April 26th
Holidays and Festivals
Union Day (Tanzania)
Confederate Memorial Day (Florida, Georgia, Texas) * CLICK HERE
Chernobyl Remeberance Day * (See below)
World Intellectual Property Day
Hug an Australian Day
National Pretzel Day
Old Permic Alphabet Day
Mother, Father Deaf Day
International Marconi Day
Christian Feast Day of Aldobrandesca
Christian Feast Day of Franca Visalta
Christian Feast Day of Lucidius of Verona
Christian Feast Day of Our Lady of Good Counsel
Christian Feast Day of Pope Anacletus and Marcellinus
Christian Feast Day of Riquier
Christian Feast Day of Radbertus Paschasius
Christian Feast Day of Stephen of Perm
Christian Feast Day of Trudpert
* Vallenato Legend Festival usually begin on this day. (Valledupar, Colombia)
* Chernobyl Rememberance Day - At 1:23 A.M. on Saturday, April 26, 1986, the reactor blew at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, ripping open the core, blowing the roof off the building, starting more than 30 fires, and allowing radioactive material to leak into the air. Some 31 people were killed and nearly 300 people were treate for radiation poisoning. Glaring violations of safety rules were at the bottom of this tragic event.
Fête de la Muguet Translation: Lily of the valley Day (French Republican) The Seventh day of the Month of Floréal in the French Republican CalendarToast of The Day
"Here's to the women that I've loved
and all the ones I've kissed.
As for regrets, I just have one;
that's all the ones I've missed.
Oh, women's faults are many,
us men have only two:
Every single thing we say,
and everything we do."
- Unknown
Drink of The Day
Pink Gin
1 Part Plymouth gin
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Chill the glass, then coat the inside with Bitters. Add the gin chilled.
Garnish with a Shave of lemon rind and serve in a Cocktail glass.
Wine of The Day
Lucchesi Vineyards Petite Sirah
Style - Petite Sirah
Suisun Valley
$35
Beer of The Day
Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout
Brewer - Rogue Ales
Style - Oatmeal Stout
ABV - 6.1%
- In Honor of William Shakespeare (baptised April 26th, 1564 - April 23rd, 1616)
Joke of The Day
A fellow decides to take off early from work and go drinking. He stays until the bar closes at three in the morning, at which time he is extremely drunk. After leaving the bar, he returns home on foot.
When he enters his house, he doesn't want to wake anyone, so he takes off his shoes and starts tip-toeing up the stairs. Half-way up the stairs though, he falls over backwards and lands flat on his back. That wouldn't have been so bad, except that he had couple of empty pint bottles in his back pockets, and they broke; the broken glass carved up his back terribly. Yet, he was so drunk that he didn't know he was hurt.
A few minutes later, as he was undressing, he noticed blood, so he checked himself out in the mirror, and, sure enough, his behind was cut up terribly. He then repaired the damage as best he could under the circumstances, and he went to bed.
The next morning, his head was hurting, his back was hurting, and he was hunkering under the covers trying to think up some good story, when his wife came into the bedroom.
"Well, you really tied one on last night," she said. "Where'd you go?"
"I worked late," he said, "and I stopped off for a couple of beers."
"A couple of beers? That's a laugh," she replied. "You got plastered last night. Where did you go?"
"What makes you so sure I got drunk last night, anyway?"
"Well," she replied, "my first big clue was when I got up this morning and found a bunch of band-aids stuck to the mirror."
Quote of The Day
"I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety."
- Shakespeare in Henry V, William Shakespeare (baptised April 26th, 1564 - April 23rd, 1616), an English poet and playwright, acclaimed greatest writer in the English language.
Whiskey of The Day
$80
April Observances
ASPCA Month
Alcohol 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
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
National Karaoke Week, Fourth Week in April
National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week, Fourth Work Week in April
International Whistlers Week (IWC), Third or Fourth week 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 26th
757 Paolo Orsini replaces his brother Pope Stephen II, as Paul I
1220 German king Frederick II grants bishops sovereign rights
1336 Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux
1467 The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy.
1478 1st Easter
1478 The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de' Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Duomo of Florence.
1514 Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn
1532 Sultan Suleiman through Hungary on away to Vienna
1564 William Shakespeare baptized
1607 The first English colonists of the Jamestown settlement make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia.
1654 Jews are expelled from Brazil
1655 Dutch West Indies Co denies Peter Stuyvesant's desire to exclude Jews from New Amsterdam
1677 Emperor Leopold I forms University of Innsbruck
1709 Frisian viceroy Johan Willem Friso marries countess Maria Louisa
1721 Smallpox vaccination 1st administrated
1755 1st Russian university opens (Moscow)
1777 Sybil Ludington, 16, rode from NY to Ct rallying her fathers militia
1802 Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty to allow all but about one thousand of the most notorious émigrés of the French Revolution to return to France, as part of a reconciliary gesture with the factions of the Ancien Regime and to eventually consolidate his own rule.
1803 Meteorites fall in L'Aigle, France
1805 United States Marines captured Derne, Tripoli under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
1814 King Louis XVIII lands on Calais, from England
1819 Odd Fellows Lodge forms
1828 Russia declares war on Turkey to support Greece's independence
1835 Frederic Chopins "Grand Polonaise Brillante," premieres in Paris
1841 "Bombay Gazette" begins publishing on silk
1853 Dutch King William III disbands 2nd Chamber
1855 Composer Gioacchino Rossini leaves Italy
1865 Battle of Durham Station, NC (Greensboro), Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina in The American Civil War.
1865 Battle of Ft Tobacco, VA in The American Civil War
1865 Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Lincoln, in Virginia.
1887 Huntsville Electric Co forms to sell electricity
1890 Henry Morton Stanley inaugurated in London
1893 1st Cleveland Board of Park Commissioners forms
1900 AL opener in Cleve draws 6,500
1904 Bell Telephone Company of Antwerp Belgium forms
1905 Cubs Jack McCarthy becomes only major league player to throw out 3 runners at plate in 1 game, all were ends of a double play
1906 1st motion pictures shown in Hawaii
1907 Jamestown, Va Tercentenary Exposition opens
1912 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)
1913 Panama-Pacific International Exposition opens in SF
1913 Sun Yet San calls for revolt against pres Yuan Shikai in China
1915 Italy secretly signes Pact of London with Britain, France & Russia
1920 H Shapley & H D Curtis hold "great debate" on nature of nebulae
1923 English prince Albert (George VI) marries lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
1925 Paul von Hindenburg defeats Wilhelm Marx in the second round of the German presidential election to become the first directly elected head of state of the Weimar Republic.
1925 Pulitzer prize awarded to Edna Ferber for "So big"
1926 Germany & Russia sign neutrality/peace treaty
1926 Karachai Autonomous Region forms in RSFSR (until 1943)
1928 Los Angeles City Hall dedicated.
1928 Madame Tussaud's waxwork exhibition opens in London
1929 1st non-stop England to India flight lands
1931 Lou Gehrig hits a HR but is called out for passing a runner, mistake costs him AL home run crown; he & Babe Ruth tie for season
1932 Jean Anouilh's "L'Ermine," premieres in Paris
1933 Jewish students are barred from school in Germany
1933 The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.
1935 Frank Boucher is given NHL's Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship permanently for winning it 7 of 11 years
1936 Dmitri Shostakovitch completes his 4th Symphony
1937 German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain
1937 Spanish Civil War, Guernica, Spain is bombed by German Luftwaffe.
1938 Austrian Jews required to register property above 5,000 Reichsmarks
1941 A tradition begins, 1st organ at a baseball stadium (Chicago Cubs)
1941 Potatoes rationed in Holland
1942 Coal mine explosion kills 1,549 at Honkeiko Manchuria
1942 Luftwaffe bombs Bath
1944 1st B-29 attacked by Japanese fighters, one fighter shot down
1944 Papandreou government in Greece forms
1945 Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, leader of France's Vichy collaborationist regime during WW II, arrested for treason
1945 Battle of Bautzen last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht in World War II.
1946 Father Divine, a controversial religious leader who claims to be God, marries the much-younger Edna Rose Ritchings, a celebrated anniversary in the International Peace Mission movement.
1947 "Bless the Bride" musical opens in London
1950 Last horse race at Havre de Grace Track in Md, is run
1950 U of Miami ends William & Mary straight tennis match victories at 82
1951 Queen Juliana opens Brielsche Mausoleum
1952 Patty Berg scores 64, best competitive round of golf by a woman
1952 US minesweeper "Hobson" rams aircraft carrier "Wasp," kills 176
1954 Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva
1954 Nationwide test of Salk anti-polio vaccine begins
1954 The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.
1956 First container ship left Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas
1957 Jamestown, Va 350th Anniversary Festival opens
1958 Final run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York City after 68 years, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1959 Cuba invades Panama
1959 Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Betsy Rawls Golf Open
1961 French paratroopers' revolt suppressed in Algeria
1961 Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
1962 1st Lockheed A-12 flies
1962 Ariel 1 Launch (1st UK Satellite), 1st international payload
1962 NASA's Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into (backside of) the Moon.
1962 Red Sox Bill Monbouquette no-hits White Sox 1-0
1963 In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allows for female participation in elections.
1964 18th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat SF Warriors, 4 games to 1
1964 Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar form United Republic of Tanganyika & Zanzibar
1965 A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario is shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
1965 Ives' 4th Symphony premieres
1966 An earthquake of magnitude 7.5 destroys Tashkent.
1966 A new government is formed in the Republic of Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
1966 Arnold "Red" Auerbach retires as Boston Celtic's coach
1967 "Hallelujah, Baby!" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 293 perfs
1967 KSPS TV channel 7 in Spokane, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1967 San Marco 2 Launch (1st Equatorial Launch)
1968 Students seize administration building at Ohio State
1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 US underground nuclear test, "Boxcar," 1 megaton device
1969 "Celebration" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 110 performances
1969 "George M!" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 435 performances
1969 Firestone World Bowling Tournament (Mercury Open) won by Jim Godman
1970 "Company" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 690 performances
1970 The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force
1971 Heaviest rains ever in Bahia district of Brazil, 15" in 24 hrs
1971 SF lightship replaced by automatic buoy
1971 Turkey state of siege proclaimed
1973 "2 Gentlemen of Verona," musical opens in London
1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 Landslide in Huancavelica Province Peru creates a natural dam
1974 Malta adopts constitution
1974 Yankees trade Peterson, Beene, Kline & Buskey to Indians for Chambliss, Tidrow & Upshaw
1975 Mario Soares' Socialist Party wins 1st free election in Portugal
1975 Penguins 0-Isles 1-Quarterfinals-Isles win series 4-3
1975 Phillies Mike Schmidt's 2 HRs ties NL record of 11 HRs in April
1976 Pan Am begins non-stop flights NYC-Tokyo
1977 NY's famed disco Studio 54 opens
1978 France sends troops to Chad
1978 NASA launches space vehicle S-201
1980 Gerard Nijboer runs Dutch record marathon (2:09:01)
1980 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1980 Iran begins scattering US hostages from US Embassy
1980 Longest jump by a jet boat is set at 120'
1980 Phillies' Steve Carlton pitches his 6th 1-hitter (beats Cards)
1981 "Copperfield" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 13 performances
1981 Beth Solomon wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
1982 57 people are killed by former police officer Woo Bum-kon in a shooting spree in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.
1982 Argentina surrenders to Britain on S Georgia near Falkland Island
1982 CBS radio begins youth oriented broadcast Radio Radio
1982 Gene Michael becomes NY Yankee manager for 2nd time
1982 Rod Stewart is mugged, gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche
1983 Bruins 2-Isles 5-Wales Conference Championship-Isles hold 1-0 lead
1983 Dow Jones Industrial Avg breaks 1,200 for 1st time
1983 San Antonio spurs beat Denver Nuggets, 152-133 in NBA playoff game
1984 Liverpool's Cavern Club reopens
1984 Pres Reagan visits China
1986 Actor/body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger weds newscaster Maria Shriver
1986 Chernobyl Disaster, A nuclear (4th) reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), creating the world's worst nuclear disaster, 31 die.
1986 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marshall Holman
1986 France performs nuclear test
1986 Game between Angels & Twins delayed for 9 minutes by strong winds
1987 "Barbara Cook: A Concert..." closes at Ambassador NYC after 13 perfs
1988 1st TNN Viewers choice awards-Randy Travis wins in 5 categories
1988 NBA approves addition of 3rd referee in 1988-89 season
1988 NY Met Davey Johnson becomes 2nd manager to record 400 victory in 1st 4 years (Al Lopez did it 1st)
1989 AT&T announces NJ's 201 area code will split into 908 & 201
1989 Mike Tyson is ticketed for driving 71 MPH in 30 mile zone in Albany
1989 The deadliest tornado in world history strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
1990 "Accomplice" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 52 performances
1990 126 die in a (6.9) earthquake in China
1990 Danny Wood of New Kids, steps on a stuffed animal & twists his ankle
1990 NY court of appeals ends 2½ year legal battle over 1988 America's Cup by refusing jurisdiction of case
1990 Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller's record of pitching 12 1-hitters
1991 "Dinosaurs" premieres on ABC-TV
1991 23 killed in Kansas & Oklahoma by tornadoes
1991 Seventy tornadoes break out in the central United States. Before the outbreak's end, Andover, Kansas, would record the year's only F5 tornado (see Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak).
1991 Soccer star Diego Maradona, suspended for using cocaine, arrested in Argentina for possession & distribution of illegal narcotics
1992 "Grand Hotel" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 1,018 perfs
1992 "Growing Pains," final episode on ABC TV
1992 "Jelly's Last Jam" opens at Virginia Theater NYC for 569 performances
1992 "Master Builder" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 45 performances
1992 "Metro" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 13 performances
1992 "Who's The Boss," final episode after 8 years on ABC TV
1992 Alex Haley, (Roots), wins 1992 Ellis Island Award, posthumously
1992 Maggie Will wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic
1992 Ozzie Smith steals his 500th base
1993 "Shakespeare for My Father" opens at Helen Hayes NYC for 266 perfs
1993 Boeing 737 crashes at Aurangabad, kills 56
1993 NBC announces Conan O'Brien to replace David Letterman
1993 STS-55 (Columbia) launches into orbit
1994 1st multi-racial election in South Africa begins (3 days) Dr Nomaza Paintin in NZ is 1st black South African to vote
1994 26.9°C in Prestebakke Norway (Norwegian April high temp record)
1994 China Airlines flight 140 crashes at Nagoya Airport in Japan, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.
1994 Mad About You actress Leila Kenzel (33) weds Neil Monaco (34)
1994 Physicists announce first evidence of the top quark subatomic particle.
1994 Taiwan Airbus A-300 crashes at Nagoya Japan, 262 killed
1995 Baseball season begins after lengthy strike
1995 Coors Field, opens in Denver, Rockies beat Mets 11-9 in 14 innings
1996 Shaun Pollock takes 4 wkts in 4 balls for Warwickshire in B&H
1996 Sotherby ends 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
1997 "Life," opens at Barrymore Theater NYC
2002 Robert Steinhäuser infiltrates and kills 17 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
2005 Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country
2007 Queen's Pier is officially closed by the Hong Kong Government, after a bitter struggle by conservationists, in order to facilitate land reclamation in Hong Kong's Central district
2012 70 people are killed by rocket attacks by the Syrian Army on the city of Hama
2012 Andrew Luck from University of Stanford first pick by Indianapolis Colts at the 2012 NFL Draft
2012 Indonesia suspends imports of American beef after a confirmed case of mad cow disease in California
2013 30 people are killed after a bus crashes following a Taliban attack in southern Afghanistan
2015 FC Bayern Munich wins the 2014–15 Bundesliga for a 25th time
2015 Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge & Ethiopian Tigist Tufa wins the 35th London Marathon
2015 Nursultan Nazarbayev is re-elected President of Kazakhstan with 97.7% of the vote
Born on April 26th
121 Antonius Marcus Aurelius (Marcus A Verus), Emperor of Rome (161-180) (d. 180)
570 Muhammed, founder of Islam, according to the Shi'a sect. Other sources suggest April 20. (d. 632)
1319 Jean II, the Good, king of France (1350-64)
1538 Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (Trattato) (d. 1600)
1564 William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (Hamlet) (d. 1616)
1567 Nicolas Forme, composer
1573 Marie de' Medici, Queen of France, wife of Henry IV of France (d. 1642)
1603 Francesco Nigetti, composer
1637 Philip J van Lichtenbergh, Governor of Suriname, baptized
1648 Pedro II, King of Portugal (1683-1706) (d. 1706)
1662 Maria Luisa of Orleans, queen consort of Spain (d. 1689)
1710 Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (d. 1796)
1711 David Hume, English empiricist/philosopher (Treatise of Human Nature)
1718 Esek Hopkins, Commander of the US Navy during the Revolutionary War (d. 1802)
1726 Pasquale Paoli, Corsican freedom fighter
1774 Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist (d. 1853)
1776 Joan M Kemper, Dutch lawyer (designed civil code law book)
1782 Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, Queen Consort of the French, wife of Louis Phillip of Austria (d. 1866)
1785 John James Audubon, French-American naturalist and illustrator (d. 1851)
1787 Ludwig Uhland, German poet (d. 1862)
1796 Auguste-Matthieu Panseron, composer
1798 Eugène Delacroix, French painter (d. 1863)
1798 Ferdinand Eugene Delacroix, French painter/lithograph/etcher (Journal)
1798 James Beckwourth, American explorer (d. 1867)
1801 Ambrose Dudley Mann, American diplomat (d. 1889)
1804 Charles Goodyear, American politician (d. 1876)
1806 Ludwig Friedrich Hetsch, composer
1808 Martha Finley, children's book author
1812 Alfred Krupp, German industrialist, arms merchant (d. 1887)
1820 Alice Cary, Cincinnati, American poet (Cincinnati Sentinel)
1822 Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (designed Central Park) (d. 1903)
1822 Jan Albert van Eyken, composer/organist
1826 Ambrose R. Wright, American Civil War General (d. 1872
1826 George Hull Ward, American general (d. 1863)
1827 Charles Edward Hovey, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1834 Artemus Ward, (Charles Farrar Browne), humorist
1834 Horatio Richmond Palmer, composer
1836 Erminnie Adelle Platt, US, ethnologist (Iriquois-English Dictionary)
1839 Cyrus Hamblin, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1841 Wilhelm Scherer, German literature historian
1856 Sir Joseph Ward, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
1860 Alphonse M A J Ariëns, Dutch pastor
1863 Arno Holz, writer
1863 Charles Haslewood Shannon, lithographer/painter
1868 Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere/Newspaper publisher
1868 Robert Herrick, US writer (Common lot)
1873 Otto zur Linde, German author (Charon)
1874 J H "Biddy" Anderson, cricketer (one Test South Africa v Australia 1902)
1875 Syngman Rhee, South Korea, pres of South Korea (1948-60) [or Mar 26]
1878 Ethel Griffies, actress (Billy Liar, Birds, We Live Again)
1878 Saint Rafael Guízar Valencia, Mexican Catholic bishop (d. 1938)
1879 Owen Williams Richardson, England, physicist (Nobel Prize laureate 1928) (d. 1959)
1880 Mikhail Fokine, Russia, choreographer/founder of modern dance
1884 Harry Sothern, actor (Dr Huer-Buck Rogers)
1886 Gabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet (d. 1913)
1886 Ma Rainey (Gertrude Pridgett), American singer, "Mother of the Blues (d. 1939)
1886 Ğabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet (d. 1913)
1888 Aleksandr Mikhailov, USSR, astronomer
1888 Anita Loos, American writer (d. 1981)
1889 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austria, philosopher (Tractatus) (d. 1951)
1890 Edgar "E Livingstone" Kennedy, US actor/director (My Old Dutch)
1893 Anita Loos, author (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
1893 Draza Mihajlovic, Serbian WWII hero and war criminal (d. 1946)
1894 Rudolf Hess, Nazi official (d. 1987)
1896 Ernst Udet, WWI pilot and film actor, Luftwaffe officer (d. 1941)
1897 Douglas Sirk, German-born film director (d. 1987)
1897 Eddie Eagan, American sportsman (d. 1967)
1897 Olga Chekova, Russia, actress (Italian Strawhat, Cry of the Children)
1898 Edward PF Eagan, Denver, boxer (Oly-gold-20)/bobsledder (Oly-gold-32)
1898 John Grierson, British filmmaker documentary (d. 1972)
1898 Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer (Ambito, Bird of Paper) (Nobel laureate 1977) (d. 1984)
1899 Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, TX, actor (Hoedown, Country Fair, Blackmail)
1900 Charles Richter, American geophysicist (d. 1985)
1900 Charles Richter, Ohio, Earthquakes seismologist (Richter scale)
1900 Douglas Sirk, director (Zu Neuen Ufern, Boefje)
1900 Hack Wilson, American baseball player (d. 1948)
1900 James Sutherland, English literature scholar/actor (Rob Roy 1953)
1903 Geoffrey Worthington, Air vice-marshall
1903 Niven Busch, US screenwriter (Postman Always Rings Twice)
1904 Paul-Émile Léger, Canadian Cardinal and Archbishop (Montreal) (d. 1991)
1905 Charles K Feldman (Gould), American producer (Casino Royale)
1905 Denis O'Dea, Dublin, actor (Esther & the King, Treasure Island)
1905 Jean Vigo, France, actor/director (Zero For Conduct, L'Atlante)
1906 Gracie Allen, Mrs George Burns, comedienne (George Burns Show)
1906 Leopold Spinner, composer
1907 Theun de Vries, writer (February; PC Hooft prize 1981)
1909 Richard Howorth, cricketer (English all-rounder, three county doubles)
1910 Erland von Koch, composer
1910 Ernst Tittel, composer
1910 Johan Doorn, Dutch journalist/resistance fighter (Orange Newspaper)
1910 Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese movie producer and creator (Godzilla) (d. 1997)
1911 Marianne Hoppe, German actress (Bei Thea, Liebrauen) (d. 2002)
1912 A. E. van Vogt, Canadian sci-fi author (Wizard of Linn) (d. 2000)
1914 Bernard Malamud, American author(Fixer, Natural) (Pulitizer 1967) (d. 1986)
1914 Charlie Chester, British comedian (Never Say Die)
1914 Horace Leonard Gold, Sci-Fi writer/editor
1914 James W(illiam) Rouse, American investor and builder (shopping malls/Columbia, Maryland) (d. 1996)
1914 Wilfred Howard Mellers, composer
1916 Arnoldus Christian Vlok van Wyk, composer
1916 George Tuska, American comic book illustrator (d. 2009)
1916 Morris L West, Australian novelist (Shoes of the Fisherman) (d. 1999)
1916 Vic Perrin, American actor (d. 1989)
1917 I[eoh] M[ing] Pei, Chinese-born architect (1961 Brunner Prize)
1917 Sal "The Barber" Maglie, American baseball player, pitcher (NY Giants, 8th best won-lost pct) (d. 1992)
1918 Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete, 100m/200m dash, hurdler (Olym-gold-1948) (d. 2004)
1918 Jack Morpurgo, American Literature scholar (Leeds University)
1918 Stafford Repp, American actor (Chief O'Hara-Batman, Plunder Road) (d. 1974)
1920 Juan C Lampe, Aruba, pianist/composer
1921 Harry Knutton, Maj-Gen/dir-general (London City & Guilds Institute)
1921 Jimmy Giuffre, jazz musician
1921 Margaret Gowing, professor (history, science)
1922 James Holt, medieval historian
1922 Jeanne Sauvé, French Canadian politician (d. 1993)
1922 Margaret Scott, founder (Australian Ballet School)
1922 Mike Kellin, Hartford Ct, actor (Honestly Celeste, Fitz & Bones)
1922 Paul-Andre Gaillard, composer
1922 Pol Bury, Belgian sculptor
1923 Oliver Millar, Surveyor (Queen's Pictures)
1924 H. Browning Ross, American long-distance running Olympian (d. 1998)
1924 Russell Nype, Zion Ill, singer/actor (Burton Farley-Dorothy)
1925 Jørgen Ingmann, Danish musician
1926 David Coleman, British TV sports broadcaster
1926 Michael Joughin, CEO (Scottish Hydro-Electric)
1926 Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)
1926 Oldrich Frantisek Korte, composer
1926 Preston "Bob" Tisch, NFL co-owner (NY Giants)
1927 Anne McLaren, biologist/zoologist/actress (Things to Come)
1927 Jack Douglas, British actor (My Brother Was an Only Child, Jack Paar Show) (d. 2008)
1928 Gordon Downey, British Comptroller General/Reader Rep (Independent)
1929 Richard Mitchell, American author and professor (d. 2002)
1930 Derek Waring, actor (Barnacle Bill, Arthur-Heart of the Country)
1930 Justin Gosling, principal (St Edmund Hall Oxford)
1930 Roger Moens, Belgian athlete, 800m runner (Olympic-silver-1960)
1932 Francis Lai, French film music composer
1932 Israr Ahmed, Pakistani Muslim religious scholar (d. 2010)
1932 Michael Smith, English-born chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
1933 Arno Allan Penzias, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate
1933 Carol Burnett, American comedian (Annie, 4 Seasons)
1933 Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist (d. 2005)
1934 J Micheal McCloskey, environmentalist/chairman (Sierra Club)
1936 Edward Cazalet, British High Court Judge
1937 Robert Boozer, Omaha Neb, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1960), (d. 2012)
1938 Duane Eddy, American country singer (Peter Gunn, Cannonball)
1938 Maurice Williams, rocker
1938 Willie Wood, bowler
1939 Roger Buckley, British High Court Judge
1940 Cliff Watson, British rugby league footballer
1940 Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer (Let it Ride, Cat People, Top Gun)
1941 Claudine Clark, American R&B singer-composer
1941 John Battle, MP
1941 John Mitchell, American composer
1942 Bobby Rydell, American singer (Wild One, Bye Bye Birdie)
1942 Claudine Auger, French actress (Thunderball), Miss France (1958)
1942 Michael Kergin, Canadian diplomat
1942 Vitali Andreyevich Grishchenko, Russia, cosmonaut
1943 Claudine Auger, Miss France (1958)/actress (Thunderball)
1943 Gary Wright, American singer, dream weaver (Spooky Tooth-It's All About)
1943 Peter Zumthor, Swiss architect
1944 Amien Rais, Indonesian politician
1944 David O'B Martin, (Rep-R-NY, 1981)
1944 Martha Rockwell, Providence RI, skier (Mount Washington)
1945 Giorgio Moroder, producer/singer/songwriter (150 gold discs)
1945 Sylvain Simard, Quebec politician
1945 V K Ramaswamy, cricketer (Indian Test umpire stood in 1996 World Cup)
1946 Wolf Kahler, German actor
1947 Donna Elizabeth De Varona, Greenwich Ct, swimmer (Olympic-2 gold-64)
1947 Gervase Frank Ashworth Jackson-Stops, architectural adviser
1947 Warren Clarke, English actor
1948 Boyd Matson, TV host/correspondent (National Geographic Explorer)
1948 Gerry Sikorski, (Rep-D-MN, 1983)
1949 Carlos Bianchi, Argentinian footballer
1949 Dominic Sena, American film director
1949 Jerry Blackwell, American wrestler (d. 1995)
1949 Jimmy Hall, rocker (Wet Willie)
1950 Howard "Leon" Reeder, rock guitarist (Champaign)
1950 Peter Schaufuss, director of ballet (Deutsche Opera Berlin)
1951 Lynne Jones, MP
1952 Popo Simon Molefe, secretary-general (South Africa UDF)
1954 Alan Hinkes, British mountaineer
1955 Mike Scott, American baseball player
1956 Koo Stark (Kathleen Dee-Anne), American actress (Emily) and photographer
1958 Giancarlo Esposito, American actor (Bob Roberts, School Daze, King of NY)
1958 Jeffrey Guterman, American mental health counselor
1958 John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute
1958 Johnny "Earl of" Dumfries, racing driver
1959 Ann O'Neill, Toowoomba QLD, golfer (1989 Downs District Champ)
1959 John Corabi, American Musician
1959 Thanassis Papakonstantinou, Greek singer and songwriter
1960 Roger Taylor, British musician, Drummer (Duran Duran)
1960 Steve Lombardozzi, American baseball player
1961 Albert Lawrence, Jamaica, 4X100m relayer (Olympic-silver-1984)
1961 Anthony Cumia, American radio personality (The Opie and Anthony Show)
1961 Chris Mars, American rock drummer (The Replacements)
1961 Joan Chen (Chen Chong), Chinese-born actress (Heaven & Earth)
1961 Nancy Scranton, Centralia IL, golfer (1991 du Maurier Ltd Classic)
1962 Colin Anderson, English footballer
1962 Debra Wilson, American actress and comedian
1962 Graham "Skin" Skinner, rocker (Hipsway)
1962 Michael Damian, American actor (Young & Restless), singer (Rock on) and producer
1963 Bill Wennington, NBA center (Chicago Bulls)
1963 Colin Scotts, Australian-born American football player
1963 Jet Li (Li Lianjie), Chinese martial artist and actor (Romeo Must Die, Unleashed)
1963 Michael Damian, actor/singer (Joseph & Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)
1963 Thomas Searle, hockey defenseman (Team Austria 1998)
1964 Tod Bass, LA California, actor (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
1965 Kevin James, American comedian
1966 Andrea Temesvari, Budapest Hungary, tennis star (1985 US Clay Courts)
1966 Yoshihiro Togashi, Mangaka who created YuYu Hakusho
1967 Glenn Jacobs, American professional wrestler
1967 Klaus Merk, Augsburg GER, hockey goaltender (Team Germany 1998)
1967 Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Academy Award nominated British actress
1967 Matt Peterson, Chicago IL, Nike golfer (1992 Hawkeye Open-7th)
1968 Ahmed Elmaghraby, Suez Egypt, US field hockey forward (Olympics-96)
1970 Melania Trump, Slovenian model
1970 Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, American singer (TLC)
1971 Jay DeMarcus, American bassist (Rascal Flatts)
1971 Ryan Yarborough, NFL wide receiver (Baltimore Ravens, NY Jets)
1971 Shondrella Avery, American actress
1972 Avi Nimni, Israeli Footballer
1972 Francisco Cordova, Veracruz Mexico, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1972 Jason Bargwanna, Australian racing driver
1972 Kiko Narváez, Spanish footballer
1972 Marco Rivera, NFL/WLAF guard (Scot Claymores, GB Packers-Superbowl 31)
1972 Natrone Means, NFL running back (San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars)
1973 Chris Perry, English footballer
1973 Damien Munoz, Miss USA-Colorado (1997)
1973 Mark Davis, NBA guard/forward (Phila 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves)
1973 Tracy Kathleen Hayes, Wheaton Ill, Miss America (Illinois-5th-1996)
1974 Adil Ray, English radio presenter (BBC Asian Network)
1974 Ivana Milicevic, Croatian-American actress
1975 Jabbar Threats, defensive end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1975 Nathan "Joey" Jordison, American musician (Slipknot)
1975 Nerina Pallot, British singer
1975 Trudi Ferguson, Miss Universe-Jamaica (1996)
1976 Luigi Panarelli, Italian footballer
1976 Sarah Tueting, ice hockey goalie (USA, Oly-98)
1976 Vaclav Varada, Czech ice hockey player
1977 Chris Johnston, Irish rugby player
1977 Jason Earles, American actor
1977 Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player
1977 Tom Welling, American actor
1978 Avant, American singer
1978 Joe Crede, American baseball player
1978 Peter Madsen, Danish footballer
1978 Stana Katic, Canadian actress
1978 Tyler Labine, Canadian actor
1979 Ariane Moffatt, Quebec singer and songwriter
1979 Janne Wirman, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom)
1979 Sean Fox, actor (3 Ninjas Kick Back, Calendar Girl)
1980 Anna Mucha, Polish actress
1980 Channing Tatum, American actor
1980 Jordana Brewster, American actress (Nikki Graves-As the World Turns)
1980 Marlon King, Jamaican footballer
1980 Marnette Patterson, American actress (Nicole-Something So Right), famous YouTube star LG15: The Resistance
1981 Matthieu Delpierre, French footballer
1981 Ms. Dynamite, British musician
1982 Brock Gillespie, American basketball player
1982 Cooper Wallace, American football player, NFL tight end
1982 Joanne Gobure, Nauruan poet
1982 Jon Lee, British singer (S Club)
1983 Jessica Lynch, American P.O.W.
1983 José María López, Argentine racing driver
1984 Mija Martina, Bosnian singer
1984 Ryan O'Donohue, Pomona Ca, actress (Byrds of Paradise, Boys are Back)
1985 John Isner, American Tennis player
1985 Nam Gyu-Ri, Korean singer (See Ya)
1987 Jarmila Groth, Slovakian/Australian tennis player
1987 Jessica Lee Rose, American-born New Zealand actress, famous YouTube star lonelygirl15
1989 Daesung, Korean singer (Big Bang)
1993 Tanner Malkoff
Died on April 26th
757 Stephen II, Pope (752-57)
1192 Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (b. 1127)
1196 Alfonso II, King of Aragon (1162-96), dies
1444 Robert Campin, Flemish painter, porter of Doornik (b. 1378)
1476 Simonetta Vespucci, inspiration of Botticelli (b.1453)
1478 Giuliano di Piero de' Medici, Ruler of Florence (assassinated) (b. 1453)
1489 Ashikaga Yoshihisa, Japanese shogun (b. 1465)
1558 Jean Francois Fernel, French physician,
1648 Christoph Thomas Walliser, composer,
1703 Georg Christoph Leuttner, composer
1716 John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1651)
1726 Jeremy Collier, Engl bishop/historian/opponent to theater
1731 Daniel Defoe, English author (Robinson Crusoe)
1784 Nano Nagle, Irish convent founder (b. 1718)
1785 Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff, composer
1789 Count Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian soldier (b. 1721)
1789 Peter I Panin, Russian general (Pugatshov-uprising)
1805 Jean BG d'ansse the Villoison, classic (Anecdota Graeca)
1827 Bernardo Ottani, composer
1852 Charles Athanase Walckenaer, French naturalist (b. 25 December 1771)
1865 Charles J Sax, Belgium musician and father of Adolphe Sax inventor of the saxophone
1865 John Wilkes Booth, American assassin (Lincoln) , is shot dead near Bowling Green VA (b. 1838)
1881 Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (b. 1815)
1892 Sir Provo Wallis, British Admiral and naval hero (b. 1791)
1907 Pietro Plantania, composer
1910 Bjornstjerne Bjornson, Norwegian writer (Mary, Nobel laureate 1903) (b. 1832)
1915 John Bunny, silent film comedian (b. 1863)
1920 Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (b. 1887)
1922 Hans Sommer, composer
1924 Josef Labor, composer
1932 William Lockwood, British cricketer (b. 1868)
1936 Tammany Young, American actor (b.1886)
1938 Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (study of phenomenon) (b. 1859)
1940 Carl Bosch, German chemist (BASF, IG Farben, Nobel laureate 1931) (b. 1874)
1941 Jean Demoor, Belgian physician/physiologist/educationalist
1944 Violette Morris, French athlete (b. 1893)
1945 Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general (b. 1871)
1945 Sigmund Rascher, Nazi doctor (b. 1909)
1946 Hermann Keyserling, count/philosopher (Unsterblichkeit)
1946 Jim White, discoverer of Carlsbad Caverns (b. 1882)
1950 G. Murray Hulbert, American politician (b. 1881)
1951 Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist (b. 1868)
1951 John Alden Carpenter, US composer (Sea Drift)
1952 Charles L Baars, Dutch actor (Women Tamers)
1956 Edward Arnold, American actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington) (b. 1890)
1957 Gichin Funakoshi, Father of Japanese Shotokan Karatedo (b. 1868)
1958 Joe Small, cricketer (WI all-rounder in 1928 series)
1958 Johan N C "Joan" Collette, painter
1960 Wander J de Haas, Dut physicist (Einstein-De Haas effect)
1961 Gail Russell, actress (Calcutta, Moonrise, El Paso)
1964 E(dwin) J(ohn) Pratt, Canadian poet (Towards the Last Spike) (b. 1882)
1964 Pieter van der Lijn, Dutch geologist (Boulder Book)
1965 Aaron Avshalomov, composer
1968 John Heartfield, German artist (b. 1891)
1969 Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883)
1970 Erik Bergman, Lutheran pastor (b. 1886)
1970 Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress (Pruitts of S Hampton) (b. 1911)
1970 John Knittel, writer
1970 Paul Celan, writer
1972 Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
1972 Margaret A R Bonds, US pianist/composer/arranger
1973 Irene Ryan, American actress (Granny-Beverly Hillbillies) (b. 1902)
1976 Allan Jackson, newscaster (Youth Takes a Stand)
1976 Neil McCallum, actor (Pete-Saber of London)
1976 Sid James, South African–born British comedian (b. 1913)
1980 Cicely Courtneidge, British actress and comedian (Double Exposure) (b. 1893)
1981 Jim Davis, American actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas) (b. 1909)
1981 Madge Evans, TV panelist (Masquerade Party)
1981 Robert Davi
1982 Celia Johnson, British actress (Jean Brodie)
1982 Ville Ritola, Finnish 5/10km runner (Olympic-gold-1924, 28)
1983 Bronislaw Kaper, compose
1983 Vaughn Taylor, actor (Johnny Jupiter)
1984 Count Basie, American musician and composer (b. 1904)
1984 Henry Rowland, actor (Rogue's Regiment)
1984 May McAvoy, actress (Ben Hur)
1984 William "Count" Basie, jazz piano great, dies on his 80th birthday
1986 Bessie Love, American actress (Broadway Melody, Isadora) (b. 1898)
1986 Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
1986 (William) Broderick Crawford, American actor (Highway Patrol) (b. 1911)
1987 John Ernest Silkin, British politician (b. 1923)
1987 Shankar, Of Noted Bollywood Music Director Duo Shankar-Jaikishan (b. 1922)
1989 Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (I Love Lucy) (b. 1911)
1990 Carlos Pizarro Leongomez, Colombian pres candidate, assassinated
1991 Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor, father of Francis Ford Coppola (b. 1910)
1991 Emily McLaughlin, American actress (Jessie-General Hospital) (b. 1928)
1991 Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (b. 1904)
1991 Richard Hatfield, Canadian politician (b. 1931)
1992 Alberta Vaughn, actress (Wild Horse, Silver Devil)
1992 Clyde Hartley, entertainer
1994 Masutatsu Oyama, Founder of Japanese Kyokushin Karate (b. 1927)
1995 Alexander Knox, actor/writer (Gorky Park, Accident)
1996 Burton Stein, historian
1996 John Norrie McArthur, malariologist/microscopist
1996 Stirling Silliphant, American writer and producer (b. 1918)
1997 Joey Faye, comic (Fruit of the Loom grapes)
1997 Peng Zhen, mayor of Beijing China (1951-66)
1997 Yegorov, Russian leader (1994-95)
1999 Adrian Borland, English musician (The Sound) (b. 1957)
1999 Jill Dando, British television presenter (b. 1961)
2002 Robert Steinhäuser, German spree killer (b.1983)
2003 Max Nicholson, Irish environmentalist (b. 1904)
2003 Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)
2003 Rosemary Brown, Canadian politician (b. 1930)
2004 Hubert Selby Jr., American author (b. 1928)
2005 Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan author (b. 1917)
2005 Maria Schell, Swiss-Austrian actress (b. 1926)
2005 Mason Adams, American actor (b. 1919)
2007 Jack Valenti, American political advisor and film executive (b. 1921)
2013 George Jones, American country music singer (b. 1931)
2015 Jayne Meadows, American actress and wife of Steve Allen