• 1479 - Vasili III, great prince of Moscow (1505-33)/son of Ivan III
• 1516 - Konrad von Gesner, Z�rich Switz, naturalist (Bibliotheca Universalis)
• 1577 - Elisabeth of Nassau, daughter of Willem I & Charlotte of Bourbon
• 1659 - William Wollaston, Coton England, philosopher
• 1671 - Giacomo Cesare Predieri, composer
• 1684 - Johann Graf, composer
• 1717 - Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila, composer
• 1753 - Benjamin Thompson, physicist (Royal Inst of Great Britain, Woburn MA)
• 1758 - Johann Daniel Ferstenberg, composer
• 1773 - Nathaniel Bowditch, mathematician/astronomer/author (Marine Sextant)
• 1783 - Johann Baptist Weigl, composer
• 1806 - Josef Slavik, composer
• 1813 - Thomas West Sherman, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1879
• 1817 - Herman Haupt, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
• 1819 - Francisco Eduardo da Costa, composer
• 1819 - Louise Otto, Germany, author/feminist
• 1821 - Earnest Angel, German statistician (Law of Angel)
• 1827 - Emanuel Kania, composer
• 1830 - Eliza Laurillard, Dutch vicar/poet/writer
• 1830 - John Rogers Thomas, composer
• 1833 - Betsy Perk, [Christina E], Dutch journalist/writer/feminist
• 1840 - Carli Zoeller, composer
• 1840 - George Smith, London England, assyriologist (cuneiform (script))
• 1850 - Edward Bellamy, author (Looking Backward)
• 1854 - Braulio Dueno Colon, composer
• 1856 - David Alfred Thomas, Glamorganshire UK, 1st Viscount Rhondda
• 1859 - A[lfred] E[dward] Housman, England, poet (Shropshire Lad)
• 1859 - Nikolay Alexandrovich Sokolov, composer
• 1862 - George William Louis Marshall-Hall, composer
• 1863 - Henry Royce, founder (Rolls-Royce Limited in 1884)
• 1868 - Fuad I, king of Egypt (1922-36)
• 1871 - Seraf¡n Alvarez Quint‚ro, Spanish dramatist/playwright (El Flechazo)
• 1873 - [Louise] Sophie de Vries, actress (On Hope of Blessing)
• 1874 - Gerald du Maurier, London Engld, actor (Power, Escape, Masks & Faces)
• 1874 - Oskar Nedbal, composer
• 1874 - Robert Frost, SF, poet (Mending Wall, Road Not Taken)
• 1875 - Syngman Rhee, pres of South Korea (1948-60) [or Apr 26]
• 1880 - Duncan Hines, US, restaurant guide writer (Out of Kentucky Kitchens)
• 1884 - Wilhelm Backhaus, Leipzig Germany, pianist (Rubinstein 1905)
• 1885 - Julius Harrison, composer
• 1885 - Robert Blackburn, British aviation pioneer
• 1888 - Sigurd Erixon, Swedish etnologist (Atlas ”ver Svensk Folk culture)
• 1889 - Vaclav Kapral, composer
• 1890 - Jozef Arras, Flemish writer
• 1893 - Palmiro Togliatti, founder (Communist Party of Italy)
• 1894 - Will Wright, SF CA, actor (Living Christ Story)
• 1896 - Richard Flury, composer
• 1897 - Jean Epstein, French director (Sa tˆte/Eau vive)
• 1898 - Renzo Massarani, composer
• 1899 - James B Connant, chemist/college president (Yale)
• 1899 - William Baines, composer
• 1900 - Isadore Freed, composer
• 1902 - Leslie Melville, economist
• 1904 - Emilio Fernandez, El Seco Mexico, director (La Choca, Flor Silvestre)
• 1904 - Hermann Schroeder, composer
• 1904 - Joseph Campbell, mythologist (Mythic Image)
• 1905 - Pablo Garrido, composer
• 1905 - Viktor Emil Frankl, pyschiatrist (Man's Search for Meaning)
• 1907 - Leigh Harline, composer
• 1907 - Louis Saguer, composer
• 1908 - Betty MacDonald, [Anne E Campbell Bard], US writer (Egg & I)
• 1908 - Hank Sylvern, Bkln NY, orch leader (Jane Froman's USA Canteen)
• 1908 - Hilda Krahwinkel Sperling, Essen Germany, tennis star (French 1935)
• 1908 - Kenneth Mellanby, entomologist
• 1908 - Robert William Paine, architect
• 1909 - Chips Rafferty, Broken Hill Australia, actor (Desert Rats)
• 1909 - Chris[tiaan R] Reumer, Dutch opera singer
• 1911 - Bernard Katz, biophysicist
• 1911 - Tennessee Williams, Columbus Miss, playwright (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
• 1913 - Paul Erdos, mathematician
• 1914 - Ian McGeoch, Vice-Admiral
• 1914 - William Westmoreland, Saxon SC, army general (Vietnam era)
• 1916 - Bill Edrich, cricketer (Middlesex & England bat, Compton's mate)
• 1916 - Christian B Anfinsen, US chemist (cell physiology, Nobel 1972)
• 1916 - Harry Rabinowitz, British? composer/conductor
• 1916 - Mort Abrahams, producer (Dr Doolittle, Planet Of Apes)
• 1916 - Sterling Hayden, NJ, actor (Dr Strangelove, Asphalt Jungle, Cobra)
• 1916 - Vic Schoen, Bkln NY, orch leader (Patti Page Olds Show)
• 1917 - Jean Graham Hall, circuit court judge (England)
• 1917 - Rufus Thomas, Miss, singer (Walking the Dog)
• 1919 - Strother Martin, Kokomo Ind, actor (Cool Hand Luke, Slapshot)
• 1920 - George E Brown Jr, (Rep-D-CA, 1963-71, 73- )
• 1921 - George Jefferson, CEO (British Telecom)
• 1921 - Joe Loco, [Jose Esteves, Jr], musician
• 1921 - Peter Horsley, CEO (Osprey Aviation)
• 1922 - William Milliken, actor (Drive-in)
• 1923 - Bob Elliot, Boston Mass, comedian (Bob & Ray, Get a Life)
• 1923 - Clifton Williams, Traskwood Arkansas, band master (Sinfonians)
• 1923 - Elizabeth Jane Howard, British novelist (After Julius)
• 1925 - Claudio Spies, composer
• 1925 - Lord Graham of Edmonton, House of Lords (chief opposition whip)
• 1925 - Lord Hooson QC, crown court recorder
• 1925 - Maqsood Ahmed, cricketer (Pakistani batsman in 16 Tests 1952-56)
• 1925 - Pierre Boulez, Montbrison France, composer/conductor (Visage Nuptial)
• 1926 - Ann Curtis, US, 400m freestyle swimmer (Olympic-gold-1948)
• 1927 - Jonathan Tod, Vice-Admiral (England)
• 1928 - Carole Carr, singer/actress (Down Among the Z Men)
• 1929 - Am‚d‚e Turner, QC/MEP
• 1929 - Maurice Simon, jazz musician
• 1930 - Cristobal Halffter, composer
• 1930 - Gregory Corso, beat poet (Happy Birthday of Death, Long Live Man)
• 1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, Texas, 1st woman Supreme Court Justice (1981- )
• 1931 - Leonard Nimoy, Boston, actor (Spock-Star Trek, Mission Impossible)
• 1932 - Dick Nolan, football coach
• 1934 - Alan Arkin, NYC, actor (Catch 22, In-Laws, Simon, Wait Until Dark)
• 1934 - G T Pryce, CEO (Dalgety)
• 1934 - Gino Cappelletti, ORFU, AFL running back (AFL Player of Year 1964)
• 1935 - Earl of Kinnoull
• 1936 - Erich Urbanner, composer
• 1936 - Fred Paris, rocker (Five Satins)
• 1937 - Barbara Pearl Jones, Chic Ill, 4X100m relayer (Olympic-gold-1952, 60)
• 1937 - Lord Chetwode
• 1937 - Wayne Embry, holder of 7 basketball records (Miami of Ohio)
• 1939 - Colin Webb, general manager (Press Assn)
• 1939 - James Caan, Bronx NY, actor (Brian's Song, Killer Elite, Godfather)
• 1939 - Phillip R Allen, Pitts, actor (Harry-Hardy Boys Mystery, Mitch-Alice)
• 1939 - Stuart Sutherland, Professor Emeritus (Sussex U)
• 1940 - Bill Ind, Bishop-designate (Truro)
• 1940 - Braulio Baeza, jockey (National Horse Racing Hall of Famer)
• 1940 - Nancy Pelosi, (Rep-D-California)
• 1940 - Rod Lauren, rocker (If I Had a Girl)
• 1940 - Servaes [J S] Huys, Dutch MP (PvdA)
• 1941 - Barclay Plager, hockey player/twin brother of hockey's Bob Plager
• 1941 - Bob Plager, hockey player/twin brother of hockey's Barclay Plager
• 1942 - Erica Jong, [Mann], NYC, author (Fear of Flying)
• 1943 - Robert Woodward, investigative reporter (Watergate, CIA crimes)
• 1944 - Diana Ross, [Earle], Detroit, (Supremes, Lady Sings Blues, Mahogany)
• 1945 - Mikhail Voronin, USSR, horse vault gymnist (Olympic-gold-1968)
• 1946 - Johnny Crawford, LA Calif, actor (Mark-The Rifleman)
• 1947 - Carmen Krolis, Suriname/Neth singer
• 1948 - Kyung-Wha Chung, Seoul Korea, violinist (Chung Sisters)
• 1948 - Richard Tandy, rock bassist (ELO)
• 1948 - Steven Tyler, NYC, rock vocalist (Aerosmith-Janie Got a Gun)
• 1949 - Baroness Hayman
• 1949 - Fran Sheehan, rock bassist (Boston-More than a Feeling)
• 1949 - Vicki Lawrence, Inglewood Ca, actress (Carol Burnette, Mama's Family)
• 1950 - Ernest Thomas, Gary Ind, actor (Roger-What's Happening!!)
• 1950 - Graham Barlow, cricketer (England batsman in 3 Tests 1976-77)
• 1950 - Martin Short, Hamilton Ontario, comedian (SNL, SCTV, 3 Amigos)
• 1950 - Ronnie McDowell, Fountain Head Tn, country singer (King is Gone)
• 1950 - Teddy Pendergrass, Phila, singer (Turn Off the Lights)
• 1950 - Tony Papenfuss, Minneapolis Minn, (Daryl-Newhart)
• 1951 - Richard B Shull, US actor (Hail to the Chief, Big Bus)
• 1952 - David Amess, MP
• 1953 - Michael Bonagura, Newark NJ, country singer (Baille & Boys-Oh Heart)
• 1953 - Tatyana Providokhina, Russian 1K runner (world record)
• 1954 - Curtis Sliwa, founder (Guardian Angels)/radio personality (WABC)
• 1954 - Piers Gardner, director (Brit Institute of Intl & Comparative Law)
• 1955 - Dean Dillon, Lake City TN, country singer (Chair)
• 1956 - Charly McClain, Jackson Tn, country singer (Radio Heart)
• 1956 - Tatyana Kochergina, USSR, team handball (Olympic-gold-1976, 80)
• 1957 - Leeza Gibbons, SC, TV host (Entertainment Tonight, Leeza)
• 1957 - Walter Rohlfing, Dusseldorf, WLAF defensive line coach (Rhein Fire)
• 1959 - David Delong, Portland Ore, Canadian Tour golfer (1988 BC Open)
• 1960 - Billy Warlock, Hawthorne Calif, actor (Flip-Happy Days, Baywatch)
• 1960 - Debbie Hall, LPGA golfer
• 1960 - Marcus Allen, NFL running back (LA Raiders, KC Chiefs, Heisman 1981)
• 1960 - Michael Evans, Fontana CA, US water polo player (Olympic-silver-88)
• 1961 - Leigh Bowery, designer
• 1961 - William Hague, Secretary of State for Wales
• 1962 - John Stockton, Spokane Wash, NBA guard (Utah Jazz, Olympics-gold-96)
• 1962 - Kevin Seitzer, Springfield IL, infielder (Milwaukee Brewers)
• 1962 - Maarten de Young, soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
• 1962 - Richard Coles, rocker (Communards-Don't Leave Me This Way)
• 1962 - Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko, Russia, lt-colonel/cosmonaut
• 1963 - Paul de Leeuw, Dutch TV host (Cry of the Lion)
• 1963 - Rebecca Twigg, Seattle Wash, 79K cyclist (Olympic-silver-1984, 92, 96)
• 1964 - Ab Plugboer, soccer player (FC Utrecht)
• 1964 - Ulf Samuelsson, Fagersta SWE, NHL defenseman (Team Sweden, NY Rangers)
• 1966 - Lee Porter, Greensboro NC, Nike golfer (1992 Texarkana Open-5th)
• 1966 - Mike Remlinger, Middletown NY, pitcher (Cin Reds)
• 1966 - Wesley Walls, NFL tight end (NO Saints)
• 1968 - Edward Kaminski, KC Kansas, javelin thrower
• 1968 - Ian Hutchings, Zimbabwe, Canadian Tour golfer (1994 Klondike Klassic)
• 1968 - Jose Vizcaino, San Cristobal Dom Rep, infielder (NY Mets)
• 1968 - Kari Gronroos, WLAF kicker (Scotland Claymores)
• 1968 - Mike Trevathan, CFL slot back (BC Lions)
• 1968 - Shane Reynolds, Bastrop LA, pitcher (Houston Astros)
• 1969 - Beth Howell, Clinton Mississippi, Miss Mississippi-America (1991)
• 1969 - Luke Richardson, Ottawa, NHL defenseman (Edmonton Oilers)
• 1969 - Vikram Rathour, cricketer (Indian Test opening batsman 1996-)
• 1970 - Evan Richards, LA Calif, actor (Frankie-Mama Malone)
• 1970 - Paul Bosvelt, soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles/FC Twente)
• 1971 - Dave DeGraaf, Lansing Mich, team handball circle (Olympics-1996)
• 1971 - Jesus Tavarez, Santo Domingo Dom Rep, outfielder (Florida Marlins)
• 1971 - Rennae Stubbs, Sydney Australia, tennis star
• 1971 - Tommy Fagan, CFL/NFL defensive end (Atl Falcons, Winn Blue Bombers)
• 1972 - Naoko Kijimuta, Yokohama Kanagawa Japan, tennis star (1996 Jakarta)
• 1972 - Steve Anderson, CFL defensive linebacker (Calgary Stampeders)
• 1973 - Marshall Faulk, running back (Indianapolis Colts)
• 1974 - Alfred Shipman, CFL slot back (BC Lions)
• 1974 - Hakeem Abdul-samad, rocker (Boys)
• 1974 - Irina Spirlea, Bucharest Romania, tennis star (1996 Amelia Island)
• 1974 - Mike Peca, Toronto, NHL center (Buffalo Sabres)
• 1979 - Heidi Zeigler, actress (Sherry-Just the 10 of Us)
• 1986 - Jessica McClure, baby trapped in Texas well in 1988
• 1988 - Jose Vizcaino, San Cristobal Dom Rep, infielder (NY Mets)
• 2228 - James T Kirk, science fiction captain of USS Enterprise (Star Trek)

Famous deaths for this day ..

• 0752 - Stephen II, Catholic Pope (3/22-26/752), dies
• 0809 - Liudger, missionary/1st bishop of M�nster/saint, dies at about 66
• 1258 - Floris, the Guardian, count-regent of Holland, dies
• 1350 - Alfonso XI, King of Castile & Le¢n, dies
• 1546 - Thomas Elyot, British diplomat, dies
• 1566 - Antonio de Cabezon, composer, dies
• 1638 - Palamedes "Stevens" Palamedesz, painter, dies at about 30
• 1649 - John Winthrop, Puritan & 1st Governor (Mass), dies
• 1657 - Jacob van Eyck, Dutch blind flautist/carillonneur, dies at 69
• 1713 - Pal Esterhazy, composer, dies at 77
• 1726 - John Vanbrugh, Dutch/English playwright (Provoked Wife), dies at 62
• 1736 - Georg Balthasar Schott, composer, dies at 49
• 1797 - James Hutton, geologist, dies
• 1809 - Gabriele Mario Piozzi, composer, dies at 68
• 1820 - Jean-Etienne Despreaux, composer, dies at 71
• 1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (Appassionata), dies at 56
• 1831 - Richard Allen, AME Church Bishop, dies at 71
• 1837 - Joseph Lincke, composer, dies at 53
• 1865 - Thomas Hancock, pioneer of rubber industry (Stoke Newington), dies
• 1871 - Fran‡ois-Joseph F‚tis, Belgian musicologist/composer, dies at 87
• 1880 - Mariano Soriano Fuertes y Piqueras, composer, dies at 62
• 1892 - Anton Wallerstein, composer, dies at 78
• 1892 - Walt Whitman, poet, dies in Camden, NJ at 72
• 1896 - Nanny v Hof, writer, dies
• 1900 - Isaac Mayer Wise, rabbi/found Amer Hebrew Congregations, dies at 80
• 1902 - Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1890-96) dies at 48
• 1909 - Nikolai Arkas, composer, dies at 56
• 1918 - C‚sar A Cui, Lithuanian fort builder/composer, dies at 83
• 1923 - Sarah Bernhardt, [Henriette], actress (Qn Elizabeth), dies at 77
• 1924 - Augusto de Oliviera Machado, composer, dies at 78
• 1926 - Georges Vezina, NHL Hall of Fame goalie (Canadiens), dies
• 1926 - Konstantin Fehrenbach, German reichs chancellor (1920-21), dies at 74
• 1932 - Jean Cartan, composer, dies at 25
• 1934 - Grete Gulbransson, writer, dies at 51
• 1937 - Albert Relf, cricketer (13 Tests for England 1903-14), commits suicide
• 1944 - Benjamin Cr‚mieux, French author (In Buchenwald), dies at 55
• 1945 - David Lloyd George, British (L) premier (1916-22), dies at 82
• 1945 - Isaack Stouten, resistance fighter, shot to death at 29
• 1948 - Helen Ernst, German poster artist/resistance fighter, dies at about 43
• 1953 - Albert Spalding, composer, dies at 64
• 1956 - Thomas Alexandrovich de Hartmann, composer, dies at 70
• 1957 - Max Oph�ls, [Maximilian Oppenheimer], German/French director, dies
• 1958 - Phil Mead, cricketer (55061 1st-class runs 1905-36), dies
• 1959 - Raymond T Chandler, US detective writer (Long Goodbye), dies at 71
• 1960 - Ian Keith, actor (Identity Unknown, Queen Christina), dies at 61
• 1962 - Marjorie Colton, inventor of wax paper, dies at 64
• 1967 - Max Oph�ls, [Oppenheimer], German/French actor (Caught, Exile), dies
• 1969 - B[runo] Traven, writer (Sierra Madre), dies at 87
• 1969 - G�nther Weisenborn, German/Argentine writer (Illegals), dies at 66
• 1973 - George Sisler, hall of famer 1st baseman (257 hits-1920), dies at 80
• 1973 - Noel Coward, English playwright (Private Letters), dies at 73
• 1973 - Safford Cape, US/Belgian conductor/composer/musicologist, dies at 67
• 1975 - Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz, king of Saudi-Arabia (1964-75), murdered at 68
• 1976 - Richard Arlen, actor (Apache Uprising, Wings), dies at 75
• 1979 - Jean Stafford, US author (Boston Adventure), dies at 63
• 1980 - Jon-Jon Poulos, rocker (Buckinghams), dies from drugs at 32
• 1981 - Cyril Dean Darlington, biologist (hereditary mechanisms), dies at 77
• 1981 - Tim Wall, cricketer (SA v NSW 1933 is Sheffield Shield record), dies
• 1982 - Agathe "Henri‰tte" de Beaufort, writer (Dolly of Arnhem), dies at 91
• 1983 - Anthony F Blunt, British art historian/spy for USSR, dies at 75
• 1986 - Bartlett Robinson, actor (Wendy & Me, Mona McCluskey), dies at 73
• 1987 - Walter Abel, actor (Suspicion), dies at 88
• 1990 - International Chrysis, Transvestite actor (Q&A), dies of cancer at 38
• 1990 - Roy "Halston" Frowick, fashion designer, dies of AIDs at 68
• 1991 - Frans Dohmen, union leader (Neth Catholic Mine Workers), dies at 81
• 1993 - Luis Falco, US choreographer (Fame, Angel Heart), dies at 50
• 1993 - Roy Riegels, U of Calif football player who ran wrong way, dies at 84
• 1994 - Constantine Koukouchkine, Russ diplomat. murdered in Algeria at 41
• 1994 - Jan Bor, Dutch violinist/painter, dies at 83
• 1995 - Rapper-E (Eazy Eric Wright), dies at 31
• 1996 - (Elizabeth Cissie) Charlton, football matriarch, dies at 83
• 1996 - David Packard, electronic engineer/businessman, dies at 83
• 1996 - Edmund S Muskie, vice pres candidate/(Gov-D-Maine), dies at 81
• 1996 - Thomas Wakefield, writer, dies at 60