April 24th
Holidays and Festivals
Republic Day (The Gambia)
Democracy Day (Nepal) * (see below)
Genocide Remembrance Day * (see below)
Kapyong Day (Australia) * (see below)
Concord Day (Niger) * (see below)
Pig in a Blanket Day a.k.a. National Pigs In A Blanket Day
National Hairball Awareness Day
Christian Feast Day of Ecgberht of Ripon
Christian Feast Day of Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Christian Feast Day of Mellitus
Christian Feast Day of Wilfrid Anglican Church
The earliest possible date for National Arbor Day, (celebrated on the last Friday in April) (United States)
* World Beer Festival - Raleigh NC (2010)
* Memphis Brewfest - memphis TN (2010)
* Democracy Day (Nepal), commemorating the reinstitution of parliament in 2006
* Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia), commemorating the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
* Kapyong Day (Australia), a day of remembrance for Korean War veterans; named after the Battle of Kapyong in 1951
* Concord Day (Niger), commemorating the 1995 peace accord ending the Tuareg Rebellion
Toast of The Day
"May you...
Work like you don't need the money,
love like you've never been hurt,
dance like no-one is watching,
screw like it's being filmed,
and drink like a true Irishman."
- Traditional Irish
Drink of The Day
Flaming Doctor Pepper (Punch)
13 parts beer
3 parts Amaretto
1 part high proof liquor
Layer the two spirits in the shot glass, with the high proof liquor on top. Light the shot and allow to burn, then extinguish by dropping it into the beer glass. Drink immediately.
Wine of The Day
Renteria 2007 River Ranch
Style - Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley
$45
Beer of The Day
COEDO Beniaka
Brewer - Coedobrewery Kyodoshoji Corp. Ltd., Kawagoe, Japan
Style - Specialty Beer
Joke of The Day
A Man is walking home late at night and sees a woman lurking in the shadows.
"Twenty dollars," she whispers.
He had never had a hooker before, but decides - what the hell, it's only twenty dollars. So he joins her in the bushes.
They're going at it for a couple of minutes when, all of a sudden, a light flashes on them. It's a police officer.
"'What's going on here, people?" asks the officer.
"I'm making love to me wife," the man answers sounding annoyed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," says the cop, "I didn't know"
''Well, neither did I," he said, "till you shined the light in her face!!"
Quote of The Day
"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?"
- Paul Newman - HAPPY NEWMAN DAY! (most areas other than Bates College)
Whiskey of The Day
$45
- In Celebration of Ireland's Declaration of Independence on April 24th, 1916
April Observances
ASPCA MonthAlcohol Awareness Month
Amateur Radio Month
Atlanta Food & Wine Month
Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage Month
Cancer Control Month
Celebrate Diversity Month
Community Spirit Days
Confederate History Month
Couple Appreciation Month
Cranberries and Gooseberries Month
DNA, Genomics and Stem Cell Education and Awareness Month
Defeat Diabetes Month
Emotional Overeating Awareness Month
Facial Protection Month
Fair Housing Month
Financial Literacy Month
Fresh Florida Tomatoes Month
Frog Month
Get Yourself Tested Month
Global Child Nutrition Month
Grange Month
Holy Humor Month
Home Improvement Time (April-Sept.30)
Honor Society Awareness Month (Different Sponsor to March)
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) Month
Informed Woman Month
Injury Prevention Month
International Cesarean Awareness Month
International Customer Loyalty Month
International Daffynitions Month
International Guitar Month
International Twit Award Month
Jazz Appreciation Month
Keep America Beautiful Month
Lawn and Garden Month
Learn Thai Month
Library Snapshot Month
Math Awareness Month
Month of the Military Child
Month of the Young Child
National African American Women's Fitness Month
National Autism Awareness Month
National Car Care Month
National Card and Letter Writing Month
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
National DNA & Genomics & Stem Cell Education & Awareness Month
National Decorating Month
National Donate Life Month
National Garden Month
National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month
National Humor Month
National Kite Month
National Knuckles Down Month
National Landscape Architecture Month
National Multiple Birth Awareness Month
National Occupational Therapy Month
National Oral Health Month
National Parkinson's Awareness Month
National Pecan Month
National Pest Management Month
National Pet First Aid Awareness Month
National Pet Month
National Poetry Month
National Prepare Your Home To Be Sold Month
National Rebuilding Month
National Sarcoidosis Awareness Month
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
National Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Education and Awareness Month
National Stress Awareness Month
National Welding Month
National Welding Month
National Youth Sports Safety Month
Patient Safety Awareness Month
Pharmacists War on Diabetes Month
Physical Wellness Month
Prematurity Awareness Month
Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month
Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month
Procrastination Awareness Month
Records and Information Management Month
Rosacea Awareness Month
School Library Media Month
Southern Belles Month
Soy Foods Month
Sports Eye Safety Month
Straw Hat Month
Testicular Cancer Awareness Month
Tomatillo and Asian Pear Month
Women's Eye Health and Safety Month
Workplace Conflict Awareness Month
World Habitat Awareness Month
Worldwide Bereaved Spouses Awareness Month
Observances this Week
National Karaoke Week, Fourth Week in AprilNational Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, Fourth Work Week in April
International Whistlers Week (IWC), Third or Fourth week of April
Mariachi Week (Tucsan, AZ, USA), Last week in April
National Pro-Life T-shirt Week, Last week in April
National Scoop The Poop Week, Last week in April
National Playground Safety Week, Last Week in April
Cleaning For A Reason Week, April 18th-24th
Undergraduate Research Week, Third Work Week of April
National Park Week, 9 Days Starting with the Third Saturday of April
Money Smart Week (Federal Reserve), Third Saturday through Fourth Saturday of April
Safe Kids Week, Third Saturday through Fourth Saturday of April
Historical Events on April 24th
(1479 BC) Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty).
(1184 BC) The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
858 Nicolaas I succeeds Benedict III as pope
1061 Halley's Comet sparks English monk to predict country'll be destroyed
1185 Battle at Danoura: Yoshitsune Minamoto's fleet beats imperial fleet
1288 Jews of Yroyes France are accused of ritual murder
1311 Gen Malik Kafur returns to Delhi after campaign in South India
1364 Pope Urbabus V names John V van Virneburg as bishop of Utrecht
1524 Duke of Bourbon drives admiral Bonnivet out of Milan
1547 Battle of Muhlberg: Emperor Karel V vs ruler Johan F the Brave
1558 Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
1570 Battles between Spanish troops & followers of sultan Suleiman
1596 Pacificatie of Ireland drawn
1704 "Boston News-Letter", The first regular newspaper in the United States, the News-Letter, is published in Boston, Massachusetts.
1762 Russia & Prussia signs peace treaty
1792 "La Marseillaise" composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle
1800 The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
1801 1st performance of Joseph Haydn's oratorio "Die Jahreszeiten"
1823 Eugene Scribes "Le Menteur Veridique," premieres in Paris
1833 Jacob Evert & George Dulty patent soda fountain
1854 Austria's Franz Joseph I marries Elisabeth A E "Sissi"
1862 American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.
1863 Skirmish at Okolona/Birmingham, Mississippi (Grierson's Raid)
1865 Fire alarm & police telegraph system put into operation (SF)
1867 Black demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond Va streetcars
1872 Volcano Vesuvius erupts
1877 Last federal occupying troops withdraw from south (New Orleans)
1877 Russia declares war on The Ottoman Empire through Romania
1880 Amateur Athletic Association, governing body for men's athletics in England & Wales, is founded in Oxford, England
1883 28 Surinamers depart to Amsterdam World's Fair
1884 National Medical Association of Black physicians organizes (Atlanta)
1888 Eastman Kodak forms
1891 Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Final Problem"
1894 French cyclist Henri Desgrange rides 100km in world record 2:39:18
1894 Phillies Lave Cross hits for cycle vs Bkln Dodgers
1895 Joshua Slocum completes around-the-world voyage in 11-m boat
1897 1st reporter, William Price (Wash Star), assigned to White House
1898 Spain declares war on US rejecting ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba
1898 The Spanish-American War, The United States declares war on Spain.
1898 US fleet under commodore Dewey sails from Hong Kong to Philippines
1899 Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
1900 Passing of Andrew Halliday, cable car pioneer
1901 1st AL game, Chic beats Cleve Blues 8-2, 3 other games rained out
1904 The Lithuanian press ban is lifted after almost 40 years.
1905 1st-class Cricket debut of Jack Hobbs, Surrey v Gentlemen (18 & 28)
1905 Senators execute a triple-play & beat Yankees 4-3
1907 Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey for the exclusive use of his employees, is opened.
1908 Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock become 1st to travel across US by car, they leave LA in a Packard & arrive in NYC in 32d-5h-25m
1909 Harry Hillman & Lawson Robertson run 100m 3-legged race in 11 seconds
1910 German Catholic youth movement Quickborn forms
1913 The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City is opened.
1915 German army fires chloroform gas in Ieper
1915 Massacre of Armenians by Turks starts (Armenian Martyrs Day)
1915 Pitts' Frank Allen no-hits St Louis (Federal League), 2-0
1915 The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.
1916 The Easter Rising, The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalists Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett starts a rebellion in Ireland.
1916 Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the ice-trapped ship Endurance.
1917 Yankee lefty George Mogridge no-hits Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway
1918 First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs.
1920 British Mandate over Palestine goes into effect (lasts 28 years)
1920 Polish troops attack Ukraine
1921 1st municipal elections for men & women in Belgium
1923 General harbor strike begins in NYC
1925 88°F highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in April
1926 The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
1928 Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented
1929 1st non-stop England to India flight takes-off
1929 Thorvald Stauning becomes premier of Denmark
1932 Benny Rothman leads the Mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
1932 German national election (NSDAP 36.3% in Prussia)
1933 1st major league to get 4 consecutive doubles in 9 inn (Dick Bartell)
1938 Lindenheuvel soccer team forms
1941 British army begins evacuation of Greece
1941 Dutch Prince Bernhard becomes an RAF pilot
1942 Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
1944 1st Boeing B-29 arrives in China "over the Hump"
1944 RAF bombs Munich
1944 United Negro College Fund incorporates
1945 Albert B "Happy" Chandler is named 2nd baseball commissioner
1945 Delegates of 46 countries gather in SF (to discuss UN)
1946 11 players Tinker, Evers, Chance, Burkett, McCarthy, Waddell, Plank, Walsh, Chesbro, Griffith, & McGinnity are named to Hall of Fame
1949 3rd Tony Awards: Death of a Salesman & Kiss Me Kate win
1950 "Peter Pan" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 320 performances
1950 Independent republic of South Molukkas declared
1950 Pres Harry Truman denies there are communists in US government
1951 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Sacramento Women's Golf Invitational Open
1953 Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1954 1st American, civilian pilot, P.R. Holden, wounded in Indochina
1954 Australia & USSR break diplomatic relations
1954 WSEE TV channel 35 in Erie, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 Conference of Bandung against colonialism/for self determination, ends
1955 Gaullists lose elections in France
1955 KFDM TV channel 6 in Beaumont, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 KMAU (now KGMV) TV channel 3 in Wailuku, HI (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 The Bandung Conference ends, Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
1956 AL ump Frank Umont is 1st to wear glasses in a regular season game
1957 Chic Cub pitchers walk NL record 9 Reds in 5th inning
1957 The Suez Canal is reopened following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers to the region.
1958 Lee Walls hits 3 HRS, as Cubs beat Dodgers 15-2
1959 Neth Dance Theater opens (Rudi of Dantzig & Cut Flier)
1959 WICD TV channel 15 in Champaign, IL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1960 14th Tony Awards, Miracle Worker & Fiorello! win
1960 A severe earthquake shakes Lar in Fars province, Iran and kills more than 200 people.
1960 Heavy earthquake strikes South Persia, 500 killed
1960 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Civitan Golf Open
1960 Record 4 grand slams hit today
1961 JFK accepts "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs
1961 The 17th century Swedish ship Vasa is salvaged.
1961 Vasa, which sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, is raised
1962 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested
1962 MIT sends TV signal by satellite for 1st time: CA to MA
1962 Sandy Koufax's 2nd 18-strikeout game
1963 17th NBA Championship, Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 2
1963 English princess Alexandra marries Sir Angus Ogilvy
1963 Marriage of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 Mexico becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1965 "Comedy in Music-Opus 2" closes at John Golden NYC after 192 perfs
1965 Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic when Colonel Francisco Caamaño, overthrows the triumvirate that had been in power since the coup d'état against Juan Bosch.
1965 Military coup under Donald Reid Cabral in Dominican Republic
1965 NY Met Casey Stengel wins his 3,000 game as manager
1966 Atlanta Braves win NL-record 18 straight home games (17 in Milwaukee)
1966 Carol Mann wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Invitational
1967 21st NBA Championship, Phila 76ers beat SF Warriors, 4 games to 2
1967 Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.
1967 American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily, Vietnam War."
1968 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Pete Tountas
1968 Leftist students take over Columbia University, NYC
1968 Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations.
1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1969 Gen Lin Piao succeeds Mao, is seriously wounded
1969 Lebanese army in battle with Palestinians
1969 Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is dead
1969 US B-52's drop 3,000 ton bombs at Cambodian boundary
1970 China PR launches its 1st satellite transmitting song "East is Red"
1970 Senegal adopts constitution
1970 The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as the first President.
1970 The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, is launched.
1971 "Frank Merriwell" opens/closes at Longacre Theater NYC for 1 perf
1971 Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
1974 Dutch women hockey team becomes world champion
1974 NFL grants franchise to Tampa Bay Bucaneers
1975 Penguins 1-Isles 4-Quarterfinals-series tied at 3-3
1975 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1977 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA American Defender Golf Tournament
1978 Angels Nolan Ryan strikes out 15 Mariners, 20th time he has 15 in game
1979 Rhodesian bishop Muzorewa wins general election
1980 Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
1980 US military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, 8 die
1981 Bill Shoemaker wins his 8,000th race, 2000 more than any other jockey
1981 IBM-PC computer introduced
1981 San Antonio blocks 20 Golden State shots to set NBA reg game record
1981 US ends grain embargo against USSR
1982 150 Khomeini followers assault student dormitory in West Germany
1982 Cards win 12th game in a row; 7-4 over Phillies
1982 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Mike Durbin
1983 "Show Boat" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 73 performances
1983 Austrian socialist party loses parliamentary election
1983 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
1984 Oiler's Wayne Gretzky is 3rd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot
1985 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carolyn Lizer for "Yin"
1987 Howard Stern holds a free speech rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza NYC
1988 Rosie Jones wins LPGA USX Golf Classic
1989 10s of thousands of students strikes in Beijing China
1989 Massachusetts declares today "New Kids on the Block Day"
1990 Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa," premieres in Dublin
1990 Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
1990 The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery. Shuttle mission STS-31 (US 66th manned space mission Discovery 10) lifts off, carrying Hubble into orbit.
1990 Security law violator Michael Milken pleads guilty to 6 felonies
1990 West & East Germany agree to merge currency & economies on July 1st
1991 26th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks
1991 Freddie Stowers is awarded the posthumous Medal of Honor for which he had been recommended in 1918.
1992 "Man of La Mancha" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 108 performances
1992 David Bowie marries model Iman in Switzerland
1992 George Steinbrenner drops his suits against baseball
1992 Vinson Pike fined £1000 for distributing obscene computer pictures
1993 1000 kg heavy IRA car bomb explodes in London, killing 1
1993 ABC news analyst Jeff Greenfield weds Karen Gannett
1993 An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
1993 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by George Branham
1994 "Broken Glass" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 73 performances
1994 "Flowering Peach" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 41 performances
1994 Actress Kelly Preston (26) weds actor Lou Diamond Phillips (32)
1994 Armando Calderon Sol wins El Salvador presidential election
1994 Bomb attack in center of Johannesburg, 9 killed
1994 David Robinson scores ties 7th highest total in the NBA 71
1994 NY Rangers sweep NY Islanders in NHL playoffs
1995 Court orders Darryl Strawberry to pay back $350,000 in taxes
1995 Dow Jones Index hits record 4303.98
1995 Package bomb, linked to Unabomber, blows up killing Gilbert B Murray
1996 "Jack-Night on Town with John Barrymore" opens at Belasco for 12 perf
1996 31st Academy of Country Music Awards: Shania Twain
1996 Highest scoring baseball game in 17 years Twins 24, Tigers 11
1996 In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
1997 "Steel Peer," opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 76 performances
2004 The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
2005 Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog is born in South Korea.
2006 King Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the demands of protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in 2002.
2007 Iceland announces that Norway will shoulder the defense of Iceland during peacetime
2013 33 people are killed and 115 are injured after a magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes Jalalabad, Afghanistan
2013 An eight-story commercial building collapses in Savar Upazila near the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, leaving 1,129 dead and 2,500 injured. The accident is the deadliest non-terrorist structural collapse in modern times and the third-worst industrial disaster in history
2015 Armenia commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire
Born on April 24th
1533 William I of Orange (d. 1584)
1538 Gugliemo Gonzaga, composer
1581 Vincent de Paul, French saint (d. 1660)
1594 Benedikt Lechler, composer
1620 John Graunt, English statistician and founder of the science of demography (d. 1674)
1660 Cornelis Dusart, Dutch painter/engraver
1670 Christian Ludwig Boxberg, composer
1706 Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d. 1780)
1718 Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born painter (d. 1784)
1721 Johann Philipp Kirnberger, German composer, baptised
1742 Roman Hoffstetter, composer
1743 Edmund Cartwright, British inventor (power loom) (d. 1823)
1750 Simon-Antoine-Jean Lhuillier, Swiss mathematician
1766 Robert Bailey Thomas, founder (Farmer's Almanac)
1773 Harman W Muntinghe, lawyer/Dutch colonial director
1784 Peter Vivian Daniel, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1860)
1791 Nikolaj A Bestuzhev, Russia, writer/painter (Account about Holland)
1796 K L Immermann, writer
1804 Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Comm (Union Navy)
1807 Charles Ferguson Smith, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1814 Angela Burdett-Coutts, philanthropist extrordinaire
1814 Vincente F Lopez, Argentina historian (La Novia del Hereje)
1815 Anthony Trollope, England, novelist (Barchester Towers) (d. 1882)
1815 James Edward Harrison, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1875
1822 Erastus Barnard Tyler, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1824 Fournier, Swiss/French postage stamp forger
1828 Robert Brank Vance, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1899
1829 George Peabody Estey, Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1881
1836 Jeltje de Bosch Kemper, Dutch feminist
1837 Friedrich von Holstein, German diplomat (die graue Eminenz)
1845 Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet (Prometheus & Epimetheus) (Nobel laureate 1919) (d. 1924)
1849 Joseph S Gallieni, general (Battle of Marne)/milt governor (Paris)
1851 Eduardo Acevedo Diaz, Uruguaian writer (Ismael, Grito de Gloria)
1856 Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman (Verdun/Vichy regime) (d. 1951)
1864 George AA Alting van Geusau, dir-gen (PTT)/Dutch Min of War (1918-20)
1867 Fannie Thomas, became oldest known American (113 y 273 d at death)
1873 Theodor Korner von Siegringen, Austrian general/president
1874 John Russell Pope, US, architect (Jefferson Memorial)
1874 Willem E Roelofs, Dutch painter/cartoonist
1875 Jeno Huszka, composer
1876 Erich Raeder, German naval commander (d. 1960)
1876 Ioannis Georgiadis, Greek fencer (d. 1960)
1877 Charles Cuvillier, composer
1878 Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
1882 Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain (d. 1970)
1883 Jaroslav Hasek, Czech writer (Brave soldier Schweik)
1886 Kurt Pinthus, writer
1886 R Pelgrom, oldest Dutch man (died Apr 15, 1994, 9 days short of 108)
1887 Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (d. 1931)
1889 Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (d. 1924)
1889 (Richard) Stafford Cripps, British politician, Minister of Plane-manufacturing (1942-45) (d. 1952)
1892 Jack Hulbert, Ely England, actor (Into the Blue, Bulldog Jack)
1893 Robert Harron, NYC, actor (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance)
1895 S Constantine Timoshenko, Russian marshal/people's commissioner
1897 Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist (or 1797) (d. 1941)
1897 Gyorgy Kosa, composer
1897 Manuel Ávila Camacho, President of Mexico (d. 1955)
1899 Oscar Zariski, Russian-born mathematician (d. 1986)
1903 José A(ntonio) Primo de Rivera y Saenz de Heredia, founder of the Spanish Falange (d. 1936)
1903 Mike Michalske, NFL guard (NY Yankees, Green Bay Packers)
1903 Siegfried F Nadel, Austrian/British anthropologist (Black Byzantium)
1904 Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter (North Atlantic Light) (d. 1997)
1905 Robert Penn Warren, American poet (All the King's Men) (d. 1989)
1906 William Joyce, Irish fascist (d. 1946)
1907 Vaclav Trojan, composer
1907 William Sargant, British psychiatrist (d. 1988)
1908 Heddy Bouber (Hermanus G Blom), actor (Bluejackets)
1908 Józef Goslawski, Polish sculptor and medallic artist (d. 1963)
1908 Marceline Day, American actor (d. 2000)
1909 Bernhard Grzimek, zoologist (West Germany)
1909 Irven Spence, animator
1911 Jack E Leonard, Chicago Ill, comedian (Disorderly Orderly)
1911 Karl O Schiller, German economist (Minister of Economics)
1911 Robert Joseph Kane, Ithaca NY, Pres of US Olympic Comm (1976)
1911 Sigursveinn David Kristinsson, composer
1914 Bernard Caulfield, judge
1914 Justin Wilson, American Cajun chef (Wise Potato Chips) and humorist (d. 2001)
1914 Ruth White, Perth Amboy NJ, actress (Up the Down Staircase)
1914 William Castle, American film director and producer (d. 1977)
1916 Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler (d. 2002)
1916 Stanley Kauffmann, NYC, playwright (Red Handkerchief Man)
1917 Len Creed, bookmaker
1919 Glafkos Klerides, Cypriot president 1993–2003
1921 Laci Boldemann, composer
1922 J.D. Cannon, American actor (McCloud, Ike, Call to Glory) (d. 2005)
1923 Doris Burn, American children's books author and illustrator
1924 Marilyn Erskine, Rochester NY, actor (Fran-Tom Ewell Show)
1924 Ruth Kobart, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
1924 Sir Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician (d. 2009)
1924 Yehoshua Lakner, composer
1926 Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
1927 Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, 1500m runner (Olympic-gold-1952)
1927 Pasqualino de Santis, cinematographer
1927 Patrick Bowles, writer/translator
1928 Gustav Krivinka, composer
1929 Dr.Rajkumar, Kannada actor
1929 Ferit Tuzun, composer
1929 Rajkumar, Kannada actor (d. 2006)
1930 Conn Findlay, Stockton California, coxswain (Oly-2 gold/bronze-56, 64, 76)
1930 Jerome Callet, American musician
1930 Richard Donner, American film director and producer
1931 Bridget Riley, British painter (op-art)
1932 Coen(rad) Flink, Dutch actor (Pastorale 1943, Havinck, Honneponnetje)
1933 Alan Eagleson, Canadian ice hockey agent and promoter
1933 Claire Davenport, British actress (d. 2002)
1933 Freddie Scott, American singer (Cry to Me) (d. 2007)
1933 Helmuth Lohner, Austrian actor
1933 Patricia Bosworth, American actress, journalist, writer and biographer
1934 John Barbour, Toronto, TV host (Real People)
1934 Shirley MacLaine, American actor and author (Irma la Douce)
1935 Louis Keith, Chicago, physician (expert on multiple-births)
1935 Tucker Smith, American actor, dancer, and singer (d. 1988)
1936 Jill Ireland, British actress (Breakout, Assassination, Chino) (d. 1990)
1937 Joe Henderson, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2001)
1940 David Larter, cricketer (two-metre tall England pace bowler)
1940 Sue Grafton, American author
1941 John Williams, Australian guitarist (Acad Award)
1941 Richard Holbrook, American diplomat
1942 Barbra Streisand, American singer and actor
1942 Richard M. Daley, American politician (mayor-D-Chicago)
1942 Valeri Abramovich Voloshin, Russian cosmonaut
1943 Richard Sterban, American country singer (Oak Ridge Boys-Elvira)
1944 (Bernard) St Clair Lee (Calhoun), US singer (Rock the Boat)
1945 Dick Rivers, French singer and actor
1945 Doug Clifford, American drummer (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
1945 Doug Riley, Canadian musician (d. 2007)
1945 Eugene O'Brien, composer
1945 Robert Knight, American singer
1946 Bruce Stuart Saylor, composer
1946 Dick Rivers, French singer and actor
1947 Claude Dubois, Canadian singer and songwriter
1947 Glenn Cornick, rock bassist (Jethro Tull-Thick as a Brick)
1947 Hubert Ann Kelly, US singer (Hues Corporation/Rock the boat)
1947 Josep Borrell Fontelles, President of the European Parliament
1947 Roger D. Kornberg, American chemist, Nobel prize
1948 Benzion Freshwater, English multi-millionaire
1948 Eddie James Hart, Martinez Cal, 4x100m relay runner (Olympic-gold-72)
1948 Paul Cellucci, 69th Governor of Massachusetts and former United States Ambassador to Canada
1949 Véronique Sanson, French singer and songwriter
1951 Andrew John Fairclough, trade union educator
1952 Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
1953 Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer (Talk Radio)
1953 John P Hiler, (Rep-R-IN, 1981)
1953 Porter Carroll Jr, drummer (Atlantic Star-Touch a 4 Leaf Clover)
1954 Captain Sensible, British guitarist (The Damned)
1954 Jack Blades, rock bassist (Damn Yankees-Coming of Age, Night Ranger)
1954 Mumia Abu-Jamal, American death-row inmate
1954 Vince Ferragamo, NFL/CFL quarterback (LA Rams, Montreal Alouettes)
1955 Jack Kingston, (Rep-R-Georgia)
1955 John de Mol, Dutch media businessman
1955 Michael O'Keefe, American actor (Caddyshack, Ironweed, Slugger's Wife)
1957 Boris Williams, British musician (The Cure)
1957 David J, British musician
1958 Brian Paddick, British former deputy assistant commissioner and most senior openly gay police officer
1958 Fernando Luna, Spain, tennis star
1958 Valery Lantratov, Russian ballet dancer
1959 Dave Ridgway, Canadian football player
1959 Malcolm Oastler, Australian engineer
1959 Paula Yates, British television presenter (Blondes) (d. 2000)
1959 Yvonne D Cagle, West Point NY, MD/astronaut
1962 Steve Roach, Australian rugby league footballer
1962 Stuart Pearce, English footballer and manager
1963 Billy Gould, American musician, bassist (Faith No More)
1963 Joey Vera, heavy metal rocker (Armored Saint-Aftermath)
1963 Mano Solo, French singer
1963 Paula Frazer, American singer/songwriter
1963 Tõnu Trubetsky, Estonian musician
1964 Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian and actor
1964 Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor
1964 Witold Smorawinski, Polish musician, composer
1965 Mike Blowers, Wurlzburg Germany, infielder (NY Yankees, LA Dodgers)
1965 Son Chang Min, South Korean actor
1966 Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer
1966 Margashayam Venkataramana, cricketer (Indian off-spinner 1989)
1966 Pascale Paradis-Mangon, France, tennis star
1966 Pierre Brassard, Quebec humorist and actor
1966 Theo Adams, WLAF tackle (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1967 Dino Radja, NBA forward (Boston Celtics)
1967 Leslie M Marx, Ft Belvoir Va, fencer-epee (Olympics-96)
1967 Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan baseball player
1967 Pam(ela) Bustin, Somerset Mass, field hockey defender (Olympics-96)
1968 Aaron Comes, rocker (Spin Doctors)
1968 Aidan Gillen, Irish actor
1968 Hashim Thaci, Kosovan politician
1968 Mark Vanderloo, Waddenveen Neth, model
1968 Stacy Haiduk, American actress
1968 Todd Jones, American baseball player, pitcher (Houston Astros)
1968 Tracy Gravely, CFL linebacker (Montreal Alouettes)
1968 Yuji Nagata, Japanese professional wrestler
1969 Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer
1969 Melinda Clarke, American actress
1969 Viveca Paulin, Swedish actress
1970 Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer
1970 Emanuela Zardo, Switzerland, tennis star
1971 Alejandro Fernández, Mexican singer
1971 Jeff Brohm, quarterback (San Francisco 49ers)
1971 Ken Klee, Indianapolis, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals)
1971 Kumara Dharmasena, cricketer (Sri Lankan off-spinner)
1971 Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian guitarist and singer
1971 Phil Rogers, Adelaide SA Aust, 100m breaststroker (Oly-bronze-92, 96)
1972 Chipper Jones, American baseball player, infielder (Atlanta Braves)
1972 Jamie Brown, NFL tackle (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1972 Jure Košir, Slovenian skier
1972 Nicolas Gill, Canadian judoka, 86kg (Olympics-bronze-92, 96)
1972 Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
1973 Eric Snow, American basketball player, NBA guard (Phila 76ers, Seattle Supersonics)
1973 Gabby Logan, British television presenter
1973 Jamie Brown, NFL tackle (Denver Broncos)
1973 Mark Babic, Australian soccer defender (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1973 Melissa Short, Kaaawa Hawaii, Miss America (Hawaii-Top 10-1997)
1973 Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Indian cricketer (prodigy at 16, Indian capt at 23)
1973 Ville Peltonen, hockey forward (Team Finland Oly-Bronze-1998)
1974 Brian Marshall, American bassist (Creed, Alter Bridge)
1974 Dave Vitty, British radio personality
1974 Derek Luke, American actor
1974 Eric Kripke, American television writer, director and producer
1974 Jared Tomich, defensive end (New Orleans Saints)
1974 Joseph Bruce, American rapper
1974 Kristie Krabe, American stage actress
1974 Marc Collins, NFL punter (Seattle Seahawks)
1974 Stephen Wiltshire, British artist, autistic savant
1974 Toine Rorije, soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles)
1975 Justin Boocock, Launceston Australia, canoeist (Olympics-96)
1975 Michael Stewart, NBA center (Sacramento Kings)
1975 Sam Doumit, American actress
1975 Thad Luckinbill, American actor
1976 Shane McDermott, actor (Garrett Booth-Swan's Crossing)
1976 Sonya Jeyaseelan, Newestminster BC, tennis star (1995 Futures Fla)
1976 Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
1977 Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rican baseball player
1977 Ryan Mitchell, Port Augusta SA Australia, swimmer (Olympics-96)
1977 Siarhey Balakhonau, Belarusian writer
1978 Eric Balfour, American actor
1978 Kim Hyun-ju, Korean actress
1978 Stella Damasus Aboderin, Nigerian actress
1979 Laurentia Tan, Singaporean Paralympic equestrienne
1980 Austin Nichols, American actor
1980 Danny Gokey, American singer
1980 Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer
1980 Karen Asrian, Armenian chess Grandmaster (d. 2008)
1981 Dusty Anderson, American pro wrestler
1981 Taylor Dent, American tennis player
1981 Yuko Nakanishi, Japanese swimmer
1982 Kelly Clarkson, American singer and winner of the inaugural season of TV series American Idol
1983 Princess Iman bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1984 Tyson Ritter, American musician
1986 Aaron Cunningham, American baseball player
1987 Jan Vertonghen, Belgian footballer
1987 Kristopher Letang, Canadian hockey player
1988 Michael Tylo, son of US actor/actress Michael Tylo/Deborah Hunter
1989 David Boudia, American diver
1992 Doc Shaw, American child actor
1992 Sean Rademaker, actor (Kirkland Harrison-Another World)
1994 Austin Rogers, American actor
1998 Ryan Newman, American actress
Died on April 24th
624 Mellitus, third Archbishop of Canterbury
709 Wilfrid, English archbishop of York and saint
729 Egbert(us), English bishop/saint, dies in Iona at 89
1077 Geza I, King of Hungary (1074-7)
1185 Antoku Taira, 81st emperor of Japan (1180-85)
1338 Marquis Theodore I of Montferrat (b. 1291)
1342 Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
1530 Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (De partu Virginis)
1617 Carlo Concino, French marquis of Ancre/state advisor, murdered
1622 Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar, martyr, and saint (b. 1577)
1622 Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar and saint (b. 1577)
1656 Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561)
1731 Daniel Defoe, English novelist (Robinson Crusoe) (b. 1660)
1736 Prince Eugene of Savoy, French-born Austrian general (b. 1663)
1758 Florian Wrastill, composer
1776 Carolus van de Abeele, Flemish Jesuit
1776 Giuseppi Paolucci, composer
1779 Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (b. 1711)
1794 Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish statesman and soldier; father of Axel von Fersen the Younger (b. 1719)
1824 Herman Muntinghe, theologist (History of Mankind)
1827 Pierre Joseph Candielle, composer
1848 Francois van Campenhout, Belgian composer (Brabanconne)
1850 Louis Alexandre Piccinni, composer
1852 Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (b. 1783)
1855 Walenty Karol Kratzer, composer
1875 Jose Maria de la Purificacion Ventura, composer
1891 Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (b. 1800)
1900 George J D Campbell, Brit min of Indies (1868-74, 80-85)
1904 Friedrich Siemens, German industrial
1912 Justin M'Carthy, politician/novelist (Miss Misanthrope)
1917 Oskar Blumenthal, writer
1922 Richard Batka, composer
1924 G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (b. 1844)
1924 George Street, English cricket wicket keeper (1 Test 1923)
1928 Ferdinand B Hummel, composer
1935 Paul Klengel, composer
1936 Alphons Diepenbrock, composer
1936 Bernard van Dieren, composer
1938 George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b. 1863)
1939 John Foulds, composer
1939 Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b. 1881)
1942 Karin Boye, Swedish author (b. 1900)
1942 Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
1943 Gerardus H de Hare, socialist vicar
1944 William Stephens, American U.S. House of Representative, 24th Governor of California (b. 1859)
1945 Anton de Kom, Suriname resistance fighter
1945 Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899)
1945 Hubert Bath, composer
1947 Hans Biebow, German WWII figure (b. 1902)
1947 Willa Cather, American writer (b. 1873)
1948 Joseph Wihtol, composer
1948 Manuel Marua Ponce, Mexican composer (Ferial)
1948 Rosita Marstini, actress (I Cover Waterfront, Big Parade)
1952 Hans (Hendrik A) Kramers, physicist (quantum mechanics)
1952 Jules Poncelet, Belgian minister of State
1955 Alfred Polgar, Austrian writer/theater critic
1956 Albrecht G Alt, German theologist (Small Schriften)
1956 Henry Stephenson, actor (Conquest, Mr Lucky)
1957 Andries CD de Graeff, gov-gen of Neth Indies (1926-31)
1957 Harry McClintock, American country singer and hobo (b. 1882)
1959 Jef van Hoof, composer
1960 John P "John" Musch, actor/founder (JM)
1960 Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
1961 Lee Moran, actor (Circus Clown)
1962 Milt Franklyn, American musician (b. 1897)
1964 Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (declined) (b. 1895)
1965 Louise Dresser, American actress (State Fair, Ship Comes In, Mammy) (b. 1878)
1967 Frank Overton, actor (12 O'Clock High)
1967 Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut (Voshkod I), dies in Soyuz 1 (b. 1927)
1968 Norman McKaye, actor (Untamed Fury, Frogman)
1968 Tommy Noonan, actor (Gentlemen Perfer Blondes)
1970 Otis Spann, American blues pianist (b. 1930)
1974 Bud Abbott, American actor and comedian (Abbott & Costello) (b. 1895)
1975 Pete Ham, Welsh musician (Badfinger) (b. 1947)
1975 William Hartnell, actor (Jackpot, This Sporting Life)
1976 Mark Tobey, US abstract painter, (Broadway Norm)
1979 John Carroll, actor (Hired Wife, Fiesta, Geraldine)
1980 Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (Guerra del Tiempo) (b. 1904)
1982 Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (b. 1896)
1983 Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (b. 1943)
1985 Sergei Yutkevich, Russian director, (Otello, Banya)
1986 Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson, (Edward abdicated for her)
1986 Bill Edrich, cricketer (39 Tests for England)
1986 Wallis Simpson, American wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor (b. 1896)
1988 E S "Bob" Newson, cricketer (South African fast bowler in 1930's)
1990 Joseph Leberman, entertainer
1990 Tom Rolfing, actor (He Knows You're Alone, Cliff-Another World)
1991 J de Graaf, ethicus/president church & peace
1993 Oliver R Tambo, South African activist and politician (African National Congress) (b. 1917)
1995 Douglas Gunsekera, banker
1996 Donald Cammell, film director
1996 Erma Bombeck, columnist (Septic Tank is Always Greener)
1996 Preston Lockwood, actor (House of Windsor, Black Candle)
1997 Eugene Stoner, American engineer and weapons designer (b. 1922)
1997 Pat Paulsen, American comedian and politician (Smothers Brothers Show) (b. 1927)
2000 William Moore, English actor (b. 1916)
2001 Al Hibbler, American singer (b. 1915)
2001 Leon Sullivan, African-American civil rights leader and pastor (b. 1922)
2002 Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourgish sculptor (b. 1908)
2004 Estée Lauder, American cosmetics entrepreneur (b. 1906)
2005 Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (b. 1924)
2005 Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2006 Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
2006 Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (b. 1914)
2006 Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (b. 1927)
2007 Roy Jenson, American actor (b. 1927)
2009 John Michell, British writer (b. 1933)
2011 Marie-France Pisier, French actress (b. 1944)
2011 Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru, spiritual figure (b. 1926)
2016 Papa Wemba, Congolese singer
2016 Billy Paul (Paul Williams), American singer (Me & Mrs Jones)
2016 Tommy (Tamio) Kono, American weightlifter (Olympic gold 52, 60)