On this day | April 15th

On this day: April 15th

Credit/Source: Wikipedia

769 The Lateran Council (769) ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its Iconoclasm rulings.

1071 Bari, the last Byzantine Empire possession in southern Italy, siege of Bari to Robert Guiscard.

1450 Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.

1632 Battle of Rain: Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

1642 Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Ireland militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.

1715 The Yamasee War # Pocotaligo massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in Province of Carolina.

1736 Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica (1736).

1738 ''Serse'', an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England.

1755 Samuel Johnson's ''A Dictionary of the English Language'' is published in London.

1817 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.

1861 President Abraham Lincoln calls for President Lincoln's 75,000 volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.

1865 President Abraham Lincoln dies after being Assassination of Abraham Lincoln the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Three hours later, Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president.

1892 The General Electric is formed.

1896 Closing ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

1900 Philippine–American War: Filipino people guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a Siege of Catubig of Catubig, Northern Samar, Philippines.

1912 The British passenger liner Sinking of the RMS Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive.

1920 Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchism Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.

1922 U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.

1923 Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes mellitus.

1923 Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California.

1936 First day of the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine in Mandatory Palestine.

1941 In the Belfast Blitz, two hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.

1942 The Award of the George Cross to Malta "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.

1945 Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

1947 Jackie Robinson debuts for the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking Baseball color line.

1952 First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.

1955 McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1960 At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

1969 The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

1970 During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese Cambodians results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.

1986 The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi # Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1977–2012) in response to a West Berlin discotheque bombing that killed two U.S. servicemen.

1989 Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C., in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool F.C. fans.

1989 Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.

1994 Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.

2002 Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing near the finish line at the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 281 others.

2013 15 April 2013 Iraq attacks across Iraq kills at least 75 people.

2014 In the 2014 Bentiu massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.

2019 The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by Notre-Dame de Paris fire.

2021 A Indianapolis FedEx shooting occurred at a FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven.

68 BC Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)

1282 Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)

1442 John Paston (died 1479), English noble (d. 1479)

1452 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)

1469 Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)

1552 Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)

1563 Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)

1588 Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)

1592 Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)

1641 Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)

1642 Suleiman II of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)

1646 Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)

1684 Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)

1688 Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)

1707 Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)

1710 William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)

1741 Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)

1771 Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)

1772 Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)

1793 Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)

1795 Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d. 1847)

1800 James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)

1808 William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)

1809 Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)

1817 William Crowther (Australian politician), Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)

1828 Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)

1832 Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)

1841 Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)

1841 Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram (d. 1919)

1843 Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)

1856 Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)

1858 Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)

1861 Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)

1863 Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)

1874 George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)

1874 Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (d. 1957)

1875 James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)

1877 Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)

1877 W. D. Ross, Scottish philosopher (d. 1971)

1878 Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)

1879 Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)

1883 Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)

1885 Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)

1886 Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)

1887 Felix Pipes, Austrian tennis player (d. 1983)

1887 William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)

1888 Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)

1889 Thomas Hart Benton (painter), American painter and educator (d. 1975)

1889 A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)

1890 Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the Cat's eye (road) (d. 1976)

1892 Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)

1892 Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Dutch Resistance, and author (d. 1983)

1894 Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)

1894 Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)

1895 Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)

1895 Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)

1896 Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (d. 1986)

1898 Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)

1900 Ramón Iribarren, Spanish civil engineer (d. 1967)

1901 Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)

1901 Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)

1901 René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)

1902 Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)

1903 John Williams (actor), English-American actor (d. 1983)

1904 Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)

1907 Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1988)

1908 eden ahbez, American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)

1908 Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)

1909 Robert Edison Fulton Jr., American inventor and adventurer (d. 2004)

1910 Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)

1910 Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)

1912 William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)

1912 Kim Il Sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st List of leaders of North Korea (d. 1994)

1915 Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)

1916 Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)

1916 Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)

1917 Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)

1917 Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)

1917 James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)

1918 Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)

1919 Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)

1920 Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)

1920 Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)

1920 Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)

1921 Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)

1921 Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)

1922 Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)

1922 Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)

1922 Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)

1922 Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)

1923 Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)

1923 Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)

1924 M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)

1924 Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)

1924 Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)

1926 Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer, and educator (d. 1990)

1927 Robert Mills (physicist), American physicist and academic (d. 1999)

1929 Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)

1929 Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)

1930 Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)

1930 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland

1931 Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant

1931 Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 2015)

1933 Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)

1933 David Hamilton (photographer), English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)

1933 Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)

1935 Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)

1936 Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist (d. 2019)

1937 Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)

1937 Robert W. Gore, American engineer and businessman, co-inventor of Gore-Tex (d. 2020)

1938 Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress

1938 Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)

1939 Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor

1939 Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)

1940 Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician

1940 Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and Miss World

1940 Willie Davis (baseball), American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)

1940 Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic

1940 Robert Walker (actor, born 1940), American actor (d. 2019)

1941 Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician

1942 Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)

1942 Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)

1942 Kenneth Lay, American businessman and criminal(d. 2006)

1942 Tim Lankester, English economist and academic

1943 Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic

1943 Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate

1943 Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician (d. 2022)

1943 Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)

1944 Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1946 John Lloyd (journalist), Scottish journalist and author

1946 Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff

1947 Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer

1947 Martin Broughton, English businessman

1947 Lois Chiles, American model and actress

1947 David Omand, English civil servant and academic

1947 Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Sweden)

1948 Christopher Brown (museum director), English historian, curator, and academic

1948 Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)

1948 Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician

1949 Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress

1949 Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)

1950 Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter

1950 Amy Wright, American actress

1950 Karel Kroupa, Czech football player

1951 Heloise (columnist), American journalist and author

1951 John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut

1951 Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer

1951 Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut

1952 Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter

1952 Brian Muir (sculptor), English sculptor and set designer

1952 Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic

1952 Glenn Shadix, American actor, (d. 2010)

1955 Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)

1955 Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician

1956 Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach

1957 Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach

1958 Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1958 John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer

1958 Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach

1958 Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2023)

1959 Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter

1959 Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager

1959 Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter

1960 Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player

1960 Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter

1960 Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster

1960 Tony Jones (snooker player), English snooker player

1961 Neil Carmichael (Conservative politician), English academic and politician

1961 Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist

1961 Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer

1962 Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician

1962 Tom Kane, American voice actor

1963 Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist

1963 Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer

1963 Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster

1964 Andre Joubert, South African rugby player

1964 Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1965 Soichi Noguchi, Japanese engineer and astronaut

1965 Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer

1965 Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player

1966 Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress

1966 Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)

1967 Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter

1967 Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist

1968 Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach

1968 Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner

1968 Ed O'Brien, English guitarist

1969 Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player

1969 Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor

1969 Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach

1970 Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach

1971 Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player

1971 Finidi George, Nigerian footballer

1971 Jason Sehorn, American football player

1971 Josia Thugwane, South African runner

1971 Karl Turner (British politician), English lawyer and politician

1972 Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)

1972 Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor

1974 Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director

1974 Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter

1974 Mike Quinn, American football player

1974 Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer

1974 Tim Thomas (ice hockey, born 1974), American ice hockey player

1975 Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist

1976 Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1976 Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer

1976 Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player

1976 Steve Williams (rower), English rower

1977 Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor

1977 Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player

1978 Milton Bradley (baseball), American baseball player

1978 Tim Corcoran (pitcher), American baseball player

1978 Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer

1978 Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist

1979 Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer

1980 Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer

1980 James Foster (cricketer, born 1980), English cricketer

1980 Raül López (basketball), Spanish basketball player

1980 Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player

1980 Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author

1980 Billy Yates (American football), American football player

1981 Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer

1982 Michael Aubrey, American baseball player

1982 Anthony Green (musician), American singer-songwriter

1982 Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

1983 Alice Braga, Brazilian actress

1983 Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1983 Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer

1983 Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)

1983 Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player

1983 Martin Pedersen (cyclist), Danish cyclist

1984 Antonio Cromartie, American football player

1984 Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player

1984 Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player

1985 Ryan Hamilton (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player

1986 Tom Heaton, English footballer

1986 Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer

1988 Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player

1988 Steven Defour, Belgian footballer

1988 Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher

1989 Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player

1990 Emma Watson, English actress

1991 Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor

1991 Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater

1992 Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player

1994 Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player

1994 Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter

1995 Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer

1997 Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer

1997 Maisie Williams, English actress

1998 Sexyy Red, American rapper

1999 Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player

2001 Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

628 Empress Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)

943 Liu Bin (Southern Han), emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)

956 Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch

1053 Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)

1136 Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)

1220 Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)

1237 Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic

1415 Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)

1446 Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)

1502 John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)

1558 Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)

1578 Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (b. 1509)

1610 Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)

1632 George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, Secretary of State (England) (b. 1580)

1652 Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch

1659 Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)

1719 Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)

1754 Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)

1757 Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (b. 1673)

1761 Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)

1761 William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)

1764 Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)

1764 Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (b. 1721)

1765 Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)

1788 Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)

1793 Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)

1854 Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)

1861 Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)

1865 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)

1888 Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)

1889 Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)

1898 Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician

1912 Victims of the Sinking of the RMS Titanic:

- Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)

- John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)

- Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)

- Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)

- Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)

- Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)

- Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)

- Charles Melville Hays, American businessman (b. 1856)

- James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)

- William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)

- Jack Phillips (wireless operator), English telegraphist (b. 1887)

- Edward Smith (sea captain), English Captain (b. 1850)

- William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)

- Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)

- Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)

- John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)

- Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)

1917 János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)

1927 Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)

1938 César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)

1942 Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)

1943 Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)

1944 Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)

1945 Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)

1948 Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)

1949 Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)

1962 Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)

1962 Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)

1963 Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)

1966 Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan (b. 1906)

1967 Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)

1971 Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)

1971 Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)

1979 David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)

1980 Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)

1980 Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (b. 1905)

1982 Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)

1984 Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)

1986 Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)

1988 Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)

1989 Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1915)

1990 Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)

1993 Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)

1993 John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)

1998 William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)

1998 Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)

1999 Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)

2000 Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)

2001 Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)

2002 Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)

2002 Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)

2004 Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)

2007 Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)

2008 Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)

2009 Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)

2009 László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)

2009 Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)

2010 Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)

2010 Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)

2011 Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)

2012 Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)

2012 Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)

2013 Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)

2013 Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)

2013 Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)

2014 John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)

2014 Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)

2015 Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)

2015 Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)

2017 Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)

2017 Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)

2018 R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)

2018 Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)

2022 Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (b. 1947)

2022 Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb, British politician and farmer (b. 1925)

2022 Liz Sheridan, American actress (b. 1929)

2024 Whitey Herzog, American professional baseball outfielder and manager (b. 1931)

2024 Josip Manolić, Croatian politician, Prime Minister of Croatia, and Speaker of the Chamber of Counties of Croatia (b. 1920)

Christian Calendar of saints:

- Abbo II of Metz

- Father Damien (Episcopal Church (United States))

- Hunna

- Paternus

- April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Day of the Sun (North Korea)

Father Damien Day (Hawaii)

Hillsborough disaster # Memorials (Liverpool, England)

Jackie Robinson Day (United States)

National American Sign Language Day (United States)

Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year; India)

Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual Tax return (United States) (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)

Universal Day of Culture

World Art Day

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/15 BBC: On This Day]

[https://www.onthisday.com/events/april/15 Historical Events on April 15]