | Daniel Henry Rucker, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1910 | | | 1815 | Andrew Jackson Smith, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1897 | | | 1825 | James Winning McMillan, Brig Gen, U.S., | | | 1888 | Henry Crerar, Canadian general, World War II, d. 1965 | | | 1889 | Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral, KIA, the Java Sea, Feb 27, 1942 | | | 1908 | Oscar Schindler, one of the Righteous, d. 1974 | | | 1937 | Saddam Hussein al-Takriti, Dictator of Iraq (1979-2003), executed 2006 | | | 1943 | John O Creighton, USN, astronaut | | | 1949 | Jerome "Jay" Apt, astronaut | | 29 | 1815 | Abram Duryee, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1890 | | | 1818 | Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1855-81) | | | 1875 | Rafael Sabatini, author ("The Sea Hawk", "Captain Blood") | | | 1901 | Emperor Hirohito of Japan (1926-89), amateur biologist, unindicted war criminal | | | 1932 | Alexei A Gubarev, cosmonaut (Soyuz 17, 28) | | | 1953 | Nikolai Nikolayevich Budarin, Russia, cosmonaut | | 30 | 1309 | King Kasimir III “ the Great” of Poland (1333-70) | | | 1805 | William Kerley Strong, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1867 | | | 1830 | Davis Tillson, Brig Gen, U.S., d. 1895 | | | 1893 | Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi, executed 1946 | | | 1909 | Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1948-80) | | | 1938 | Bugs Bunny, sometime U.S. Marine | | | 1946 | King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden (1973- ) |
Died
| 1 | 1204 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France, then England, Crusader | | | 1205 | King Amalric II of Cyprus and Jerusalem | | | 1405 | Tamerlane | | | 1406 | King Robert III of Scots | | | 1548 | King Sigismund I of Poland, at 81 | | | 1870 | Patrick Gass, last survivor of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, at 98 | | | 1922 | Charles, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (1916-1918) | | | 1930 | Empress Zawditu of Ethiopia (1916-1930), daughter of the great Menelik | | | 1946 | Noah Beery, actor (“Beau Geste”), at 62 | | | 1947 | King George II of Greece, at 56 | | | 1965 | Gen. Henry Crerar, Canadian First Army, World War II | | | 1994 | Leon Degrelle, Belgian Nazi, in exile | | 2 | 1118 | King Baldwin I of Jerusalem | | | 1416 | King Ferdinand I “the Just” of Aragon and Sicily, at 52 | | | 1420 | Nicolò Malvizzi, Patrician of Bologna, Papal Notary, assassinated. | | | 1440 | Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi, condottiero, murdered | | | 1502 | Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales,at 15; elder brother of the later Henry VIII | | | 1657 | Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, at 48 | | | 1702 | Jean Bart, French admiral | | | 1831 | King Charles Felix of Sardinia (1821-31), at 74 | | | 1865 | Ambrose P. Hill, Confederate general, KIA at 39 | | | 1945 | Maurice Rose, highest ranking US Jewish officer, KIA | | | 1966 | C.S. Forester, novelist (“Horatio Hornblower”), b. 1899 | | | 2005 | Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), one of the Righteous, at 84 | | 3 | 33 | Jesus [alernative astronomically-based estimate] | | | 628 | Shah Chosroes II of Persia (579-628), murdered by his son | | | 1192 | Marquis Conrad of Montferrat, King of Jerusalem (1192), assassinated in Tyre | | | 1203 | Prince Arthur, Duke of Brittany, c. 15, nephew of Richard Lionheart, heir to the English throne, probably murdered, by his uncle, King John | | | 1287 | Pope Honorius IV - Giacomo Savelli (1283-1287) | | | 1680 | Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonsle, founder of the Maratha Empire, at c. 50 | | | 1838 | Dr. Francesco Antommarchi, Napoleon’s personal physician, 57 | | | 1882 | Jesse James, shot by Robert Ford, at 34, St Joseph, Mo | | | 1946 | Lt Gen Masaharu Homma, shot for the Bataan Death March | | | 1988 | Milton A Caniff, US cartoonist ("Steve Canyon"), at 81 | | | 1991 | Graham Greene, novelist (“Our Man in Havana”), b. 1904 | | 4 | 636 | St. Isidore of Seville, Patron of the Internet, at Seville | | | 896 | Pope Formosus (891-896) | | | 1284 | King Alfonso X "the Wise" of Castilla-Leon (1252-84), c. 62 | | | 1292 | Pope Nicholas IV - Girolamo Masci (1288-1292) | | | 1406 | King Robert III of Scots (1390-1406) | | | 1588 | King Frederick II of Denmark & Norway (1559-88) at 53 | | | 1817 | Andre Massena, Marshal of France, noted looter | | | 1841 | Pres Wm Henry Harrison, after 30 days in office, at 68 | | | 1953 | King Charles II of Romania (1930-40), at 59 | | | 1979 | Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, former Pakistani President, hanged at 51 | | | 2003 | Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, kia, Bagdhad, earning a Medal of Honor | | 5 | 1208 | Quetzalcoatl | | | 1356 | Colin Doubel, behaded by King John "the Good" of France | | | 1356 | le Comte de Graville, behaded by King John "the Good" of France | | | 1356 | le Comte de Harcourt, behaded by King John "the Good" of France | | | 1356 | Mabue de Mainemares, behaded by King John "the Good" of France | | | 1697 | King Charles XI King of Sweden (1660-97), at 41 | | | 1794 | Georges-Jacques Danton, French revolutionary leader, guillotined | | | 1964 | Douglas MacArthur, “Defender of Australia, Liberator of the Philippines, Conqueror of Japan,” at 84 | | | 1972 | Brian Donlevy, actor ("Wake Island"), at 73 | | | 1991 | Manley L "Sonny" Carter Jr, US astronaut, in an accident | | 6 | 403 | King Saul of the Alans, kia, Pollentia | | | 1199 | King Richard I “Lionheart” of England (1189-99), of wounds at 41 | | | 1348 | Laura de Noves, Petrarch's beloved, of plague, at c. 40 | | | 1362 | Jacques de Bourbon, Count of Marche, kia | | | 1490 | King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary | | | 1803 | Sir William Hamilton, sometime British ambassador at Naples, husband to Lady Hamilton, friend to Nelson | | | 1975 | Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese Nationalist leader, at 87 | | | 1992 | Isaac Asimov, Boys’ High alum, Army veteran, author, at 72 | | | 1994 | Pres. Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi (b. 1958) & Pres. Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda (b 1937), by bomb in an airplane | | | 2005 | Rainier III Grimaldi, Sovereign Prince of Monaco (1949-2005), Foreign Legionnaire, at 82 | | 7 | 30 | Jesus [Alt] | | | 924 | Emperor Berengarius I of Italy, murdered | | | 1498 | King Charles VIII of France(1483-98), at 27, concussion from banging his head on a stone door lintel | | | 1779 | Miss Reay, mistress to First Lord of the Admiralty the the Earl of Sandwich, shot twice by the Rev. James Hackman, a frustrated suitor, outside Covent Garden Theatre [see Apr 19] | | | 1789 | Sultan Abdul Hamid I of Turkey (1774-89), at 64 | | | 1803 | Toussaint L'Ouverture, liberator of Haiti, in a French prison | | | 1871 | Adm Wilhelm Freiherr von Tegetthoff of Austria (Helgoland, Lissa) | | 8 | 217 | Caracalla, Roman Emperor (211-17), 29, murdered while relieving himself | | | 1143 | Byzantine Emperor John II "the Good" Comnenus (1118-1143), in an accident at 63 | | | 1364 | King Jean II “the Good” of France (1350-64), royal chucklehead, at 44, a prisoner of the English | | | 1492 | Lorenzo "il Magnifico" de’ Medici, Lord of Florence (1469-92) | | | 1595 | Henri II d’Orléans, Sovereign Count of Neuchatel, Duke of Longueville & Estouteville, etc., kia, Amiens | | | 1697 | Niels Juel, Danish admiral (Oland, Moen), at 67 | | | 1973 | Pablo Picasso, artistic Nazi collaborator, at 91 | | | 1981 | Omar Bradley, last US 5-star officer, at 88 | | 9 | 340 | Roman Emperor Constantine II, assassinated | | | 491 | Roman Emperor Zeno | | | 715 | Pope Constantine (708-715) | | | 1024 | Pope Benedict VIII – Theophylact of Tusculum (1012-24), brother of John XIX (1024-1032) | | | 1483 | King Edward IV of England (1461-70 & 71-83), at 38 | | | 1747 | Simon Fraser, 12th Baron Lovat, Jacobite, having the honor of being the last man beheaded in England | | | 1904 | Queen Isabella II of Spain (1833-68), at 73 | | | 1917 | Edward Thomas, soldier poet, kia at Arras | | | 1945 | Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian, anti-Nazi, hanged by Hitler | | | 1945 | Hans Oster, general, anti-Nazi, hanged by Hitler | | | 1945 | Hans von Dohnanyi, politician, anti-Nazi, hanged by Hitler | | | 1945 | Wilhelm Canaris, admiral, intelligence agent, anti-Nazi, hanged by Hitler | | | 1961 | King Zogu of Albania (1925-39), at 65 | | 10 | 879 | King Louis II “the Stutterer” of France (877-79) | | | 947 | Count Hugo of Arles, King of Italy | | | 1503 | Cardinal Giovanni Michiel (nephew of Pope Paul II), poisoned by Cesare Borgia, to net 150,000 ducats | | | 1533 | King Frederick I of Denmark & Norway (1523-33), at 61 | | | 1559 | Duke Ercole II d’Este of Ferrara, Modena, & Reggio (1534-59), son of Alfonso I & Lucrezia Borgia, condottiero, at 50 | | | 1585 | Pope Gregory XIII - Ugo Buoncampagni (1572-1585) | | | 1739 | Dick Turpin, noted highwayman, hanged in England | | | 1919 | Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, b. 1879, murdered in an ambush | | | 1940 | Capt. Bernard Armitage Warburton-Lee, RN, 44, kia earning a VC | | 11 | 678 | Pope Donus/Dominus (676-78) | | | 1034 | Byzantine Emperor Romanus III Argyrus (1028-34), slain by his wife | | | 1240 | Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth “the Great” of Wales (1194-1240) | | | 1508 | Duke Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, condottiero, connoisseur | | | 1512 | Gaston de Foix, Pretender to the throne of Navarra, kia at Ravenna | | | 1555 | Queen Juana "la loca" of Spain (1504-1506), at 75 | | | 1916 | Richard Harding Davis, intrepid war correspondent, at 52, while in OCS | | 12 | 238 | Gordian II (b. 192), kia, followed by his father, Gordian I (b. c. 160), suicide, Carthage, after 21 days as Roman Co-Emperors | | | 352 | Pope St. Julius I (337-352) | | | 1312 | Rizzardo IV, Lord of Treviso, Belluno, & Feltre, d/w | | | 1550 | Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, claimant to the throne of Naples, at 53 | | | 1864 | Thomas Green, Brig Gen, C.S.A., Blair's Landing, La; the only Confederate general kia by the USN | | | 1912 | Clara Barton, war nurse, founder of the American Red Cross, at 90 | | | 1945 | FDR, cerebral hemorrhage at 63 | | | 1946 | August Borms, Flemish collaborator, executed | | | 1956 | Jose Moscardo Ituarte, Defender of the Alcazar of Toldeo | | | 1975 | Josephine Baker, resistance fighter | | | 1981 | Joe "The Brown Bomber" Louis, veteran, at 66 | | 13 | 1053 | Earl Godwine of Wessex | | | 1203 | Duke Arthur I of Brittany, murdered his uncle, King John of England | | | 1517 | Tuman Bey, the last Mamluke Sultan of Egypt, hanged by the Turks | | | 1638 | Duke Henri II of Rohan-Gié, Huguenot leader, at 58 | | | 1759 | George Frederick Handel | | | 1868 | Emperor Theodorus of Abyssinia, suicide to avoid capture by the British | | 14 | 711 | King Childebert III of French, at about 27 | | | 911 | Pope Sergius III (904-911) | | | 1390 | Rinaldo Orsini, Count of Tagliacozzo, murdered at L’Aquila | | | 1390 | Giovanni Orsini, his brother, murdered at L’Aquila | | | 1471 | Earl Richard of Warwick, the "Kingmaker" | | | 1488 | Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola & Forli, condottiero, husband to Caterina Sforza, murdered at 45 in a coup | | | 1515 | Galeazzo I Sforza, Lord of Pesaro (1510-12), Governor of Cremona (1512-15), kia | | | 1574 | Count Hendrik of Nassau-Dillenburg, murdered | | | 1941 | Jack Edmonson, Australian corporal, KIA at Tobruk, earning the V.C. | | 15 | 1257 | Mamluke Sultan Aybak of Egypt (1250-1257), murdered by order of his wife | | | 1595 | Torquato Tasso, poet, at 51 | | | 1605 | Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia (1598-1605) | | | 1861 | Pvt Richard Hough, killed by a premature explosion during a salute to mark the surrender of Ft Sumter | | | 1865 | Abraham Lincoln, hours after being shot | | | 1980 | Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist Vichyite Nazi-collaborating communist sympathizer, at 74 | | | 2005 | Martin Blumenson, soldier, historian (“Cross Channel Attack”), at 86 | | 16 | 69 | Roman Emperor Otho (Jan 15-Apr 16, 69), suicide at 32 after defeat by Vitellius | | | 1090 | Sigelgaita, warrior princess, wife of Robert the Weasel, at c. 50 | | | 1115 | Grand Prince Sviatopolk II of Kiev | | | 1828 | Francisco Goya, artist (“The Horrors of War”), b. 1746. | | | 1978 | Lucius D Clay, U.S. military governor or West Germany, at 80 | | 17 | 43 | BC Hirtius, Roman Consul, kia at Modena | | | 43 | BC Pansa, Roman Consul, d/w from Forum Gallorum, 15th | | | 744 | Caliph Walid II of Baghdad, murderd | | | 859 | Pope Benedict III (855-859) | | | 1355 | Doge Marino Falieri of Venice(1354-1355), beheaded by the Serenissima for treason | | | 1433 | Stefano Colonna, Co-Lord of Palestrina, Condottiero, murdered by his nephew Salvatore | | | 1433 | Salvatore Colonna, Co-Lord of Palestrina, lynched by popular uprising, for murdering his Uncle Stefano. | | | 1605 | Pope Leo XI - Alessandro Ottaviano de’Medici (1-17 Apr 1605), at 69 | | | 1616 | Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate (to 1868) | | | 1711 | Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I von Habsburg (1705-11), at 32 | | | 1790 | Benjamin Franklin, sometime militiaman and military engineer, at 84 | | | 1945 | Walter Model, Nazi field marshal, suicide at 54, rather than surrender | | | 1983 | Mark W Clark, U.S. general, at 87 | | | 1987 | Dick Shawn, actor ("What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?"), at 63 | | | 1997 | Chaim Herzog, President of Israel, 1983-93, at 78 | | 18 | 680 | Caliph Mu'awijja, the first Umayyad, at 81 | | | 1592 | Troilo Savelli di Polombara, Lord of Poggio Moiano, Aspra, & Montasola, beheaded in the Sant’Angelo at 18. | | | 1689 | George Jeffreys, British Chief Justice, the ultimate “Hanging Judge”, at c. 40 | | | 1690 | Duke Charles V Leopold of Lorraine, Imperial field marshal | | | 1943 | Adm. Yamamoto Isoruku, ambushed in the Solomon Islands. | | | 1945 | Ernie Pyle, war correspondent, KIA at 44, Ie Shima, Okinawa | | 19 | 1054 | Pope St. Leo IX (1049-1054)- Count Bruno of Egesheim-Dagsburg | | | 1390 | King Robert II of Scotland | | | 1689 | Christina, sometime Queen of Sweden (1644-54) | | | 1779 | The Rev. James Hackman, hanged at Tyburn for the murder of Miss Reay, mistress to First Lord of the Admiralty the Earl of Sandwich, on Apr 7th | | | 1881 | Benjamin Disraeli | | | 1886 | Bishop Narciso Martinez Izquierdo of Madrid, shot by a disgruntled priest | | | 1943 | Alexander Schmorell, German resistance fighter, beheaded | | | 1943 | Kurt Huber, German resistance fighter, beheaded | | | 1943 | Willy Grave, German resistance fighter, beheaded | | | 1956 | Lionel "Buster" Crabb, British diver, drowned mysteriously at 47 | | | 1987 | Maxwell D Taylor, commander 101st Airborne Division in WW II, at 85 | | | 1989 | Daphne du Maurier, author (“The Birds”), wife to Sir Frederick Browing of the Paras, at 81 | | 20 | 1164 | Anti-Pope “Victor IV” - Ottaviano Montecello (1159-64) | | | 1314 | Pope Clement V – Bertrand de Got (1305-1314), who started the “Babylonian Captivity” | | | 1534 | Eliza Barton, 'the Maid of Kent,' executed | | | 1836 | Prince Johan I Jozef of Liechtenstein, Austrian field marshal, at 75 | | | 1947 | King Christian X of Denmark (1912-1947), hero of the Resistance | | 21 | 323 | BC Alexander the Great, noted drunkard | | | 323 | BC Diogenese the Cynic, noted cynic | | | 586 | King Leovigild of the Visgoths | | | 753 | BC Remus, accidentally slain by his brother Romulus | | | 1073 | Pope Alexander II - Anselmo da Baggio (1061-73) | | | 1509 | King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor (1485-1509) | | | 1574 | Grand Duke Cosimo de Medici of Tuscany, c. 54 | | | 1792 | “Tiradentes” - Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, Brazilian revolutionary, executed at c. 45 | | | 1910 | Mark Twain, noted Confederate Army deserter | | | 1918 | Manfred “The Red Baron” von Richthofen, ground fire, at 25 | | | 1962 | Frederick Handley Page, pioneer aircraft designer | | | 1971 | Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, dictator of Haiti, at 64 | | | 1997 | Pres Diosdado Macapagal of the Philippines (1961-65) | | | 2004 | Karl Hass, incarcerated Nazi war criminal, at 92 | | 22 | 296 | Pope St Gaius (283-296) | | | 455 | Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus (Mar 17-May 22 455) | | | 536 | Pope Agapitus I (535-36) | | | 1864 | Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joseph G. Totten (USMA 1805), at 76 | | | 1994 | Richard M Nixon, sometime naval officer, president, stroke at 81 | | 23 | 303 | St. George, Martyr, beheaded in Cappadocia | | | 871 | King Ethelred I of Wessex (866-871), elder brother of Alfred the Great | | | 1014 | Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, kia at 87 | | | 1016 | King Aethelred II "the Unrede" of England (979-1016) | | | 1374 | King Edward III grants Geoffrey Chaucer a pitcher of wine a day | | | 1521 | Don Juan de Padilla, Comunero leader, beheaded after Villalar | | | 1616 | Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, marine, author, on his 69th birthday [NS] | | | 1616 | William Shakespeare, by tradition, on his birthday [OS]. | | | 1625 | Prince Maurice of Nassau and of Orange, at 57 | | | 1918 | Lt. Cdr Percy Thomson Dean, KIA at Zeebrugge | | | 1986 | Otto Preminger, director (“In Harm’s Way”) | | | 2007 | Boris Yeltsin, first President of post-Soviet Russia, at 76 | | 24 | 1077 | King Geza I of Hungary (1074-7) | | | 1185 | Emperor Antoku Taira of Japan (1180-85), drowned | | | 1342 | Pope Benedict XII - Jacques Fournier (1334-1342) | | | 1617 | Concino Concini, Count della Penna, Marshal of France, murdered on orders of Louis XIII | | | 1891 | Count Helmuth von Moltke | | | 1967 | Vladimir Komarov, first man to die in space, Soyuz 1 | | 25 | 1295 | King Sancho IV “the Brave” Castille & Leon (1287-1295) | | | 1553 | Fabio Malvizzi, Patrician of Bologna, executed | | | 1607 | Adm. Don Juan Alvarez of Spain, kia | | | 1607 | Adm. Jacob van Heemskerck of the Netherlands, kia | | | 1644 | Emperor Chongzhen of China (1627-1644), the last Ming, suicide | | | 1792 | Nicolas Pelletier, highwayman, the first man to date Mdm. Guillotine | | | 1928 | Baron Piotr Wrangel, Russian "White" general | | 26 | 757 | Pope Stephen II (752-57) | | | 1196 | King Alfonso II of Aragon (1162-96) | | | 1478 | Giuliano d’Medici, assassinated by the Pazzi at mass | | | 1478 | Cardinal Francesco Salviati, lynched by a mob for his part in the Pazzi conspiracy | | | 1478 | Francesco Pazzi, lynched by a mob for his part in the Pazzi conspiracy | | | 1478 | Jacopo de' Pazzi, lynched by a mob for his part in the Pazzi conspiracy | | | 1538 | Diego de Almagro, Conquistador, executed by Pizzarro | | | 1865 | John Wilkes Booth, killed, on his 27th birthday | | | 2004 | Gunther Rothenberg, military historian | | 27 | 399 | BC Socrates, noted hoplite, of poison, at c. 70 | | | 630 | Shah Ardashir III of Persia, murdered | | | 1124 | King Alexander I of Scotland(1107-24) | | | 1404 | Duke Philip “the Bold” or “the Stout” of Burgundy, at 62, at Hall, Hainault | | | 1521 | Ferdinand Magellan, explorer, slain by the Filipinos | | | 1682 | Tsar Theodorus III (1676-82) | | | 1694 | Elector Johan Georg IV of Saxony (1691-94), at 25 | | | 1702 | Jean Bart, French naval hero | | | 1792 | John James Ankerstrom, assassin of King Gustav III of Sweden, executed | | | 1813 | Zebulon M Pike, army officer and explorer, kia at 34 | | | 1881 | Ludwig A Benedek, Austrian general (Koniggratz), at 76 | | | 1893 | John Murray Corse, Brig. Gen, U.S., on his 58th birthday | | | 1965 | Edward R. Morrow, war correspondent, Cold Warrior, at 57 | | 28 | 1192 | Conrad I of Montferrat, King of Jerusalem, assassinated at c. 40 | | | 1197 | King Rhys ap Gruffydd of South Wales | | | 1851 | Adm Sir Edward Codrington | | | 1905 | Fitzhugh Lee, Maj. Gen., CSA, Brig. Gen, USA, b 1835 | | | 1936 | King Fuad of Egypt (1922-36) | | | 1945 | Benito Mussolini & Claretta Petacci, murdered by partisans near Milan. | | 29 | 1380 | St. Catherine of Siena | | | 1676 | Dutch Adm. Michael Ruyter, cannonballed at 69, Naval Battle of Syracuse | | | 1862 | Timothy Webster, American patriot, executed by the Confederacy | | | 1918 | Gavrilo Princip, who had assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand | | 30 | 313 | Gaius Maximinus Daia, Roman Emperor (305-313) | | | 535 | Queen Amalasuntha of the Ostrogoths, strangled by order of her husband King Theodahad | | | 1524 | Pierre Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard, "The knight without fear nor equal", shot, the Sesia, Italy, at c. 50 | | | 1632 | Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, Imperial field marshal, kia Ingolstadt | | | 1632 | King Sigismund III of Poland and Sweden, at 65 | | | 1792 | John Montague, Earl of Sandwich, naval officer, inventor, at 73 | | | 1828 | King Shaka zan Senzagakona of the Zulu, murdered by his brothers | | | 1847 | Archduke Charles of Austria, Napoleon's "Great Enemy" | | | 1864 | Gen W R Scurry, kia | | | 1945 | Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun, suicide | | | 1945 | Col. William O. Darby, of “Darby’s Rangers,” kia at 34 near Lake Garda, while serving as C/S of the 10th Mountain Div | | | 1972 | King Ntare V of Burundi, murdered |
Event
| 1 | 0 | Fool's Day | | | 286 | Maximian becomes co-Emperor of Rome with Diocletian (286-305) | | | 705 | Election of Pope John VII | | | 1605 | Alessandro Ottaviano de’Medici elected Pope as Leo XI (1-17 Apr 1605) | | | 1793 | Eruption of Mt. Unsen, Japan, 53,000 die | | | 1862 | Shenandoah Valley campaign, Jackson's Battle of Woodstock, VA | | | 1863 | Federal conscription goes into effect | | | 1865 | Battle of Five Forks, Lee's line of communications is severed | | | 1893 | USN establishes the rate of Chief Petty Officer | | | 1924 | Hitler gets five years for the Munich "Beer Hall" putsch | | | 1933 | Heinrich Himmler becomes Police Commander of Germany | | | 1933 | Nazi Germany enacts anti-Semitic legislation | | | 1939 | US recognizes the Franco government in Spain | | | 1941 | CNO orders "special precautions against surprise attack on weekends and holidays." | | | 1941 | Coup ousts PM Abdulullah of Iraq | | | 1941 | Navy takes over Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay | | | 1942 | Bataan: Fil-American troops go on quarter rations | | | 1942 | Japanese First Air Fleet refuels south of Java | | | 1942 | Japanese troops capture Jessami, Netherlands East Indies | | | 1943 | Japanese aircraft attack the Russell Islands | | | 1944 | Adm Toyoda becomes commander of Combined Fleet | | | 1944 | TF 58 completes three days of raids in the western Carolines | | | 1944 | The Admiralties: 1st Cav Div begins mop up of outlying islands | | | 1945 | Okinawa: 60,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines land on Easter Sunday | | | 1945 | US First & Ninth Armies meet to form the Ruhr pocket | | | 1954 | Air Force Academy established | | | 1954 | First army helicopter battalion formed, Fort Bragg, NC | | | 1955 | EOKA-bomb attacks against British facilities in Cyprus | | | 1957 | Leaders of the '56 Hungarian Revolution are tried in Budpest | | | 1960 | French detonate their 2nd atom bomb in the Sahara | | | 1960 | US launches Tiros I, first weather satellite | | | 1979 | Islamic Republic is proclaimed in Iran | | | 1986 | SSBN Nathanael Greene grounds in the Irish Sea | | | 1991 | Warsaw Pact officially dissolves | | | 1992 | USS Missouri (BB-63) decommissioned for the last time | | 2 | 0 | Feast of St Francis de Paola, Patron of Naval Officers | | | 999 | Gerbert of Aurillac elected Pope as Sylvester II (999-1003) | | | 1118 | Baldwin II becomes King of Jerusalem | | | 1194 | Richard Lionheart meets Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest [Trad] | | | 1283 | Giacomo Savelli is elected Pope as Honorius IV (1283-1287) | | | 1416 | Alfonso V succeeds to the throne of Aragon and Sicily | | | 1513 | Juan Ponce de Leon claims Florida for Spain | | | 1550 | Jews are expelled from Genoa | | | 1781 | US Frigate Alliance captures British privateers Mars and Minerva | | | 1801 | Nelson “Copenhagens” the Danish Fleet | | | 1827 | Construction of the first Naval Hospital begins at Portsmouth, Va | | | 1865 | Battles of Petersburg/Ft Gregg/Sutherland's Station, Va | | | 1865 | Confederates evacuate Richmond | | | 1865 | US Maj Gen James H Wilson's cavalry captures Selma | | | 1912 | Sun Yat Sen forms the Kuomintang Party | | | 1916 | Zeppelin bombs Rosyth distillery, causing a flood of fine malt | | | 1917 | Pres Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany | | | 1941 | Nazi occupiers disband the Dutch Boy Scouts | | | 1942 | Burma: the British abandon Prome. | | | 1942 | CV Hornet sails from San Francisco, carrying 16 Army B-25Bs | | | 1942 | Singapore: Japanese 18th Div sails for Rangoon. | | | 1942 | US bombers from India attack Japanese shipping in the Andaman Islands. | | | 1943 | Italian blockade runner Orseolo reaches Bordeaux from Kobe | | | 1944 | Fifth Air Force raids Hansa Bay, New Guinea. | | | 1944 | Merrill's Marauders heavily engaged at Nhpum Ga, Burma | | | 1964 | President Goulart of Brazil replaced by Castello Branco in a coup | | | 1972 | Israeli PM Menachem Begin visits Pres Sadat of Egypt | | | 1982 | Argentina invades the Falkland Is, initiating a 72 losing war with Britain | | | 1986 | Terrorist bomb at the Athens airport, 4 Americans die | | 3 | 1376 | Battle of Navarrete: AN Anglo-Spanish army defets a Franco-Spanish army | | | 1559 | Treaty of Le Cateau-Cambrensis: end of the Franco-Spanish “Italian Wars” (1494-1559) | | | 1860 | First ride of the Pony Express | | | 1865 | Union forces occupy Richmond & Petersberg, to the tune of "Dixie" | | | 1896 | Battle of Tucruf: Sudanese Mahdists defeat the Italians | | | 1922 | Stalin named Secretary-General of Central Committee of the CPUSSR | | | 1930 | Ras Tafari ascends the throne of Ethiopia as Emperor Haile Selassie | | | 1941 | Putsch installs pro-Nazi Rashid Ali al-Ghailani as PM of Iraq, who initiates attacks on Britons & Jews | | | 1942 | Bataan: Japanese launch a major offensive. | | | 1942 | Burma: Stilwell orders the Chinese to stand at Pyinamana. | | | 1943 | Elms 41st Div land at Morobe, near the Waria River, without opposition | | | 1944 | British bombers attack battleship Tirpitz in Norwegian waters | | | 1944 | Burma: British juggle forces to stem the Japanese drive on Imphal | | | 1944 | Hollandia: major Fifth AF raid on Japanese base. | | | 1945 | USSR renounces Apr '41 non-aggression pact with Japan | | | 1948 | Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan | | | 1982 | Security Council demands Argentina withdraw from the | | 4 | 0 | Feast of St. Isidore of Seville, Patron of the Internet | | | 1081 | Alexius I Comnenus becomes Byzantine Emperor | | | 1541 | Ignatius of Loyola is appointed the first Superior-General of the Jesuits | | | 1581 | Frances Drake completes the second circumnavigation of the world | | | 1588 | Christian IV ascends the throne of Denmark & Norway | | | 1655 | Battle at Porto Farina, Tunis: English fleet defeats the Barbary pirates | | | 1745 | Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Prussians defeat the Austrians & Dutch | | | 1776 | First American victory at sea: USS Columbus captures HM Tender Hawke | | | 1854 | Sloop Plymouth lands party to protect U.S. citizens in Shanghai | | | 1862 | Yorktown: First serious fighting of the Peninsular Campaign | | | 1865 | Lincoln sits in Jeff Davis' chair, in the Confederate White House | | | 1898 | First Chief of USN's Bureau of Yards and Docks appointed, Mordecai Endicott | | | 1918 | Battle of the Somme ends | | | 1920 | Jerusalem: Arab rioters attack Jews | | | 1933 | USN Airship Akron crashes off New Jersey, 73 die | | | 1939 | King Faisal II ascends to throne of Iraq (murdered 1958) | | | 1941 | RAdm Claude Bloch warns Midway against Japanese surprise attack | | | 1941 | Rommel takes Benghazi | | | 1942 | Indian O: Japanese CV a/c sink British CAs Cornwall and Dorsetshire | | | 1942 | Bataan: Fil-American forces fall back after Japanese break through | | | 1943 | 4th Marine Div is activated at San Diego | | | 1944 | Burma: Heavy fighting around Nhpum Ga | | | 1944 | Japanese move on Kohima, having cut the road from Imphal. | | | 1945 | Heavy fighting begins in southern Okinawa. | | | 1945 | Hungary liberated from Nazi occupation | | | 1949 | North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed | | | 1958 | Aldermaston, England: 1st anti-nuclear weapons demonstration | | 5 | 823 | Pope Paschal I crowns Lothar I Co-Emperor of the HRE | | | 1242 | Battle of the Neva: Prince Alexander of Novgorod defeats the Teutonic Knights | | | 1614 | Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe | | | 1654 | Treaty of Westminster: First Anglo-Dutch War ends (1652-54) | | | 1762 | British capture Greneda from French | | | 1799 | Battle of Magnano: Austrians defeat the French | | | 1811 | Battle of Barrosa: English defeat the French | | | 1812 | British take Badajoz, Spain, from the French by storm | | | 1861 | U.S. troops abandon Ft Quitman, Tx | | | 1863 | Richmond Bread Riot: Jeff Davis threatens to fire on women & children | | | 1881 | Transvaal regains independence from Britain | | | 1887 | Lord Acton writes, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely." | | | 1896 | Athens: 1st modern Olympic Games begin | | | 1915 | French begin Woevre offensive | | | 1939 | Germany: "Aryan" youth ordered to join the Hitlerjugend | | | 1942 | Bataan: Japanese troops capture Mt. Samat | | | 1942 | Colombo, Ceylon: Japanese First Air Fleet inflicts heavy damage | | | 1943 | Burma: Br 6th Bde HQ is overrun by advancing Japanese in the Arakan | | | 1943 | Poon Lim (1917-1991) lands near Belem, Brazil, follownig 133 days in a lifeboat in the Atlantic after the Ben Lomond was torpedoed | | | 1945 | Japanese cabinet resigns. | | | 1950 | Prague espionage trial against bishops & priests begins | | | 1951 | Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, atomic spies, sentenced to death | | | 1955 | Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, succeeded by Anthony Eden | | | 1962 | NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 54,600 m | | | 1986 | Berlin: two US servicemen & a Turkish woman die in a bombing | | | 1991 | Iraq: US begins relief air drops to Kurds in the north | | 6 | 0 | Army Day | | | 46 | BC Caesar defeats Cato and Juba at Thapsus, Africa | | | 403 | Battle of Pollentia: Stilicho's Romano-Alan Army defeats Alaric's Visigoths, on Easter Sundy | | | 1250 | Battle of Minieh: Ayyubids defeat the Crusaders | | | 1327 | Petrarch first sets eyes on Laura de Noves [see Deaths] | | | 1400 | BC Theseus and the Athenian Youths and Maidens sail for Crete | | | 1453 | Sultan Mehemet II lays siege to Constantinople (falls May 29th) | | | 1664 | France & Saxony conclude an alliance | | | 1672 | France declares war on the Netherlands | | | 1712 | Slave revolt in New York | | | 1776 | Improvised US naval squadron captures eight British ships off New England | | | 1859 | US recognizes Benito Juarez’s liberal government in Mexico's War of Reform | | | 1862 | Battle of Shiloh, Day 1: Confederate success. | | | 1866 | Union veterans form the Grand Army of the Republic | | | 1916 | German parliament OKs unrestricted submarine warfare | | | 1917 | US declares war on Germany, enters World War I | | | 1934 | Nazis arrest 418 Lutheran ministers | | | 1939 | Great Britain & Poland sign military pact | | | 1939 | US & UK agree on joint control of Canton & Enderbury Is in the Pacific | | | 1941 | Germans bomb Belgrad, 17,000 reportedly die | | | 1941 | Germans bomb the Piraeus, two old battleships sink | | | 1941 | Italians surrender Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to the British | | | 1942 | Chaing Kai-shek agrees to provide additional forces for Burma | | | 1942 | Japanese First Air Fleet raids in the Bay of Bengal. | | | 1942 | Stilwell's Chinese forces prepare to defend Pyinamana. | | | 1943 | Sub Trout begins laying mines near Sarawak, Borneo | | | 1945 | Coevorden, the Netherlands, liberated from the Nazis | | | 1945 | Japanese battleship Yamato sails for Okinawa on a one-way mission | | | 1945 | Okinawa: Massive kamikaze attack on the US fleet sinks 6 ships | | | 1968 | USS New Jersey recommissioned; first BB in service since 1958 | | | 1973 | India annexes Sikkim | | 7 | 451 | Attila's Huns sack Metz | | | 1118 | Pope Gelasius II excommunicates Emperor Henry V | | | 1381 | 2nd treaty of Guerande: Yann IV of Brittany and Charles VI of France | | | 1509 | France declares war on Venice | | | 1528 | French troops defeat Cardinal Pompeo Colonna outside Gaeta, to begin a siege (fails) | | | 1555 | Marcello Cervini degli Spannochi elected Pope as Marcellus II (7 Apr-6 May 1555) | | | 1625 | Albrecht von Wallenstein appointed supreme commander by the HRE | | | 1652 | The Fronde: Battle of Bleneau - Royalists defeat the Frondists | | | 1655 | Fabio Chigi elected Pope as Alexander VII (1655-1667) | | | 1776 | Continental brig Lexington captures British Edward | | | 1818 | Gen Andrew Jackson seizes St Marks, Fla, from Seminole Indians | | | 1831 | Dom Pedro II crowned Emperor of Brazil | | | 1836 | Skirmish between Texian rear guards and advancing Mexican troops at San Felipe Ford | | | 1862 | Battle of Shiloh: Grant defeats the Confederates | | | 1863 | Battle of Charleston, SC | | | 1865 | Battle of Farmville, Va | | | 1917 | USN takes over all wireless stations for the duration of WW I | | | 1933 | Nazis bar Jews from law & public service | | | 1939 | Italy invades Albania; first combat by an armored division, the Centauro | | | 1941 | Battleship USS North Carolina commissioned | | | 1942 | Bataan: Fil-Am troops fail to form a new defensive line | | | 1942 | Heavy Axis air attack on Malta | | | 1942 | Japanese 18th Div lands at Rangoon. | | | 1942 | Solomons: Japanese land on Bougainville | | | 1942 | USN agrees to accept black Americans for general service | | | 1943 | Japanese a/c inflict heavy losses on Allied shipping around Guadalcanal | | | 1944 | Japanese cut water supply of Anglo-Indian forces at Kohima. | | | 1945 | First Navy Nurses land on Iwo Jima: Lt, jg, Ann Purvis & Ens Jane Kendeigh | | | 1945 | Japanese BB Yamato sunk off Okinawa by TF 58 a/c. | | | 1945 | Massive kamikaze attack on the US fleet off Okinawa | | | 1946 | Part of East Prussia is incorporated into the Russian SFSR | | | 1949 | Rogers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific" opens at the Majestic for 1928 performances | | | 1966 | US recovers lost H-bomb from sea off Palomares, Spain | | | 1978 | President Jimmy Carter defers production of neutron bomb | | | 1980 | President Jimmy Carter breaks relations with Iran over the hostage crisis | | | 1989 | Soviet sub sinks in Norwegian Sea, c. 12 die | | 8 | 0 | Feast of St Walther Gautier of Pontnoise, Patron of Prisoners-of-War | | | 1195 | Alexius III Angelus ousts his brother Isaac II as Byzantine Emperor | | | 1341 | Petrarch is crowned “Poet Laureate” on the Capitoline in Rome | | | 1378 | Bartolomeo Prignano of Itri elected Pope as Urban VI (1378-1389) | | | 1455 | Alfonso Borja elected Pope as Callistus III (1455-1458) | | | 1500 | Battle of Novara: King Louis XII beats Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan | | | 1595 | Battle of Amiens | | | 1801 | Riot in Bucharest, 128 Jews slain | | | 1861 | US mint at Dahlonega, Georgia, seized by Confederate officials | | | 1864 | Battle of Mansfield, La; U.S. forces routed by Lt Gen Richard Taylor | | | 1865 | Lee's retreat cut off near Appomattox Court House | | | 1898 | Battle of the Atbara River, Anglo-Egyptian forces crush Sudanese | | | 1904 | France & Britain conclude the Entente Cordiale | | | 1925 | First planned night landings on a carrier, USS Langley, by VF-1 | | | 1945 | Okinawa: Marines probe Japanese lines on the Motobu Peninsula | | | 1950 | Unarmed USN patrol plane downed over the Baltic Sea by Soviet aircraft | | | 1956 | Parris Is, SC: Six Marine recruits drown during an unauthorized night exercise | | | 1961 | Persian Gulf: Explosion in the British liner Dara, 236 die | | 9 | 30 | The Crucifixion [the first Friday following the the first night of Passover on a Thursday] | | | 1002 | Battle of “Hocktide”: Saxon women defeat Danish raiders | | | 1097 | Norman-Italian Crusaders under Bohemund & Tancred reach Constantinople | | | 1241 | Battle of Liegnitz/Wahlstadt: Mongol armies defeat the Poles & Germans | | | 1260 | Battle of Montaperti: The Sienese Ghibellines defeat the Florentine Guelfs | | | 1388 | Battle of Naefels: The Swiss defeat the Hapsburgs | | | 1454 | Peace of Lodi: ends Milanese-Venetian war | | | 1534 | Turkish corsair Khair Ed-Din (Barbarossa) captures Sperlonga | | | 1621 | Twelve Years’ Truce (1609-1621) between Spain and the Netherlands expires | | | 1770 | Capt James Cook discovers Botany Bay, Australia | | | 1783 | Tippu Sahib expels the English from Bednore, India | | | 1848 | Battle of Sorio: The Austrians defeat Venetian Insurgents | | | 1848 | Battle of the Ponte di Goito: Piedmontese defeat the Austrians | | | 1864 | Battle of Pleasant Hill, La | | | 1865 | Appomattox: Robert E Lee & the Army of Northern Virginia pack it in. | | | 1865 | Union troops capture Ft Blakely, Alabama | | | 1898 | Lt Andrew S. Rowan leaves for Cuba with "a message for Garcia." | | | 1913 | Ebbet’s Field opens | | | 1914 | Tampico Incident: US sailors arrested in Mexico | | | 1917 | Battle of Arras begins; Canadians storm Vimy Ridge | | | 1918 | Latvia proclaims independence from Russia | | | 1940 | Germany invades Denmark, which promptly surrenders | | | 1940 | Germany invades Norway | | | 1942 | Bataan: c. 75,000 U.S. & Filipino troops surrender to the Japanese | | | 1942 | British CV Hermes lost to Japanese naval aircraft off Ceylon | | | 1942 | First Air Fleet sinks 12 merchant ships off India, raids Tricomalee | | | 1942 | Manila Bay: U.S. troops hold out on Corregidor and Ft. Drum | | | 1942 | RAdm William F. Halsey, sails from Pearl Harbor in CV Enterprise | | | 1943 | Japanese DD Isonami sunk south east of Celebes by the U.S. sub Tautog | | | 1944 | Japanese abandon Nhpum Ga in Burma. | | | 1944 | Japanese encircle Imphal | | | 1944 | Japanese offer to mediate peace between Germany and Russia. | | | 1945 | Philippines: U.S. forces land on Jolo in the Sulu Sea | | | 1945 | RAF sinks Pocket Battleship Admiral Scheer in port | | | 1959 | NASA names seven astronauts for Project Mercury | | | 1981 | SSBN George Washington rams Japanese freighter Nisso Maru | | | 1991 | Georgia votes to secede from the USSR | | | 1992 | John Major becomes PM of the UK | | 10 | 847 | Consecration of Pope Leo IV (847-55), who fortifies the Vatican against the Moors & is later canonized | | | 879 | Coronation of King Louis III of France | | | 1241 | Battle of the Sajo River, Day 1: The Hungarians hold the Mongols | | | 1500 | Duke Ludovico “Il Moro” Sforza of Milan is deposed and imprisoned by the French, after being back in power for only two months. | | | 1534 | Khair Ed-Din Barbarossa’s Turkish corsairs sack Fondi, Naples | | | 1734 | Great Fire of Montreal: c. 50 buildings burn, a black woman is lynched | | | 1741 | Battle of Mollwitz: Prussians defeat the Austrians | | | 1815 | Austria declares war on King Giacchino Murat of Naples | | | 1845 | Great fire of Pittsburgh, c. 1,000 buildings damaged | | | 1848 | Battle of Castelnuovo: Austrians defeat Italian Nationalists | | | 1864 | Austrian Archduke Maximilian becomes Emperor of Mexico | | | 1865 | Appomattox: Gen Lee issues Gen Order #9, his last | | | 1868 | British defeat King Theodorus of Abyssinia at Magdala | | | 1880 | War of the Pacific: Chilean fleet blockades Callao, Peru | | | |
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