Events Pre-1600 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (Enkyklikon) to the bishops of his empire, supporting the Monophysite christological position. 537 – Siege of Rome: The Byzantine general Belisarius receives his promised reinforcements, 1,600 cavalry, mostly of Hunnic or Slavic origin and expert bowmen. Despite shortages, he starts raids against the Gothic camps and Vitiges but is forced into a stalemate. 1241 – Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeat the Polish and German armies. 1288 – Mongol invasions of Vietnam: Yuan forces are defeated by Trần forces in the Battle of Bach Dang in present-day northern Vietnam. 1387 – The Byzantine city of Thessalonike surrenders to the Ottomans, though rule reverts back to the Byzantines after the battle of Ankara. 1388 – Despite being outnumbered 16:1, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy are victorious over the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Näfels. 1438 – The Council of Ferrara begins with its first session in presence of the Patriarch of Constantinople, representatives of the Patriarchal Sees of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem and Pope Eugene IV presiding. 1454 – The Treaty of Lodi is signed, establishing a balance of power among northern Italian city-states for almost 50 years. 1511 – Resettled Shiite Muslims rise up in the Şahkulu rebellion under the leadership of Şahkulu against the Ottoman Empire.
1601–1900 1609 – Eighty Years' War: Spain and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of Antwerp to initiate twelve years of truce. 1609 – Philip III of Spain issues the decree of the "Expulsion of the Moriscos". 1682 – Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana. 1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War. Copies of the ratified documents are exchanged on May 12, 1784. 1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the first known recording of an audible human voice. 1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
1901–present 1909 – The U.S. Congress passes the Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act. 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Arras: The battle begins with Canadian Corps executing a massive assault on Vimy Ridge. 1918 – World War I: The Battle of the Lys: The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps is crushed by the German forces during what is called the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders. 1937 – The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London. It is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe. 1939 – African-American singer Marian Anderson gives a concert at the Lincoln Memorial after being denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. 1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. 1940 – Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norway. 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan ends and the Bataan Death March begins. 1942 – World War II: An Indian Ocean raid by Japan's 1st Air Fleet sinks the British aircraft carrier and the Australian destroyer . 1945 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, is executed by the Nazi regime. 1945 – World War II: The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer is sunk by the Royal Air Force. 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends. 1945 – The United States Atomic Energy Commission is formed. 1946 – About 500 postal workers in Tel Aviv and Jaffa went on strike. 1947 – The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes kill 181 and injure 970 in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. 1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel. 1947 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 22 relating to Corfu Channel incident is adopted. 1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assassination provokes a violent riot in Bogotá (the Bogotazo), and a further ten years of violence in Colombia. 1948 – Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist terror groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100 Palestinians. 1952 – Hugo Ballivián's government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution, starting a period of agrarian reform, universal suffrage and the nationalization of tin mines 1952 – Japan Air Lines Flight 301 crashes into Mount Mihara, Izu Ōshima, Japan, killing 37. 1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis. 1959 – Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven". 1960 – Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa and architect of apartheid, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a white farmer, David Pratt in Johannesburg. 1967 – The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight. 1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford with Brian Trubshaw as the test pilot. 1980 – The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture. 1981 – The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it and killing two Japanese sailors. 1989 – Tbilisi massacre: An anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries. 1990 – An IRA bombing in County Down, Northern Ireland, kills three members of the UDR. 1990 – The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement is signed for in the Mackenzie Valley of the western Arctic. 1990 – An Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia collides in mid-air with a Cessna 172 over Gadsden, Alabama, killing both of the Cessna's occupants. 1991 – Georgia declares independence from the Soviet Union. 1992 – A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison. 1994 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-59. 2003 – Iraq War: Baghdad falls to American forces. 2009 – In Tbilisi, Georgia, up to 60,000 people protest against the government of Mikheil Saakashvili. 2011 – Six people and the perpetrator are killed and 17 injured in a mass shooting at a shopping mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. 2013 – A 6.1–magnitude earthquake strikes Iran killing 32 people and injuring over 850 people. 2013 – At least 13 people are killed and another three injured after a man goes on a spree shooting in the Serbian village of Velika Ivanča. 2014 – A student stabs 20 people at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. 2017 – The Palm Sunday church bombings at Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, take place. 2020 – Soyuz MS-16 is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the Expedition 62/63 crew to the International Space Station. 2021 – Burmese military and security forces commit the Bago massacre, during which at least 82 civilians are killed. 2021 – Soyuz MS-18 is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying three members of the Expedition 64 crew to the International Space Station.
Births
Pre-1600 1096 – Al-Muqtafi, caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate (died 1160) 1285 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Emperor Renzong of Yuan (died 1320) 1458 – Camilla Battista da Varano, Italian saint (died 1524) 1498 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (died 1550) 1586 – Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (died 1665) 1597 – John Davenport, English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony (died 1670) 1598 – Johann Crüger, Sorbian-German composer and theorist (died 1662)
1601–1900 1624 – Henrik Rysensteen, Dutch military engineer (died 1679) 1627 – Johann Caspar Kerll, German organist and composer (died 1693) 1634 – Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau (died 1696) 1648 – Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway, French soldier and diplomat (died 1720) 1649 – James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (died 1685) 1654 – Samuel Fritz, Czech Jesuit missionary to South America (died 1725?) 1680 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright (died 1754) 1686 – James Craggs the Younger, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (died 1721) 1691 – Johann Matthias Gesner, German scholar and academic (died 1761) 1717 – Georg Matthias Monn, Austrian organist, composer, and educator (died 1750) 1770 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist and academic (died 1831) 1773 – Étienne Aignan, French author and academic (died 1824) 1794 – Theobald Boehm, German flute player and composer (died 1881) 1794 – Søren Christian Sommerfelt, Norwegian priest and botanist (died 1838) 1802 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and philologist (died 1884) 1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (died 1859) 1807 – James Bannerman, Scottish theologian and academic (died 1868) 1821 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (died 1867) 1830 – Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer and cinematographer (died 1904) 1835 – Leopold II of Belgium (died 1909) 1835 – Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore (died 1913) 1846 – Paolo Tosti, Italian-English composer and educator (died 1916) 1848 – Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz, Spanish Augustinian Recollect priest and saint (died 1906) 1865 – Erich Ludendorff, German general and politician (died 1937) 1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Polish-American mathematician and engineer (died 1923) 1867 – Chris Watson, Chilean-Australian journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (died 1941) 1867 – Charles Winckler, Danish tug of war competitor, discus thrower, and shot putter (died 1932) 1872 – Léon Blum, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1950) 1875 – Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (died 1912) 1880 – Jan Letzel, Czech architect (died 1925) 1882 – Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (died 1946) 1882 – Otz Tollen, German actor (died 1965) 1883 – Frank King, American cartoonist (died 1969) 1887 – Konrad Tom, Polish actor, writer, singer, and director (died 1957) 1888 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American talent manager (died 1974) 1893 – Charles E. Burchfield, American painter (died 1967) 1893 – Victor Gollancz, English publisher, founded Victor Gollancz Ltd (died 1967) 1893 – Rahul Sankrityayan, Indian linguist, author, and scholar (died 1963) 1895 – Mance Lipscomb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1976) 1895 – Michel Simon, Swiss-French actor (died 1975) 1897 – John B. Gambling, American radio host (died 1974) 1898 – Curly Lambeau, American football player and coach (died 1965) 1898 – Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (died 1976) 1900 – Allen Jenkins, American actor and singer (died 1974)
1901–present 1901 – Jean Bruchési, Canadian historian and author (died 1979) 1901 – Paul Willis, American actor and director (died 1960) 1902 – Théodore Monod, French explorer and scholar (died 2000) 1903 – Ward Bond, American actor (died 1960) 1904 – Sharkey Bonano, American singer, trumpet player, and bandleader (died 1972) 1905 – J. William Fulbright, American lawyer and politician (died 1995) 1906 – Rafaela Aparicio, Spanish actress (died 1996) 1906 – Antal Doráti, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (died 1988)