Events Pre-1600 753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional date). 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after. 900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations. 1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II. 1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics. 1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII. 1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi, is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.
1601–1900 1615 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta. 1782 – The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke. 1789 – John Adams sworn in as first US Vice President (nine days before George Washington). 1789 – George Washington's reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his first inauguration. 1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered. 1796 – War of the First Coalition: In the climax of the Montenotte Campaign, Napoleon Bonaparte decisively defeats the army of Piedmont at the Battle of Mondovi, leading to Piedmont's surrender a week later and decisively turning the Italian campaign in France's favor. 1802 – Twelve thousand Wahhabis sack Karbala, killing over three thousand inhabitants. 1806 – Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa. 1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl. 1821 – Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile. 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. 1856 – Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day. 1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years. 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.
1901–present 1914 – Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz. 1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France. 1926 – Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi'a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis. 1934 – The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1994, it is revealed to be a hoax). 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters. 1946 – The U.S. Weather Bureau records that a tornado which struck Timber Lake, South Dakota was , among the widest tornadoes on record. 1948 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted. 1950 – The Nainital wedding massacre occurs, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.22 guests slain, The Bend Bulletin (21 April 1950)22 guests slain as wedding held, The Ogden Standard-Examiner (21 April 1950)Drunk Gurkha Kills 22, Los Angeles Times (22 April 1950)Murders 22 at wedding, The Huntingdon Daily News (22 April 1950) 1952 – Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated. 1958 – United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada. 1960 – Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro. 1962 – The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II. 1963 – The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith. 1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed. 1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season. 1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day. 1967 – A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years. 1967 – A tornado outbreak in Illinois, United States, kills over 50 and injures over 1,000. Belvidere sustains over 500 casualties as a violent tornado strikes the high school. Another tornado near Chicago causes another 500 casualties, devastating Oak Lawn. 1972 – Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke fly Apollo 16's Apollo Lunar Module to the Moon's surface, the fifth NASA Apollo Program crewed lunar landing.Landing site/. Retrieved 25 March 2019 1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls. 1977 – Annie opens on Broadway. 1982 – Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves. 1985 – The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege. 1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people. 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang. 1993 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution. 1996 – Four people are killed and 75 are injured in a train accident in Jokela, Finland. 2004 – Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160. 2010 – The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014. 2012 – Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, killing one person and injuring 116 others. 2019 – Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 269. 2021 – Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala (402) sinks in the Bali Sea during a military drill, killing all 53 on board.
Births Pre-1600 1132 – Sancho VI, king of Navarre (died 1194) 1488 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (died 1523) 1523 – Marco Antonio Bragadin, Venetian lawyer and military officer (died 1571) 1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (died 1619)
1601–1900 1619 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch founder of Cape Town (died 1677) 1630 – Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, Dutch-English painter (died 1700) 1631 – Francesco Maidalchini, Catholic cardinal (died 1700) 1642 – Simon de la Loubère, French mathematician, poet, and diplomat (died 1729) 1651 – Joseph Vaz, Sri Lankan priest, missionary, and saint (died 1711) 1652 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician and academic (died 1719) 1671 – John Law, Scottish economist (died 1729) 1673 – Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1742) 1713 – Louis de Noailles, French general (died 1793) 1730 – Antonín Kammel, Czech violinist and composer (died 1788) 1752 – Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, French engineer, hydrographer, and politician, French Minister of Marine and the Colonies (died 1807) 1752 – Humphry Repton, English gardener and author (died 1818) 1774 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (died 1862) 1775 – Alexander Anderson, Scottish-American illustrator and engraver (died 1870) 1783 – Reginald Heber, English priest (died 1821); re-printed 2015 by Facsimile Publisher and distributed by Gyan Books, New Delhi. 1790 – Manuel Blanco Encalada, Spanish-Chilean admiral and politician, 1st President of Chile (died 1876) 1810 – John Putnam Chapin, American politician, 10th Mayor of Chicago (died 1864) 1811 – Alson Sherman, American merchant and politician, 8th Mayor of Chicago (died 1903) 1814 – Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, English art collector and philanthropist (died 1906) 1816 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (died 1855) 1837 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish lieutenant and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1922) 1838 – John Muir, Scottish-American environmentalist and author (died 1914) 1854 – William Stang, German-American bishop (died 1907) 1864 – Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (died 1920) 1868 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (died 1932) 1868 – Mary Rogers Miller, American author and educator (died 1971) 1870 – Edwin Stanton Porter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1941) 1874 – Vincent Scotto, French composer and actor (died 1952) 1882 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961) 1885 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (died 1967) 1887 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (died 1978) 1889 – Marcel Boussac, French businessman (died 1980) 1889 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971) 1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., Russian-American violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1985) 1892 – Freddie Dixon, English motorcycle racer and racing driver (died 1956) 1893 – Romeo Bertini, Italian runner (died 1973) 1897 – Odd Lindbäck-Larsen, Norwegian Army general and war historian (died 1975) 1898 – Maurice Wilson, English soldier, pilot, and mountaineer (died 1934) 1899 – Randall Thompson, American composer and academic (died 1984)
1901–present 1903 – Luis Saslavsky, Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1995) 1904 – Jean Hélion, French painter (died 1987) 1904 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer and Holocaust perpetrator (died 1945) 1905 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (died 1996) 1911 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, developed Clearasil (died 2000) 1911 – Kemal Satır, Turkish physician and politician (died 1991) 1912 – Eve Arnold, Russian-American photojournalist (died 2012) 1912 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (died 1982) 1913 – Norman Parkinson, English photographer (died 1990) 1914 – Angelo Savoldi, Italian-American wrestler and promoter, co-founded International World Class Championship Wrestling (died 2013) 1915 – Garrett Hardin, American ecologist, author, and academic (died 2003) 1915 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor (died 2001)