15 April is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (106th in Leap Year s). There are 260 days remaining.
- , the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France .
- 1632 - Battle Of Rain ; Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War .
- 1738 - Premiere in London of Serse , an Italian Opera by George Frideric Handel .
- 1755 - Samuel Johnson 's '' A Dictionary Of The English Language '' published in London .
- 1783 - Preliminary articles of peace ending Revolutionary War ratified.
- 1802 - William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy come across a "long belt" of Daffodil s, inspiring the former to pen '' I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud ''.
- 1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth .
- 1865 - Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th President Of The United States .
- 1892 - The General Electric Company is formed through the merger of the Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Company .
- almost three hours earlier.
- 1920 - Anarchists Sacco And Vanzetti allegedly murder two security guards while robbing a shoe store.
- 1923 - Insulin first became generally available for use by Diabetics .
- 1924 - Rand McNally publishes its first Road Atlas .
- 1927 - Douglas Fairbanks , Mary Pickford and Norma and Constance Talmadge become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood .
- 1940 - The Allies start their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which was occupied by Nazi Germany .
- 1942 - George Cross awarded to "to the island fortress of Malta - its people and defenders" by King George VI .
- 1943 - An Allied bomber attack misses the Minerva automobile factory and hits the Belgian town of Mortsel instead, leaving 936 dead civilians in its wake.
- 1945 - The Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp is liberated.
- 1947 - Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball team, breaking that sport's color line.
- 1955 - The first McDonald's restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois .
- 1986 - The United States launch Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya .
- occurs at Hillsborough , a football stadium in Sheffield, England , resulting in the loss of 96 lives.
- 1989 - Upon Hu Yaobang 's death, the Tiananmen Square Protests Of 1989 begin in the People's Republic Of China .
- 1994 - Representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities sign the Marrakesh Agreement s revising the General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade and setting up the World Trade Organization (effective January 1 1995 ).
- 1997 - Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslim s making the Hajj Pilgrimage ; the official death toll is 343.
- 2002 - An Air China Boeing 767 -200, Flight CA129 crashes into hillside during heavy rain and fog near Pusan , South Korea , killing 128.
- 1452 - Leonardo Da Vinci , Italian artist (d. 1519 )
- 1489 - Sinan , Ottoman architect (d. 1588 )
- 1552 - Pietro Cataldi , Italian mathematician (d. 1626 )
- 1580 - George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore , English politician and colonizer
- 1588 - Claudius Salmasius , French classical scholar (d. 1653 )
- 1641 - Robert Sibbald , Scottish physician and antiquarian (d. 1722 )
- 1642 - Suleiman II , Ottoman Sultan (d. 1691 )
- 1646 - King Christian V Of Denmark (d. 1699 )
- 1651 - Robert Sibbald , Scottish physician
- 1684 - Catherine I Of Russia (d. 1727 )
- 1688 - Johann Friedrich Fasch , German composer (d. 1758 )
- 1707 - Leonhard Euler , Swiss mathematician (d. 1783 )
- 1710 - William Cullen , Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790 )
- 1721 - Prince William Augustus, Duke Of Cumberland , English military leader (d. 1765 )
- 1772 - Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire , French naturalist (d. 1844 )
- 1793 - Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Von Struve , German astronomer (d. 1864 )
- 1794 - Jean Pierre Flourens , French physiologist (d. 1867 )
- 1800 - James Clark Ross , English explorer (d. 1862 )
- 1809 - Hermann Grassmann , German mathematician and physicist (d. 1877 )
- 1832 - Wilhelm Busch , German poet and artist (d. 1908 )
- 1843 - Henry James , American author (d. 1916 )
- 1858 - Émile Durkheim , French sociologist (d. 1917 )
- 1861 - Bliss Carman , Canadian poet (d. 1929 )
- 1874 - Johannes Stark , German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957 )
- 1878 - Robert Walser , Swiss writer (d. 1956 )
- 1879 - Melville Henry Cane , American lawyer and poet (d. 1980 )
- 1883 - Stanley Bruce , eighth Prime Minister Of Australia (d. 1967 )
- 1885 - Tadeusz Kutrzeba , Polish general
- 1886 - Nikolay Gumilyov , Russian poet (d. 1921 )
- 1889 - Thomas Hart Benton , American muralist (d. 1975 )
- 1889 - A. Philip Randolph , American activist (d. 1979 )
- 1894 - Bessie Smith , American blues singer (d. 1937 )
- 1895 - Clark McConachy , New Zealand billiards and snooker player (d. 1980 )
- 1896 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov , Russian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986 )
- 1901 - Joe Davis , English snooker player (d. 1978 )
- 1902 - Fernando Pessa , Portuguese journalist (d. 2002 )
- 1907 - Nikolaas Tinbergen , Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (d. 1988 )
- 1912 - Kim Il Sung , President Of North Korea (d. 1994 )
- 1916 - Alfred S. Bloomingdale , American businessman (d. 1982 )
- 1917 - Hans Conried , American actor (d. 1982 )
- 1920 - Richard Von Weizäcker , President Of Germany
- 1921 - Georgi Beregovoi , cosmonaut (d. 1995 )
- 1922 - Michael Ansara , Syrian-American actor
- 1922 - Harold Washington , Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987 )
- 1924 - Sir Neville Marriner , English conductor and violinist
- 1927 - Robert Mills , American physicist (d. 1999 )
- 1930 - Vigdís Finnbogadóttir , President Of Iceland
- 1933 - Roy Clark , American musician
- 1933 - Elizabeth Montgomery , American actress (d. 1995 )
- 1933 - Boris Strugatsky , Russian author
- 1939 - Claudia Cardinale , Tunisian-born actress
- 1940 - Jeffrey Archer , British author and Member of Parliament
- 1940 - Robert Walker Jr. , American actor
- 1942 - Francis X. DiLorenzo , American Catholic prelate
- 1942 - Walt Hazzard , American basketball player
- 1944 - Dzhokhar Dudaev , Chechen leader (d. 1996 )
- 1944 - Dave Edmunds , Welsh musician
- 1945 - Frank DiLeo , American actor
- 1947 - Lois Chiles , American actress
- 1947 - Mike Chapman , songwriter (with Nicky Chinn ) and producer ( Suzi Quatro , Sweet , Blondie )
- 1948 - Michael Kamen , American composer (d. 2003 )
- 1949 - Tonio K , American singer
- 1949 - Alla Pugacheva , Russian singer
- 1950 - Amy Wright , American actress
- 1951 - Heloise , American newspaper columnist
- 1954 - Seka , American pornographic actress
- 1955 - Dodi Al-Fayed , Egyptian businessman (d. 1997 )
- 1957 - Evelyn Ashford , American athlete
- 1958 - Benjamin Zephaniah , British writer and musician
- 1959 - Emma Thompson , English actress
- 1959 - Thomas F. Wilson , American actor
- 1960 - Tony Jones (snooker) , English snooker player
- 1962 - Nawal El Moutawakel , Morrocan hurdler
- 1963 - Bobby Pepper , American journalist
- 1965 - Linda Perry , American musician
- 1966 - Samantha Fox , English singer and model
- 1967 - Frankie Poullain , British bassist ( The Darkness )
- 1967 - Dara Torres , American swimmer
- 1968 - Ed O'Brien , British musician ( Radiohead )
- 1968 - Stacey Williams , American model
- 1969 - Jeromy Burnitz , American baseball player
- 1970 - Flex Alexander , American actor
- 1972 - Arturo Gatti , Canadian boxer
- 1974 - Danny Pino , American actor
- 1974 - Josh Todd , musician and singer ( Buckcherry )
- 1975 - Paul Dana , American race car driver ( Indy Racing League ) (d. 2006 )
- 1977 - Chandra Levy , American Congressional intern (d. 2001 )
- 1980 - Raúl López , Spanish basketball player
- 1981 - Andrés D'Alessandro , Argentine football player
- 1983 - Ilya Kovalchuk , Russian hockey player
- 1986 - Quincy Owusu-Abeyie , Dutch footballer
- 1990 - Emma Watson , English actress
- 1992 - Amy Diamond , Swedish pop singer
- 1053 - Godwin, Earl Of Wessex
- 1220 - Adolf Of Altena , Archbishop of Cologne
- 1415 - Manuel Chrysoloras , Greek humanist
- 1446 - Filippo Brunelleschi , Italian architect (b. 1377 )
- 1610 - Robert Parsons , English Jesuit priest (b. 1546 )
- 1621 - John Carver , first governor of Plymouth Colony
- 1641 - Domenico Zampieri , Italian painter (b. 1581 )
- 1659 - Simon Dach , German poet (b. 1605 )
- 1704 - Johann Van Waveren Hudde , Dutch mathematician (b. 1628 )
- 1719 - Françoise D'Aubigné, Marquise De Maintenon , second wife of Louis XIV Of France (b. 1635 )
- 1754 - Jacopo Riccati , Italian mathematician (b. 1676 )
- 1761 - Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke Of Argyll , Scottish politician (b. 1682 )
- 1761 - William Oldys , English antiquarian and bibliographer (b. 1696 )
- 1764 - Madame De Pompadour , mistress of King Louis XIV Of France (b. 1721 )
- 1765 - Mikhail Lomonosov , Russian scientist and writer (b. 1711 )
- 1788 - Giuseppe Bonno , Austrian composer (b. 1711 )
- 1793 - Ignacije Szentmartony , Croatian Jesuit missionary and geographer (b. 1718 )
- 1804 - Charles Pichegru , French general (strangled in prison) (b. 1761 )
- 1843 - Noah Webster , American lexicographer (b. 1758 )
- 1854 - Arthur Aikin , English chemist, mineralogist, and scientific writer (b. 1773 )
- 1865 - Abraham Lincoln , 16th President Of The United States (b. 1809 )
- 1868 - Gaston Leroux , French writer (d. 1927 )
- 1888 - Matthew Arnold , English poet (b. 1822 )
- 1888 - Father Damien , Belgian missionary (b. 1840 )
- 1898 - Kepa Te Rangihiwinui , Maori military leader
- 1912 - Victims of the RMS Titanic
- 1912 - Edward Smith , Captain of the Titanic (b. 1850 )
- 1912 - John Jacob Astor IV , American businessman (b. 1864 )
- 1912 - Benjamin Guggenheim , American businessman (b. 1865 )
- 1938 - César Vallejo , Peruvian poet (b. 1892 )
- 1942 - Robert Musil , German novelist (b. 1880 )
- 1949 - Wallace Beery , American actor (b. 1885 )
- 1962 - Clara Blandick , American actress (b. 1881 )
- 1969 - Victoria Eugenie Of Battenberg , Queen of Spain (b. 1887 )
- 1971 - Dan Reeves - Owner of the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams (b. 1912 )
- 1974 - Giovanni D'Anzi , Italian songwriter (b. 1906 )
- 1975 - Richard Conte , American actor (b. 1910 )
- 1980 - Raymond Bailey , American actor (b. 1904 )
- 1980 - Jean-Paul Sartre , French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1905 )
- 1982 - Arthur Lowe , British actor (b. 1915 )
- 1984 - Tommy Cooper , Welsh comedy magician (b. 1921 )
- 1986 - Jean Genet , French author (b. 1910 )
- 1988 - Kenneth Williams , English actor and comedian (b. 1926 )
- 1989 - Nesuhi Ertegun , Co-founder of Atlantic Records (b. 1917 )
- 1989 - Hu Yaobang , leader of China (b. 1915 )
- 1990 - Greta Garbo , Swedish actress (b. 1905 )
- 1993 - John Tuzo Wilson , Canadian geologist (b. 1908 )
- 1993 - Leslie Charteris , Singapore-born author (b. 1907 )
- 1994 - John Curry , English figure skater (b. 1949 )
- 1998 - Pol Pot , Cambodian dictator (b. 1925 )
- 2000 - Edward Gorey , American illustrator (b. 1925 )
- 2001 - Joey Ramone , American musician and singer ( The Ramones ) (b. 1951 )
- 2002 - Damon Knight , American author (b. 1922 )
- 2002 - Byron "Whizzer" White , American football player and U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1917 )
- 2003 - Erin Fleming , Canadian actress (b. 1941 )
April 14 - April 16 - March 15 - May 15 -- Listing Of All Days
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