Wednesday, 4th March 2026 in London
Welcome to your daily snapshot of London! It's World Obesity Day. Explore 77 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day in London. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Today's weather in London brings cloudy with temperatures between 5°C and 13°C. Tonight's moon is in its waning crescent phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Pisces. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this Wednesday, 4th March in London, GB.

London, the capital of the United Kingdom, is a major global centre for finance, culture and commerce. On Wednesday, 4 March 2026, the city experiences cloudy weather. The date falls under the zodiac sign of Pisces, the twelfth sign of the astrological calendar. The moon is in its waning crescent phase, having passed through the full moon and gradually decreasing in visibility.
On this day
On this day in 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan made a nationally televised address accepting full responsibility for illegal actions in the Iran-Contra affair, a significant moment in American political history that demonstrated accountability at the highest level of government. Closer to home, the Forth Bridge opened in 1890, connecting Edinburgh to Fife over the Firth of Forth. This iconic railway bridge became an internationally recognised Scottish landmark and remains one of Britain's most impressive engineering achievements of the Victorian era.
In earlier centuries, 4 March marked pivotal moments in European history. John Flamsteed was appointed the first Astronomer Royal by King Charles II of England in 1675, establishing a position that would shape British astronomical science for centuries. The year 1461 witnessed Henry VI, the Lancastrian king of England, being deposed by his Yorkist cousin Edward IV during the Wars of the Roses, a moment that altered the course of English monarchy and governance during the medieval period.
World Obesity Day
World Obesity Day, observed on 4 March, aims to raise awareness of obesity as a global health crisis and promote prevention and management strategies. The day was established by the World Obesity Federation to highlight the rising prevalence of obesity worldwide and its associated health risks. Since its inception in 2015, the campaign has grown to reach millions of people across numerous countries. Each year focuses on a specific theme to encourage action at individual, community and policy levels.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information for any date and location, including weather conditions, historical events, and notable births and deaths. Users can explore what happened on specific days throughout history whilst viewing meteorological data and astrological details for their chosen date and place.
Find out what's happening today in London.
What the Weather Had in Store for London on 4th March 2026
Each ending contains the blueprint of something unnamed.
Fortune of the Day
4th March in the Stars – Star Sign Pisces
Personality Profile
Personality Those born on March 4th embody the gentle, dreamy essence of Pisces. They possess profound empathy and an innate ability to attune to others' emotions. Their imaginative nature lends them a poetic perspective on the world.
Strengths & Weaknesses These individuals radiate creative power and intuitive wisdom. Their weakness lies in a tendency toward self-surrender and emotional hypersensitivity. They can easily drift into their inner world, losing touch with practical reality.
Love March 4th natives love unconditionally and romantically. They crave deep emotional connection and spiritual bonding. Sensitivity and mutual understanding form the foundation of their most fulfilling relationships.
Caree & Finance These natural artists and healers thrive in work that harnesses creativity and compassion. They seek meaningful work over mere profit. Financial stability requires clear boundaries and practical thinking.
Health Those born on this day benefit from creative and spiritual activities for mental wellbeing. Stress manifests easily in the body, making relaxation practices essential. Regular movement and firm boundaries stabilize their energy.
That night, the moon was in its waning crescent phase.
Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).
Fun Facts About 4th March
Name Days in Your Language: Casimir, Humbert, Humberto, Kasimir, Kasimira, Placida, Placidia
Someone born on this day would be just 94 days old today — roughly 2,279 hours, 136,748 minutes, or 8,204,915 seconds spent on Earth so far.
It's the 63. day of the year. In 2026, 4th March falls on a Wednesday.
There are 302 days still to come.
We’re currently in Week 10 — the year marches on.
Famous Birthdays on 4th March
On this day, 435 notable people were born on 4th March — spanning from 895 to 2007. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
04/03/2007
Miya Cech, American actress
Miyako Cech, known professionally as Miya Cech, is an American actress. She made her film debut in The Darkest Minds (2018). She then starred in Rim of the World (2019), the second revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2019), The Astronauts (2020–21) and Marvelous and the Black Hole (2021).
04/03/2002
Jacob Hopkins, American actor
Jacob Turner Hopkins is an American actor. He is best known for voicing Gumball Watterson in The Amazing World of Gumball and Fushi in To Your Eternity.
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva, Australian rhythmic gymnast
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva is an Australian former rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games clubs champion, team silver medallist, and all-around bronze medallist. She also won two bronze medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She is a four-time Australian all-around champion. She won five bronze medals at the 2022 Maccabiah Games and has competed at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships five times.
04/03/2001
Freya Anderson, English freestyle swimmer
Freya Ann Alexandra Anderson is a British swimmer, known primarily for her achievements as a freestyle sprinter, especially as a relay swimmer for Great Britain. Anderson achieved nine relay gold medals at three editions of the European Championships, including 5 golds in a single meet at the 2020 European Championships in Budapest, as well as two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. In July 2021, she won gold as part of the British team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay, swimming the freestyle anchor leg in the heat.
George Pickens, American football player
George Malik Pickens Jr. is an American professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship as a junior. Pickens was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft.
04/03/1999
Brooklyn Beckham, English model and socialite
Brooklyn Joseph Peltz Beckham is a British media personality. He has worked as a model, photographer, and created a cooking show which aired in 2022. He is the eldest child of former professional footballer David Beckham and fashion designer and former Spice Girls member Victoria Beckham.
04/03/1998
Obi Toppin, American basketball player
Obadiah Richard "Obi" Toppin Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward, he played college basketball for the Dayton Flyers.
04/03/1997
Matisse Thybulle, Australian-American basketball player
Matisse Vincent Thybulle is an Australian-American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers the following day. Thybulle was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team as a member of the 76ers in 2021 and 2022. He was traded to the Trail Blazers in 2023.
Kwon Hyun-bin, South Korean actor and singer
Kwon Hyun-bin, also known by his stage name Viini, is a South Korean actor, rapper and model. He is known for his appearance in the second installation of Produce 101 and debuting in the former boy band, JBJ.
04/03/1996
Michael Gallup, American football player
Michael Gallup is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football for the Butler Grizzlies and Colorado State Rams, where he was a consensus All-American in 2017. Gallup was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft. He has also been a member of the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders.
Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer
Arnaldo Antonio Sanabria Ayala, also known as Tony Sanabria, is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie B club Cremonese and the Paraguay national team.
Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer
Lukas Webb is a professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL).
04/03/1995
Chlöe Howl, English singer-songwriter
Chlöe Howl, is a British singer-songwriter. She was shortlisted for the BBC Sound of 2014 and the 2014 BRIT Awards: Critics Choice Award.
Bill Milner, English actor
William Henry Milner is an English actor. He starred as Will Proudfoot in Son of Rambow (2007), Edward in Is Anybody There? (2008), and the young Erik Lensherr in X-Men: First Class (2011).
Valeri Nichushkin, Russian ice hockey player
Valeri Ivanovich Nichushkin is a Russian professional ice hockey player who is a right winger for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Dallas Stars in the first round, 10th overall, of the 2013 NHL entry draft. Nichushkin won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.
04/03/1994
Callum Harriott, English footballer
Callum Kyle Harriott is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Braintree Town. Born in England, he represents the Guyana national team.
Luisito Pié, Dominican taekwondo athlete
Luisito Pié, also known as Luis Pie, is a Haitian-Dominican taekwondo athlete who won the bronze medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 58 kg category.
AJ Tracey, British rapper and record producer
Ché Wolton Grant, known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper and record producer from Ladbroke Grove, London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by The Guardian in a list of "best new acts to catch at festivals in 2016".
04/03/1993
Jenna Boyd, American actress
Jenna Boyd is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress with roles in the 2003 films The Hunted, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and The Missing, and the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. On television, she appeared on all four seasons of the Netflix comedy-drama Atypical (2017–2021).
Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (died 2015)
Bobbi Kristina Brown was an American reality television personality and singer. She was the only child of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Her parents' fame kept Brown in the public eye, as did her appearances on the reality show Being Bobby Brown.
Richard Peniket, English footballer
Richard James Peniket is an association football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is currently manager of Emirati club Gulf United.
04/03/1992
Nick Castellanos, American baseball player
Nicholas Alexander Castellanos is an American professional baseball right fielder and third baseman for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Philadelphia Phillies.
Erik Lamela, Argentine footballer
Erik Manuel Lamela is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or right winger. He was most recently an assistant coach at La Liga club Sevilla.
Bernd Leno, German footballer
Bernd Leno is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Fulham.
Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer
Karl Mööl is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Estonian club Paide Linnameeskond and the Estonia national team.
Jared Sullinger, American basketball player
Jared Malcolm Xavier Sullinger is an American professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes before being selected 21st overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2012 NBA draft.
04/03/1990
Andrea Bowen, American actress
Andrea Bowen is an American actress. She began her career appearing on Broadway musicals such as Les Misérables and The Sound of Music. In 2004, she began playing the role of Julie Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, a role she played on a regular basis until 2008. She later appeared on a recurring basis until the show ended in 2012. Bowen later went on to star in a number of Lifetime television films.
Draymond Green, American basketball player
Draymond Jamal Green is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, who plays primarily at the power forward position, is a four-time NBA champion, a four-time NBA All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA Team, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Considered one of the greatest defensive players of all time, he is a nine-time All-Defensive Team member, was NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, and led the league in steals the same year.
Paddy Madden, Irish footballer
Patrick Stephen Madden is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker or second striker for EFL League Two club Accrington Stanley on loan from EFL League Two club Chesterfield. He represented the Republic of Ireland national team at various levels, playing once for the senior team in 2013.
Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
Francisco Mérida Pérez is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.
04/03/1989
Benjamin Kiplagat, Ugandan long-distance runner (died 2023)
Benjamin Kiplagat was a Ugandan long-distance runner specialising in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
04/03/1988
Josh Bowman, English actor
Joshua Tobias Bowman is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Daniel Grayson in the TV series Revenge.
Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
Gal Mekel is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He played for the Dallas Mavericks and spent time in Europe and Israel.
Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
Laura Natalie Siegemund is a German professional tennis player.
Adam Watts, English footballer
Adam James Watts is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender.
04/03/1987
Ben McKinley, Australian footballer
Benjamin "Ben" McKinley is an Australian rules footballer who previously played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the West Coast Eagles.
Tamzin Merchant, English actress
Tamzin Claire Merchant is an English actress and author. She is most notable for her roles as Georgiana Darcy in the film Pride & Prejudice (2005), as Catherine Howard in The Tudors (2009–2010) and as Anne Hale in Salem (2014–2017).
Cameron Wood, Australian footballer
Cameron Wood is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
04/03/1986
Steven Burke, English road and track cyclist
Steven James Burke is a former English track and road cyclist, who rode for the now disbanded Team Wiggins Le Col cycling team. He represented Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics, beating his pre Olympics personal best in the individual pursuit by eleven seconds, to take the bronze medal. He stood on the podium alongside his cycling idol, gold medallist Bradley Wiggins.
Tom De Mul, Belgian footballer
Tom De Mul is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a right winger.
Margo Harshman, American actress
Margo Harshman is an American actress. She is known for playing Tawny Dean on Even Stevens, Alex Jensen on The Big Bang Theory, and Delilah Fielding-McGee on NCIS.
Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram
Michel Krieger is a Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram in 2010 with Kevin Systrom, and served as its chief technology officer (CTO) until 2018. During Krieger's tenure as CTO, Instagram's user base expanded from a few million to 1 billion monthly active users. After that, he co-launched two more products, "Rt.live" and Artifact, with Systrom. Since 2024, he has been at Anthropic.
Park Min-young, South Korean actress
Park Min-young, also known as Rachel Park, is a South Korean actress. She rose to fame in the historical coming-of-age drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010) and has since starred in television series City Hunter (2011), Glory Jane (2011), Healer (2014–2015), Remember (2015–2016), What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018), Her Private Life (2019), Forecasting Love and Weather (2022), and Marry My Husband (2024).
Siim Roops, Estonian footballer
Siim Roops is an Estonian footballer.
Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer
Bohdan Romanovych Shust is a professional Ukrainian retired footballer.
04/03/1985
Jake Buxton, English footballer
Jake Fred Buxton is an English former professional footballer and manager who played as a defender. He is currently manager of Alfreton Town.
Scott Michael Foster, American actor
Scott Michael Foster is an American actor who was born around 1985. He is best known for his roles as Captain John Paul "Cappie" Jones in the ABC Family comedy-drama series Greek (2007–11), Leo Hendrie in the ABC Family drama Chasing Life (2014–15) and as Nathaniel Plimpton III in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2017–19). Foster has also had recurring roles on Californication (2012), Halt and Catch Fire (2014), Once Upon a Time (2014), and You (2021).
Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author
Whitney Eve Port-Rosenman is an American television personality, fashion designer, and author. In 2006, Port came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series The Hills, which chronicled the personal and professional lives of Port and friends Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, and Audrina Patridge. During its production, she held internship positions with Teen Vogue and Kelly Cutrone's People's Revolution.
04/03/1984
Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
Tamir Cohen is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the son of the late Maccabi Tel Aviv and Liverpool player Avi Cohen.
Anders Grøndal, Norwegian racing driver
Anders Grøndal is a Norwegian rally and hill climb driver. He has won at least 5 gold medals, 3 silver, and 2 bronze at the Norwegian championships. In 2019, he and co-driver Marius Fuglerud won the Rally Tron in the Ford Fiesta MK2.
Spencer Larsen, American football player
Spencer Larsen is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats, primarily as a linebacker. Larsen was selected by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Jeremy Loops, South African singer-songwriter and record producer
Jeremy Thomas Hewitt known by his stage name Jeremy Loops, is a South African singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter
Raven Quinn is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Her first self-titled album was released March 4, 2010. Quinn released the title track "Not In Vain" from her sophomore album on October 31, 2013, with the full second album Not In Vain seeing release on October 6, 2014. On December 8, 2015, Raven Quinn released The Acoustic EP, containing acoustic versions of songs from her first two albums.
Zak Whitbread, American-English footballer
Zak Benjamin Whitbread is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a defender.
04/03/1983
Samuel Contesti, French-Italian figure skater
Samuel Contesti is a French-Italian former competitive figure skater. He originally competed for France, then switched to Italy after the 2006–07 season. He is the 2009 European silver medalist and a five-time Italian national champion (2008–12).
Adam Deacon, English film actor, rapper, writer and director
Adam Steven Deacon is an English actor. He is known for his lead role in the films Kidulthood, sequel Adulthood, and for his directorial debut, Anuvahood.
Jaque Fourie, South African rugby player
Jaque Fourie is a South African former professional rugby union player. He was a versatile backline player whose usual position was in the centres. He was a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup winning team, playing at outside centre for 6 out of 7 matches, including all 80 minutes of the World Cup Final, which South Africa won 15–6.
Drew Houston, American entrepreneur
Andrew W. Houston is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, an online backup and storage service. According to Forbes, his net worth is about $2 billion. Houston held 24.4% of voting power in Dropbox before the company filed for IPO in February 2018. He has sat on the board of Meta Platforms since February 2020.
Sergio Romo, American baseball player
Sergio Francisco Romo is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays. A right-hander who served as a closer during his career, his main pitch was his slider.
04/03/1982
Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
Landon Timothy Donovan is an American former professional soccer player and coach who was most recently the interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Widely regarded as one of the greatest American players of all time, Donovan was the all-time top assist provider in international football (58) until 2023 and is tied with Clint Dempsey for the most international goals scored by a male U.S. player (57). Donovan won a record six MLS Cups and is the league's all-time assists leader with 136. The Major League Soccer MVP Award has been renamed the Landon Donovan MVP Award in his honor.
Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author
Catharine Elizabeth Edwards is an American attorney. Edwards is the daughter of former United States Senator John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards.
Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast
Ludmila Ezhova Grebenkova is a Russian former competitive gymnast. She won bronze in the team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics and four medals at the World Championships.
K. Michelle, American singer
Kimberly Michelle Pate, known professionally as K. Michelle, is an American singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She has sold over 10 million records worldwide.
Yasemin Mori, Turkish singer
Yasemin Aygün Savgı, better known as Yasemin Mori, is a Turkish alternative rock singer.
04/03/1981
Ariza Makukula, Portuguese footballer
Ariza Makukula is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward.
Helen Wyman, English cyclist
Helen Wyman is a British cyclist for the Experza-Footlogix team. She participates in both road cycling and cyclo-cross, and, since she began competing at the age of 14, Wyman has represented her country at many international events including World Cups and World Championships. Except for 2013, she was the British national champion in cyclo-cross from 2006 to 2015.
04/03/1980
Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
Rohan Machanda Bopanna is an Indian former tennis player who specialized in doubles. He attained the world No. 1 ranking after winning his first major men's doubles title at the 2024 Australian Open with Matthew Ebden, becoming the oldest first-time No. 1 at the age of 43. He plays as the marquee player for SG Pipers in the Tennis Premier League.
Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
Omar Bravo Tordecillas is a Mexican football manager and former footballer who played as a striker.
Suzanna Choffel, American singer-songwriter
Suzanna Choffel is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has appeared on national television and in film. Known for her distinct voice and reggae-inspired guitar technique, her music has been described as "a unique sound equal parts Beat poetry, smoky soul grooves and indie-pop eccentricity".
Alex Garcia, Brazilian basketball player
Alex Ribeiro Garcia, commonly known as either Alex Garcia, or simply as Alex is a Brazilian professional basketball player. He also represented the senior Brazilian national team. He is a 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m) 225 pounds (102 kg) shooting guard-small forward.
Giedrius Gustas, Lithuanian basketball player
Giedrius Gustas is a former Lithuanian professional basketball player. At the height of 1.90 m tall and a weight of 86 kg, he mainly played at the point guard position. During his club playing career, as a member of Žalgiris Kaunas, he won the EuroLeague championship in 1999. As a member of the Barons LMT, he won the Europe Cup championship in 2008. He was also a member of the senior Lithuanian national team, and with Lithuania, he won the gold medal at the 2003 EuroBasket and the bronze medal at the 2007 EuroBasket.
Scott Hamilton, New Zealand rugby player and coach
Scott Elliot Hamilton is a New Zealand international rugby union player, who plays both on the wing or at fullback; he played two times for the All Blacks in 2006 and has played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the NPC. New Zealand's provincial competition. Hamilton moved to Leicester Tigers in 2008 where he played 142 games in 7 seasons winning three Premiership Rugby titles in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Jack Hannahan, American baseball player
John Joseph Hannahan IV is an American former professional baseball utility player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, and Cincinnati Reds and in the KBO League for the LG Twins.
Michael Henrich, American ice hockey player
Michael Henrich is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. An NHL first-round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 1998, Henrich played several years of professional hockey in North America before moving to professional hockey in Europe. Henrich is the first Jewish player to be selected in the first round of the NHL entry draft, and the only player taken in the first round of the 1998 NHL entry draft who did not play a regular season game in the National Hockey League.
Phil McGuire, Scottish footballer and manager
Philip McGuire is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is currently the manager of Carnoustie Panmure in the SJFA East Superleague.
Aja Volkman, American singer-songwriter
Aja Volkman is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the frontwoman of the indie rock band Nico Vega. She has also released an EP titled Egyptian as a duo with her then-husband Dan Reynolds under the pseudonym Egyptian.
04/03/1979
Trenton Hassell, American basketball player
Trenton Lavar Hassell is an American former professional basketball forward. A 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), 227 lb (103 kg) guard-forward, Hassell was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 30th overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft.
Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer
Sarah Stock is a Canadian professional wrestler. She is known for her role in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and as a trainer and producer for WWE. Previously began her career in Canada and moved back and forth across the country, working for various promotions, facing both male and female wrestlers. She then moved to Mexico, where she worked under the ring name Dark Angel for Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) and later for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). She is also known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where under the ring name Sarita she became the inaugural and two-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion, holding the title the first time with Taylor Wilde and the second time with Rosita. She has also worked in Japan for JDStar and World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she held the Wonder of Stardom Championship.
04/03/1978
Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
Pierre Brüno Dagenais is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who most notably played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He last played for the Akwesasne Warriors of the Federal Hockey League.
Jean-Marc Pelletier, American ice hockey player
Jean-Marc Pelletier is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven National Hockey League (NHL) games over parts of three seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers and Phoenix Coyotes between 1999 and 2004. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1998 to 2010, was mainly spent in the semi pro leagues.
04/03/1977
Nacho Figueras, Argentinian polo player and model
Ignacio "Nacho" Figueras Bermejo is an Argentine polo player and model with a 6-goal handicap. Dubbed the "David Beckham of polo", Figueras is considered to be the most famous polo player in the world. He currently co-owns and plays for Black Watch Polo Team. Since 2005, Figueras has been the face of Ralph Lauren's Black Label. In 2015, models.com ranked him in the top eighteen of their Money Men.
Traver Rains, American fashion designer and photographer
Traver Rains is an American TV personality, celebrity fashion designer, and photographer.
04/03/1976
Robbie Blake, English footballer
Robert James Blake is an English former professional footballer who is a first-team coach at National League South club Eastbourne Borough. He began his career as a striker but was increasingly used as midfielder in the latter part of his career.
Tommy Jönsson, Swedish footballer
Ulf Tommy Jönsson is a Swedish former footballer who played as defender. He represented Malmö FF and Halmstads BK during a career that spanned between 1992 and 2010. A full international in 2003, he won three caps for the Sweden national team.
04/03/1975
Antti Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
Antti Sami Aalto is a Finnish retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the National Hockey League.
Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bassist and composer
Mats Eilertsen is a Norwegian jazz musician and composer. He is known for recording with numerous bands, including the Maria Kannegaard Trio, Ola Kvernberg, Nils Økland, Eldbjørg Raknes, Anders Aarum Trio, Eirik Hegdal, Sverre Gjørvad, Nymark Collective, SKRUK, «Jazzmob», «Dingobats», Håkon Kornstad Trio, Food with Iain Ballamy, Jacob Young Band, Solveig Slettahjell's Slow Motion Orchestra, Håvard Wiik Trio, and «JazzCode».
Patrick Femerling, German basketball player
Patrick Oliver Femerling is a German former professional basketball player who played as a center.
Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player
Kristi Harrower is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. She was a decorated player with the Australian Opals, winning three silver medals and one bronze medal at four Summer Olympics. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1998 to 2005 for the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx.
Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Hawksley Workman is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released eleven full-length albums throughout his career. A multi-instrumentalist, he plays guitar, drums, bass, keyboards and sings on his records, often switching between those instruments when playing live.
04/03/1974
Crowbar, American wrestler
Christopher Ford is an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Crowbar, where he was a one time Hardcore Champion, a one time World Tag Team Champion with David Flair and a one time Cruiserweight Champion, which he held jointly with Daffney. He, Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels are the only wrestlers in history to have wrestled for World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Ring Of Honor and All Elite Wrestling. He currently performs on the independent circuit either as The Timeless One, Crowbar or Devon Storm.
Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
Mladen Krstajić is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back.
Karol Kučera, Slovak tennis player
Karol Kučera is a Slovak tennis coach and former professional player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 in September 1998, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open the same year.
Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
Arnaldo Ariel Ortega is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. His nickname is "El Burrito", thus he is called Burrito Ortega.
Tommy Phelps, South Korean-American baseball player and coach
Thomas Allen Phelps is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is currently a coach in the Miami Marlins organization.
ICS Vortex, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Simen Hestnæs, better known by his stage name ICS Vortex or simply Vortex, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist of the similarly named band ICS Vortex, the avant-garde metal band Arcturus and the doom metal band Lamented Souls. He is also a vocalist and the bass guitarist to the progressive metal band Borknagar, and the former bass guitarist and clean vocalist for the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
David Wagner, American tennis player and educator
David Wagner is an American wheelchair tennis player. Paralyzed from the mid-chest down and with thirty percent function in his hands, he competes in the quad division. He plays by taping the tennis racket to his hand. He is currently ranked number three in the world in singles and number two in doubles.
Bill Young, Australian rugby player
Bill Young is an Australian former professional rugby union footballer. He played rugby for the Brumbies in the international Super Rugby competition and played for Australia over 40 times.
04/03/1973
Massimo Brambilla, Italian footballer and coach
Massimo Brambilla is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He is currently head coach of Serie C Group B club Juventus Next Gen.
Phillip Daniels, American football player and coach
Phillip Bernard Daniels is an American football coach who is the defensive line coach for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Hs is also a former American football defensive end who played for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL draft. He played college football at the University of Georgia.
Valery Kobelev, Russian ski jumper
Valery Vladimirovich Kobelev is a Russian ski jumper.
Linus of Hollywood, American singer-songwriter and producer
Kevin Dotson, better known by stage names Linus of Hollywood and Linus Dotson, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. The stage name comes from his early days in Los Angeles, where he would frequently wear striped shirts similar to the Peanuts character Linus van Pelt. He is currently a member of Nerf Herder, comedy duo Jarinus and electronic rock duo Able Machines.
Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council
Dame Penelope Mary Mordaunt is a British former politician who served as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from 2022 until 2024. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth North from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she stood for the party leadership in 2022, losing to Liz Truss. In the 2024 general election, Mordaunt lost her Portsmouth North seat to Labour's Amanda Martin.
Len Wiseman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
Len Ryan Wiseman is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work on the Underworld series (2003–2016), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), the 2012 remake of Total Recall, and Ballerina (2025). Wiseman runs the production company Sketch Films.
Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Indian director and screenwriter
Chandra Sekhar Yeleti is an Indian film director known for his works in Telugu cinema. He made his directorial debut with the Neo-noir crime film, Aithe, which received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, and the Nandi Award for Best Story for that year. Another neo-noir film Anukokunda Oka Roju garnered two State Nandi Awards, including Best Screenplay for Yeleti.
Casimiro Ynares III, Filipino politician
Casimiro "Jun" Alcantara Ynares III is a Filipino physician and politician who is currently serving as the mayor of Antipolo since 2022, previously holding the position from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as the governor of Rizal from 2007 to 2013, as well as the public information officer of Antipolo from 2019 to 2022 under the mayorship of his wife, Andrea Bautista-Ynares.
04/03/1972
Katherine Center, American journalist and author
Katherine Sherar Pannill Center is an American author of contemporary fiction.
Nocturno Culto, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Ted Arvid Skjellum, also known by the stage name Nocturno Culto, is a Norwegian musician best known as the vocalist, lead guitarist, and partial bassist of the influential black metal band Darkthrone. He has been with the band since 1988. He is also the vocalist of the band Sarke, and has a solo project called Gift of Gods. He currently works in Norway as a school teacher, and has a son and a daughter. He has also released a documentary film called The Misanthrope in which he deals with black metal music and life in Norway.
Robert Smith, American football player and sportscaster
Robert Scott Smith is an American college football analyst for Fox Sports and the Big Ten Network. He played professionally as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, and played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer
Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez, known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre. Dubbed the Queen of Reggaeton, she is one of the most influential reggaeton artists of all time.
Jos Verstappen, Dutch racing driver
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen is a Dutch racing and rally driver who competes in the European Rally Championship as a privateer. Verstappen competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2003.
Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
Alison Wheeler is a British singer, best known as the female vocalist for The Beautiful South from 2003 until they disbanded in 2007.
04/03/1971
Iain Baird, Canadian soccer player and manager
Iain Baird is a Canadian former soccer defender who earned nine caps with the Canadian national soccer team between 1984 and 1986.
Claire Baker, Scottish politician
Claire Josephine Baker is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2007.
Anders Kjølholm, Danish bass player
Anders Nielsen, known professionally as Anders Kjølholm, is a Danish musician, best known as the former bassist of the rock band Volbeat. Before Volbeat, he was the bassist in Dominus, which also featured Volbeat founding member Michael Poulsen. He primarily uses Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay basses, but is also seen playing a black Fender Jazz Bass and uses TC Electronic amps.
Satoshi Motoyama, Japanese racing driver
Satoshi Motoyama is a Japanese professional racing driver and team manager. He is best known for racing in the Super GT Series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) as a factory driver for Nissan, and for racing in the Formula Nippon Championship. He is a three-time champion of the GT500 class of Super GT, and a four-time Formula Nippon/Super Formula champion, making him one of the most successful Japanese racing drivers of all-time.
04/03/1970
Andrea Bendewald, American actress
Andrea R. Bendewald is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Maddy Piper on Suddenly Susan.
Àlex Crivillé, Spanish motorcycle racer
Àlex Crivillé Tapias is a Spanish former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1987 to 2001, most prominently as a member of the Honda factory racing team. In 1992 he became the first Spaniard to win a 500cc Grand Prix and, in 1999 he became the first Spaniard to win the 500cc World Championship.
Will Keen, English actor
William Walter Maurice Keen is an English actor. Recognised for his work on stage and screen, he is a prolific figure of modern British theatre and a trustee of the James Menzies Kitchin Award, an award set up for young theatre directors.
Caroline Vis, Dutch tennis player
Caroline Vis is a former tennis player from the Netherlands.
04/03/1969
Chaz Bono, American writer, musician, and actor
Chaz Salvatore Bono is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
Pierluigi Casiraghi is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker.
Wayne Collins, English footballer
Wayne Collins is an English football midfielder.
Annie Yi, Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer
Wu Chin-yi, professionally known as Annie Yi or Annie Shizuka Inoh, is a Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer.
04/03/1968
Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
Giovanni Carrara Jiménez is a Venezuelan-Italian former professional baseball pitcher who most recently served as the pitching coach for the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions.
Jorge Celedón, Colombian singer
Jorge Celedón also known as Jorgito Celedón is a Colombian musician and singer of vallenato music. Celedón was one of the backup singers for the vallenato group Binomio de Oro de America who joined after the death of Rafael Orozco Maestre. In 1998, he decided to create his own vallenato group and teamed with accordionist Jimmy Zambrano.
Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
Patricia Jude Francis Kensit is an English actress, singer, and model. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit first gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films such as The Great Gatsby (1974), Gold (1974), Hennessy (1975), The Blue Bird (1976) and Hanover Street (1979). In 1983, Kensit formed and became the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder, which released the top-20 hits "I'm Not Scared" and "Cross My Heart" before disbanding in 1989.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician, Prime Minister of Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a Greek politician, currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since July 2019, except for a month between May and June 2023. Mitsotakis has been president of the New Democracy party since 2016. He is generally associated with the centre-right, espousing economically liberal policies.
Graham Westley, English footballer and manager
Graham Neil Westley is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a striker.
04/03/1967
Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer and coach
Daryll John Cullinan is a former South African first-class cricketer who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals for South Africa as a specialist batsman. He was regarded as a gifted batsman, as he was equally adept against pace or spin. Cullinan has said that his most important batting fundamentals were his balance, knowing where his off-stump was and getting his defence in order. He ended up playing 70 tests and 138 ODIs for South Africa. Cullinan's career Test average of 44.21 is only surpassed by ten South Africans with more than ten Tests. At the time of his retirement, he held the record for scoring the most test centuries for South Africa, with 14. Cullinan was a member of the South Africa team that won the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy.
Evan Dando, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Evan Griffith Dando is an American musician and the frontman of the rock band the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015, Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Awards Hall of Fame.
Ivan Lewis, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Ivan Lewis is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South from 1997 to 2019, initially as a member of the Labour Party then as an independent from 2017.
Dave Rayner, English cyclist (died 1994)
David John Rayner (1967–1994) was an English professional racing cyclist. He died aged 27 after an incident outside the Maestro nightclub, in Manningham Lane, Bradford. He was put on a life support machine at Bradford Royal Infirmary but died the next day.
Sam Taylor-Johnson, English filmmaker and photographer
Samantha Louise Taylor-Johnson is a British filmmaker. Her directorial feature film debut was 2009's Nowhere Boy, a film based on the childhood experiences of the Beatles' singer and songwriter John Lennon. She is one of a group of artists known as the Young British Artists.
Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Swiss footballer
Kubilay Türkyilmaz is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a forward. He ended his international career as the all-time joint leading goal scorer for the Switzerland national team, with 34 goals in 64 appearances between 1988 and 2001, equalling the goals scored by Max Abegglen. Their record was bettered by Alexander Frei in 2008.
Tim Vine, English comedian, actor, and author
Timothy Mark Vine is an English comedian, actor, writer and presenter best known for his puns and other one-liners and his role on the TV sitcom Not Going Out. He has also released a number of stand-up comedy specials and written several joke books.
04/03/1966
Emese Hunyady, Hungarian speed skater
Emese Hunyady is a former Hungarian-Austrian speed skater.
Kevin Johnson, American basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento
Kevin Maurice Johnson, also known by his initials KJ, is an American former professional basketball player and politician who served as the 55th mayor of Sacramento, California, from 2008 to 2016. Before entering politics, he played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), primarily with the Phoenix Suns.
Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician
Fiona Ma is an American politician and accountant who has served as the 34th state treasurer of California since January 7, 2019. She previously was a member of the California Board of Equalization (2015–2019), the California State Assembly (2006–2012), and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (2002–2006).
Helmut Mayer, Austrian skier
Helmut Mayer is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary he won a silver medal in the Super-G competition at Nakiska. He also won a silver medal in the giant slalom at the World Championships in 1989 at Vail, Colorado.
Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. is an American comic book writer, author, and illustrator of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series Captain Underpants and its spin-off children's graphic novel series Dog Man, the latter published under the respective writer and illustrator pen names of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, which are also the names of the two protagonists of the Captain Underpants franchise.
Grand Puba, American rapper
Maxwell Dixon, known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and record producer, best known as a member of Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, New York. He was formerly a member of Masters of Ceremony.
Mike Small, American golfer and coach
Mike Small is an American professional golfer and college golf coach.
04/03/1965
Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
Paul William Scott Anderson is an English filmmaker who is best known for his science fiction films and video game adaptations. Anderson made his feature-length directorial debut with the independent film Shopping (1994). In 1992, he and producer Jeremy Bolt co-founded Impact Pictures, under which most of his films have been produced. He found commercial success with his second film, Mortal Kombat (1995), based on the namesake video games. He came to wider attention for his work on the first, fourth, fifth and sixth films of the Resident Evil series (2002–2016), based on the video games of the same name; his entries collectively grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
Stacy Edwards, American actress
Stacy Edwards is an American actress. She appeared in a number of B movies before her breakthrough role in the 1997 black comedy film In the Company of Men, for which she received Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead nomination. Edwards later had roles in films such as Primary Colors (1998), Black and White (1999), and Driven (2001), and was a regular cast member in the drama series Chicago Hope (1997–1999).
Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-American novelist
Khaled Hosseini or Khalid Husseini is an Afghan and American novelist, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, and former physician. His debut novel The Kite Runner (2003) was a critical and commercial success; the book and his subsequent novels have all been at least partially set in Afghanistan and have featured an Afghan as the protagonist. Hosseini's novels have spread awareness about Afghanistan's people and culture.
Yury Lonchakov, Russian pilot, and cosmonaut
Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov is a Russian former cosmonaut and a veteran of three space missions. He has spent 200 days in space and has conducted two spacewalks. From 2014 to 2017, Lonchakov served as head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
04/03/1964
Brian Crowley, Irish lawyer and politician
Brian Crowley was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Munster and South constituencies from 1994 to 2019. He served as a Senator from 1993 to 1994, after being nominated by the Taoiseach.
Paolo Virzì, Italian director and screenwriter
Paolo Virzì is an Italian film director, writer and producer.
04/03/1963
Jason Newsted, American musician and songwriter
Jason Curtis Newsted is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for the first five years of his career before joining Metallica in October 1986 to succeed Cliff Burton, who died the month prior. Newsted performed on the albums ...And Justice for All (1988), Metallica (1991), Load (1996), Reload (1997) and Garage Inc. (1998). He left the group in January 2001.
04/03/1961
Ray Mancini, American boxer
Ray Mancini, better known as "Boom Boom" Mancini, is an American former professional boxer who competed professionally from 1979 to 1992 and who has since worked as an actor and sports commentator. He held the WBA lightweight title from 1982 to 1984. Mancini inherited his nickname from his father, boxer Lenny Mancini. In 2015, Mancini was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Steven Weber, American actor and comedian
Steven Robert Weber is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Brian Hackett on the television series Wings, and as Dr. Dean Archer on NBC’s Chicago Med. He also voiced Charlie B. Barkin in All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series, and portrayed Jack Torrance in the TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. He had a recurring role on iZombie as Vaughn du Clark. He played Mayor Douglas Hamilton on NCIS: New Orleans in a recurring role and starred as Sergeant First Class Dennis Worcester in Hamburger Hill (1987).
Roger Wessels, South African golfer and educator
Roger Mark Wessels is a South African professional golfer.
04/03/1960
Chonda Pierce, American comedian
Chonda Pierce is an American stand-up comedian, television hostess, author and actor.
04/03/1959
Rick Ardon, Australian journalist
Rick Ardon is an Australian television news presenter. Since 1985, Ardon has co-presented Seven News in Perth with Susannah Carr. The pair are recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's longest-serving TV news anchor duo, having been on the air together for 40 years.
Plamen Getov, Bulgarian footballer
Plamen Tsvetanov Getov is a Bulgarian retired footballer who played as either an attacking midfielder or a striker.
04/03/1958
Patricia Heaton, American actress
Patricia Helen Heaton is an American actress. Heaton achieved her career breakthrough and global fame with her portrayal of Debra Barone in the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005). She began her career appearing in a recurring role in the ABC drama series Thirtysomething (1989–1991) and later appearing in the comedy films Memoirs of an Invisible Man and Beethoven. Heaton went on to star in the short-lived sitcoms Room for Two (1992–93), Someone Like Me (1994) and Women of the House (1995).
Tina Smith, American politician
Christine Elizabeth Smith is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Minnesota since 2018. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of the Democratic Party.
04/03/1957
Nicholas Coleridge, English journalist and businessman
Sir Nicholas David Coleridge,, DL is a British former media executive, author, and cultural chair. He is chairman of Historic Royal Palaces (2023–) and Provost of Eton (2024–). He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to museums, publishing and the creative industries.
Mykelti Williamson, American actor and director
Mykelti Williamson is an American actor and director best known for his roles in the films Forrest Gump, 12 Angry Men (1997), Con Air, and Ali, and the television shows Boomtown, 24, and Justified. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxson in Denzel Washington's acclaimed film adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences, reprising his role from the 2010 Broadway revival.
04/03/1955
Tim Costello, Australian minister and politician
Timothy Ewen Costello AO is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a number of books on faith and life. A National Trust poll in 2014 elected him one of Australia's 100 national living treasures.
Joey Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
Joseph Patrick Jones was a Welsh footballer who played as a full-back.
04/03/1954
Timur Apakidze, Russian general and pilot (died 2001)
Temur Avtandilis Dze Apakidze was a Russian major general of Georgian ethnicity, fighter pilot, flight specialist and founder of the modern Russian Naval Aviation and Hero of the Russian Federation.
François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
François Charles Amand Fillon is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans, the country's largest centre-right political party, for the 2017 French presidential election in which he ranked third in the first round of voting.
Peter Jacobsen, American golfer and sportscaster
Peter Erling Jacobsen is an American professional golfer and commentator on Golf Channel and NBC. He has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He has won seven events on the PGA Tour and two events on the Champions Tour, both majors.
Catherine O'Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian (died 2026)
Catherine Anne O'Hara was a Canadian and American actress and comedian, whose career spanned over 50 years. O'Hara started in sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before taking dramatic roles to expand her career. She received various accolades including two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her films have grossed more than US$4.3 billion worldwide. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017.
Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author (died 2017)
Irina Borisovna Ratushinskaya was a Russian Soviet dissident, poet and writer.
04/03/1953
John Edwards, Australian director and producer
Robert John Edwards is an Australian television drama producer.
Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American musician and producer
Emilio Estefan Gómez is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of son Nayib Estefan and daughter Emily Estefan, and the uncle of Spanish-language television personality Lili Estefan.
Paweł Janas, Polish footballer and manager
Paweł Janas is a Polish former football manager and player who played as a defender. He was voted the Polish Coach of the Year four times.
Kay Lenz, American actress
Kay Ann Lenz is an American actress. She is the recipient of a Daytime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Saturn Award.
Reinhold Roth, German motorcycle racer (died 2021)
Reinhold Roth was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Germany. His most successful years were in 1987, when he won the French Grand Prix, and finished the season in second place behind Anton Mang, and in 1989, when he won the Dutch and Czechoslovak Grand Prix Grand Prix and finished second to Sito Pons for the 250 world championship. Roth suffered severe injuries in a June 1990 racing accident and retired from competition.
Chris Smith, American lawyer and politician
Christopher Henry Smith is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 4th congressional district since 1981. Though it has taken various forms, his district has always been situated in central New Jersey. Currently, the district contains parts of Ocean and Monmouth counties. Smith is a member of the Republican Party, having switched from the Democratic Party in 1978.
Agustí Villaronga, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2023)
Agustí Villaronga Riutort was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed several feature films, a documentary, three projects for television and three shorts. His film Moon Child was entered into the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
Daniel Woodrell, American novelist and short story writer (died 2025)
Daniel Stanford Woodrell was an American novelist and short story writer who wrote nine novels, most of them set in the Missouri Ozarks, and one collection of short stories. Woodrell coined the phrase "country noir" to describe his 1996 novel Give Us a Kiss. Reviewers have frequently since used the term to categorize his writing.
04/03/1952
Peter Kuhfeld, English painter
Peter Kuhfeld is an English figurative painter. He was born in Cheltenham and is married to the English figurative painter Cathryn Kuhfeld, née Showan. They have two daughters who have often appeared in their paintings.
Ronn Moss, American singer-songwriter and actor
Ronald Montague Moss is an American actor, musician and singer/songwriter, a member of the band Player, and best known for portraying Ridge Forrester, the dynamic fashion magnate on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful from 1987 to 2012.
Svend Robinson, American-Canadian lawyer and politician
Svend Robinson is a Canadian politician. He was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, representing suburban Vancouver-area constituencies in the city of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He was the first member of Parliament in Canadian history to come out as gay while in office. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to stealing an expensive ring and decided not to run in the June 2004 election. At the time, he was one of the longest-serving members in the House of Commons, having been elected and re-elected for seven consecutive terms. In the 2019 Canadian federal election, Robinson was the NDP candidate for the riding of Burnaby North—Seymour but lost to Liberal incumbent Terry Beech by 1,560 votes.
Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
Umberto Antonio Tozzi is an Italian pop and rock singer and songwriter. Throughout his career, he has sold over 70 million records in different languages internationally. His biggest international hits are: "Stella Stai", "Gloria", "Tu" and "Ti Amo".
04/03/1951
Edelgard Bulmahn, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Education and Research
Edelgard Bulmahn is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She served as Member of the German Bundestag between 1987 and 2017. She was Federal Minister of Education and Research from 1998 to 2005. From 2013 until 2017 she was elected as one of the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag.
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-American author, director, and producer (died 1982)
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha was an American novelist, producer, director, and artist of South Korean origin, best known for her 1982 novel, Dictée. Considered an avant-garde artist, Cha was fluent in Korean, English, and French. The main body of Cha's work is "looking for the roots of language before it is born on the tip of the tongue." Cha's practice experiments with language through repetition, manipulation, reduction, and isolation, exploring the ways in which language marks one's identity, in unstable and multiple expressions. Cha's interdisciplinary background was clearly evident in Dictée, which experiments with juxtaposition and hypertext of both print and visual media. Cha's Dictée is frequently taught in contemporary literature classes including women's literature.
Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liverpool's and Scotland's greatest ever players. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic and 515 for Liverpool, playing as a forward, and earned a record 102 caps for the Scotland national team, scoring 30 goals, also a joint record. Dalglish won the Ballon d'Or Silver Award in 1983, the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1983, and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1979 and 1983. In 2009, FourFourTwo magazine named Dalglish the greatest striker in post-war British football, and he has been inducted into both the Scottish and English Football Halls of Fame. He is highly regarded by Liverpool fans, who still affectionately refer to him as "King Kenny", and in 2006 voted him top of the fans' poll "100 Players Who Shook the Kop".
Pete Haycock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2013)
Peter John Haycock was an English musician and film score composer. He began his career as lead guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of the Climax Blues Band.
Peter O'Sullivan, Welsh footballer
Peter O'Sullivan is a Welsh former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a winger, making over 500 career appearances.
Sam Perlozzo, American baseball player and manager
Samuel Benedict Perlozzo is an American former second baseman, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He managed the Baltimore Orioles from 2005 to 2007 and recently served as the first base coach for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2009 to 2012.
Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025)
Christopher Anton Rea was an English rock and blues singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He was known for his distinctive gravelly voice, slide guitar playing and music style blending soft rock with blues.
Glenis Willmott, English scientist and politician
Dame Glenis Willmott, is a British retired Labour Party politician who served as leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) and as a Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands.
Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (died 2013)
Zoran Žižić was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro in the first two Đukanović cabinets from 1991 to 1996, and was the first Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000.
04/03/1950
Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter
María Ofelia Medina Torres is a Mexican actress, singer and film screenwriter.
Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
James Richard Perry is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (died 2015)
Safet Plakalo was a Bosnian playwright and poet, theatre critic, journalist, and founder of the Sarajevo War Theatre. He was a prominent figure in Bosnian drama, known for his poetic and modernist theatrical works and his significant role in sustaining cultural life during the Siege of Sarajevo.
04/03/1949
Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (died 2011)
Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh was an Abkhaz politician who served as the second president of Abkhazia from 12 February 2005 until his death on 29 May 2011. He previously served as Prime Minister of Abkhazia from 1997 to 1999. He was re-elected in the 2009 presidential election. Bagapsh's term as prime minister included the 1998 war with Georgia, while he oversaw both the recognition of Abkhazia by Russia and the Russo-Georgian War during his presidency.
Carroll Baker, Canadian singer-songwriter
Carroll Anne Baker CM is a Canadian country music singer and songwriter.
04/03/1948
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, New Zealand-Australian author
Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton is a New Zealand-born Australian woman who was wrongly convicted in one of Australia's most publicised and notorious trials. Accused of killing her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, while camping at Uluru in 1980, she maintained that she saw a dingo leave the tent where Azaria was sleeping. The prosecution case was circumstantial and depended upon forensic evidence that was eventually found to be deeply flawed.
James Ellroy, American writer
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black Dahlia (1987) and L.A. Confidential (1990).
Tom Grieve, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
Thomas Alan Grieve is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1979 for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. He was nicknamed "TAG", which are his initials, and most notably as "Mr. Ranger", as he was a member of the Texas Rangers' 1972 inaugural season. In 2010, Grieve was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.
Mike Moran, English musician, songwriter and record producer
Michael Moran is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer.
Jean O'Leary, American nun and activist (died 2005)
Jean O'Leary was an American lesbian and gay rights activist. She was the founder of Lesbian Feminist Liberation, one of the first lesbian activist groups in the women's movement, and an early member and co-director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She co-founded National Coming Out Day.
Chris Squire, English singer-songwriter and bass guitarist (died 2015)
Christopher Russell Edward Squire was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist, backing vocalist, and only constant member of the progressive rock band Yes until his death in 2015. In 2017, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes.
Shakin' Stevens, British singer-songwriter
Michael Barratt, known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.
04/03/1947
David Franzoni, American screenwriter and film producer
David Harold Franzoni is an American screenwriter and film producer. He conceived the story for, co-wrote and co-produced the 2000 film Gladiator, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His other screenplays include King Arthur (2004), Amistad (1997), and Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986).
Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
Jan Garbarek is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music.
Bob Lewis, American guitarist
Robert Curtis Lewis is an American composer and musician. He is best known as a co-founder of the new wave band Devo.
Pēteris Plakidis, Latvian pianist and composer (died 2017)
Pēteris Plakidis was a Latvian composer and pianist.
04/03/1946
Michael Ashcroft, English businessman and politician
Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and was the 132nd richest person in the UK, as ranked by the Sunday Times Rich List 2021, with an estimated fortune of £1.257 billion.
Danny Frisella, American baseball player (died 1977)
Daniel Vincent Frisella was an American Major League Baseball pitcher whose career was cut short when he was killed in a dune buggy accident on New Year's Day in 1977.
Haile Gerima, Ethiopian born US filmmaker
Haile Gerima is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. Since 1975, Haile has been a film professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He is best known for Sankofa (1993), which won two awards.
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author (died 2021)
Patricia Kennealy-Morrison was an American author and journalist. Her published works include rock criticism, a memoir, and two series of science fiction/fantasy and murder mystery novels. Her books are evenly divided between the series The Keltiad and The Rock&Roll Murders: The Rennie Stride Mysteries.
04/03/1945
Dieter Meier, Swiss musician
Dieter Meier is a Swiss musician, conceptual artist and entrepreneur. He is the frontman of the electronic music group Yello, which was co-founded by music producer Boris Blank. He is a vocalist and lyricist, as well as manager and producer of the group.
Tommy Svensson, Swedish footballer and manager
Leif Tommy Svensson is a Swedish former football manager and player. He is best known for playing for Östers IF and the Sweden men's national football team. He won the Guldbollen in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 1997 and led them to a bronze medal at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Gary Williams, American basketball player and coach
Gary Bruce Williams is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. In 2002, he led Maryland to win the NCAA tournament championship. Williams retired after the 2010–11 season.
04/03/1944
Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (died 1999)
Harvey Ernest Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the aborted Honda F1 project.
Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
Anthony Ichiro Sanda is a Japanese-American particle physicist. Along with Ikaros Bigi, he was awarded the 2004 Sakurai Prize for his work on CP violation and B meson decays.
Len Walker, English footballer and manager
Leonard Walker is an English former football player and manager. He was the manager of Aldershot from July 1981 until November 1984, and then June 1985 until 11 April 1991.
Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (died 2014)
Robert Dwayne Womack was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career spanned more than 60 years and multiple styles, including R&B, blues, doo-wop, gospel, funk, and soul.
04/03/1943
Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2012)
Lucio Dalla was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards.
Aldo Rico, Argentinian commander and politician
Aldo Rico is an Argentine retired Lieutenant Colonel and politician, famous for his role in the episodes of 1987 and 1988 where sectors of the Armed Forces, known as carapintadas, revolted to protest the policies of President Raúl Alfonsín. Rico later created the MODIN political party and contested several elections. Rico was elected mayor of San Miguel (1997–2003) and was Minister of Police of Buenos Aires province for a short period in 1999.
04/03/1942
Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter
Gloria Gaither is a Christian singer-songwriter, author, speaker, editor, and academic. She is married to Bill Gaither and together they have written more than 700 songs. In 2000, ASCAP named them Christian Songwriters of the Century. She performed, traveled and recorded with the Bill Gaither Trio from 1965 through 1991. Since 1991, she has served as a performer, recording artist, songwriter, scriptwriter and narrator for the Gaither Homecoming series of television broadcasts, video and DVD releases, and audio recordings.
Charles C. Krulak, American general
Charles Chandler Krulak is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1, 1995, to June 30, 1999. He is the son of Lieutenant General Victor H. "Brute" Krulak, who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was the 13th President of Birmingham-Southern College after his stint as a non-executive director of English association football club Aston Villa.
David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer
David Matthews is an American keyboardist, pianist, and music arranger.
Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author
Lynn Sherr is an American broadcast journalist and author, best known as a correspondent for the ABC news magazine 20/20.
James Gustave Speth, American lawyer and politician
James Gustave "Gus" Speth is an American environmental lawyer and advocate who co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Zorán Sztevanovity, Serbian-Hungarian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Zorán Sztevanovity is a Serbian-Hungarian guitarist, singer and composer living in Hungary.
04/03/1941
John Hancock, American film and television actor (died 1992)
John Hancock was an American actor.
Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
Adrian Lyne is an English film director. His films are known for sexually charged narratives that explore conflicting passions, the power of seduction, moral ambiguity, betrayal, and the indelibility of infidelity.
James Zagel, American lawyer and judge (died 2023)
James Block Zagel was an American judge and attorney. After a stint as a prosecutor, he became a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1987, assuming senior status in 2016. He presided over numerous high-profile trials, including those of several members of the Chicago Outfit and the corruption trial of former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich. Zagel also sat on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 2008 to 2015.
04/03/1940
Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German scholar and judge
Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem is a German legal scholar and a former justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
David Plante, American novelist
David Robert Plante is an American novelist, diarist, and memoirist of both French-Canadian and North American Indian descent.
04/03/1939
Jack Fisher, American baseball player
John Howard "Fat Jack" Fisher is an American retired professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1959 through 1969 for the Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. Fisher was a member of the 1960s Baltimore Orioles Kiddie Korps.
Robert Shaye, American film producer
Robert Kenneth Shaye is an American businessman, actor, and filmmaker. Shaye is the founder of New Line Cinema, a film production studio that was most successful for distributing The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, based on the classic fantasy novel of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. He stepped down from New Line in 2008 after the studio was restructured as a unit of Warner Bros. Pictures.
04/03/1938
Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English negotiator (died 2006)
Anton Balasingham Stanislaus was a Sri Lankan journalist, rebel and chief political strategist and chief negotiator for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
Alpha Condé is a Guinean politician who served as the fourth president of Guinea from 2010 to 2021. He spent decades in opposition to a succession of regimes in Guinea, unsuccessfully running against then-President Lansana Conté in the 1993 and 1998 presidential elections and leading the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG), an opposition party.
Allan Kornblum, American police officer and judge (died 2010)
Allan Nathaniel Kornblum was a United States federal judge and authored key parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. During his career he also served as an adviser to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, an FBI agent, a Treasury agent, a New York City Police officer, Director of Security for Princeton University, and an officer in the U.S. Army.
Don Perkins, American football player and sportscaster (died 2022)
Donald Anthony Perkins was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of New Mexico.
Paula Prentiss, American actress
Paula Prentiss is an American actress. She is best known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are (1960), Man's Favorite Sport? (1964), What's New Pussycat? (1965), Catch-22 (1970), The Parallax View (1974), and The Stepford Wives (1975).
Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Adam Daniel Rotfeld is a Polish academician and diplomat who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland from 5 January to 31 October 2005. He served earlier as deputy foreign minister. While in that position, Rotfeld established the Warsaw Reflection Group on UN Reform and the Transformation of the Euro-Atlantic Security Institutions, with participation from leading US and European experts and politicians.
04/03/1937
José Araquistáin, Spanish footballer (died 2025)
José Araquistáin Arrieta was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
William Deverell, Canadian lawyer, author, and activist
William Herbert Deverell is a Canadian writer, criminal lawyer, and civil liberties activist. One of Canada's best-known novelists, his debut novel Needles, based on his legal experience, won the $50,000 Seal First Novel Award from McClelland & Stewart. He received the Hammett Prize in 1998 for Trial of Passion, which also won the 1998 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel; April Fool won the same award in 2003. Trial of Passion launched his long-running crime series about Arthur Beauchamp, a classically trained, self-doubting barrister who solves crimes in releases such as April Fool, Kill All the Judges, Snow Job, I'll See You in My Dreams, Sing a Worried Song, Whipped, and Stung.
Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
Graham Thorne Dowling is a former cricketer who played 39 Test matches for New Zealand and captained the national team in 19 of those matches. He led New Zealand to its first victory in a Test series, against Pakistan in November 1969. He was a specialist right-handed batsman who usually opened the innings. After his playing career, he became an administrator.
Leslie H. Gelb, American journalist and author (died 2019)
Leslie Howard "Les" Gelb was an American government official, academic and journalist. He was a correspondent and columnist for The New York Times and served as the 4th Director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs from 1977 to 1979. He was the President and President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and explorer (died 2003)
Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich was a Soviet physician, voyager, scientist, and Candidate of Sciences.
Barney Wilen, French saxophonist and composer (died 1996)
Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen was a French jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist and composer.
Richard B. Wright, Canadian journalist and author (died 2017)
Richard Bruce Wright was a Canadian novelist. He was known for his break-through 2001 novel Clara Callan, which won three major literary awards in Canada: The Giller Prize, the Trillium Book Award, and the Governor General's Award.
04/03/1936
Eric Allandale, Dominican trombonist and songwriter (died 2001)
Eric Allandale was a trombonist, songwriter, and bandleader. During the 1960s, he was in number of bands in various genres which included jazz pop and soul.
Jim Clark, Scottish racing driver (died 1968)
James Clark was a British racing driver from Scotland who competed in Formula One from 1960 to 1968. Clark won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in 1963 and 1965 with Lotus, and—at the time of his death—held the records for most wins (25), pole positions (33), and fastest laps (28), among others. In American open-wheel racing, Clark won the Indianapolis 500 in 1965 with Lotus, becoming the first non-American winner of the race in 49 years.
Aribert Reimann, German pianist and composer (died 2024)
Aribert Reimann was a German composer, pianist, and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's King Lear, the opera Lear, was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who performed the title role. His opera Medea after Grillparzer's play premiered in 2010 at the Vienna State Opera. He was a professor of contemporary Lied in Hamburg and Berlin. In 2011, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize for his life's work.
04/03/1935
Edward Dębicki, Ukrainian-Polish poet and composer
Edward Dębicki is a Polish Romani poet, musician and composer. His work is connected with the Romani community and its cultural, itinerant and music traditions.
Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (died 2010)
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet player, behind only Bobby Fischer, for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
04/03/1934
Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian-American composer and academic (died 2019)
Mario Davidovsky was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of Synchronisms, which incorporate acoustic instruments and pre-recorded electronic sounds played from a tape.
John Duffey, American singer-songwriter and mandolinist (died 1996)
John Humbird Duffey Jr. was an American bluegrass musician.
Anne Haney, American actress (died 2001)
Anne Ryan Haney was an American character actress. She appeared in small supporting roles in around 50 film and television productions and was best known for her roles as Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, Mrs. Chapil in The American President and Greta in Liar Liar.
Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (died 2007)
Barbara Jean McNair (March 4, 1934 – February 4, 2007) was an American singer and theater, television, and film actress. McNair's career spanned over five decades in television, film, and stage. McNair's professional career began in music during the late 1950s, singing in the nightclub circuit. In 1958, McNair released "Till There Was You", her debut single for Coral Records, which was a commercial success. McNair performed all around the world, touring with Nat King Cole and later appearing in his Broadway stage shows I'm with You and The Merry World of Nat King Cole in the early 1960s.
Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player
Sandra Reynolds Price is a South African former tennis player who won four Grand Slam women's doubles championships and one Grand Slam mixed doubles championship. Her best Grand Slam singles result was reaching the 1960 Wimbledon final, losing to Maria Bueno 8–6, 6–0. Reynolds is the only South African woman to reach the Wimbledon singles final, and is one of three to have reached a major singles final. In 1961, she was seeded No. 1 for the Wimbledon singles event, making her the only South African player ever to be seeded first in a singles major. She was the runner-up at the 1959 U.S. Women's Clay Court Championships, losing to Sally Moore in the final. Price won the German Championships in 1960, 1961, and 1962. She was the runner-up at the 1959 Italian Championships, having defeated Bueno in the semifinals, then losing to Christine Truman in the final.
Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist and academic (died 2015)
Janez Strnad was a Slovene physicist and popularizer of natural science.
04/03/1933
Nino Vaccarella, Italian racing driver (died 2021)
Nino Vaccarella was an Italian sports car racing and Formula One driver.
04/03/1932
Sigurd Jansen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor
Sigurd Jansen is a Norwegian composer, pianist and conductor.
Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (died 2007)
Ryszard Kapuściński was a Polish journalist, photographer and author. He received many prestigious awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in book form attracted both controversy and admiration for blurring the conventions of reportage with the allegory and magical realism of literature. He was the Communist-era Polish Press Agency's only correspondent in Africa during decolonization, and also worked in South America and Asia. Between 1956 and 1981 he reported on 27 revolutions and coups, until he was fired because of his support for the pro-democracy Solidarity movement in his native country. He was celebrated by other practitioners of the genre. The acclaimed Italian reportage-writer Tiziano Terzani, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, and Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda accorded him the title "Maestro".
Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (died 2008)
Zenzile Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.
Ed Roth, American illustrator (died 2001)
Edward "Big Daddy" Roth was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture and hot rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.
Frank Wells, American businessman (died 1994)
Franklin G. Wells was an American businessman who served as president and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until his death in 1994.
04/03/1931
Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (died 1997)
Wallace Bruner Jr. was an American journalist and television host. He covered Congress and the Lyndon Johnson administration for ABC News in the 1960s. He was the first host of the 1968–1975 syndicated version of What's My Line? and went on to host the syndicated home repair show Wally's Workshop. He was also one of the first Americans to receive a heart transplant.
Bob Johnson, American ice hockey player and coach (died 1991)
Robert Norman "Badger Bob" Johnson was an American college, international, and professional ice hockey coach. He coached the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team from 1966 to 1982, where he led the Badgers to seven appearances at the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championships, including three titles. During his time as the head coach at Wisconsin, Johnson also coached the United States men's national ice hockey team at the 1976 Winter Olympics and seven other major championships, including the Canada Cup and IIHF World Championships. He then coached the Calgary Flames for five seasons that included a Stanley Cup Final loss in 1986. Johnson achieved the peak of his professional coaching career in his only season as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990–91, when the Penguins won the 1991 Stanley Cup Final, becoming the second American-born coach to win it and the first in 53 years. In August 1991, following hospitalization due to a brain aneurysm, Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died on November 26 of the same year.
William Henry Keeler, American cardinal (died 2017)
William Henry Keeler was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Baltimore in Maryland, from 1989 to 2007 and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1994. He previously served as auxiliary bishop and bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. Keeler was president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1992 to 1995.
Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician (died 2019)
Alice Mitchell Rivlin was an American economist and budget official. She served as the 16th vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 1996 to 1999. Before her appointment to the Federal Reserve, Rivlin was named director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration from 1994 to 1996. Prior to that, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Congressional Budget Office and became its founding director from 1975 to 1983. A member of the Democratic Party, Rivlin was the first woman to hold either of those posts.
04/03/1929
Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor (died 2021)
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to London, as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 to 1979, music director at Glyndebourne Opera from 1978 to 1988 and of the Royal Opera House from 1987 to 2002, when he became principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Finally, he was principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010. The focus of his prolific recording was classical symphonies and orchestral works, but he also conducted operas. He conducted 90 concerts at The Proms in London, the last on 3 September 2019 with the Vienna Philharmonic. His awards include Grammy Awards and the 2015 Gramophone Award for his lifetime achievements.
Peter Swerling, American theoretician and engineer (died 2000)
Peter Swerling was one of the most influential radar theoreticians in the second half of the 20th century. He is best known for the class of statistically "fluctuating target" scattering models he developed at the RAND Corporation in the early 1950s to characterize the performance of pulsed radar systems, referred to as Swerling Targets I, II, III, and IV in the literature of radar. Swerling also contributed to the optimal estimation of orbits of satellites and trajectories of missiles, anticipating the development of the Kalman filter. He also founded two companies, one of which continues his engineering work today.
04/03/1928
Samuel Adler, German-American composer and conductor
Samuel Hans Adler is a German-American composer, conductor, author, and professor. During the course of a professional career which ranges over six decades he has served as a faculty member at both the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. In addition, he is credited with founding and conducting the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra which participated in the cultural diplomacy initiatives of the United States in Germany and throughout Europe in the aftermath of World War II. Adler's musical catalogue includes over 400 published compositions. He has been honored with several awards, including Germany's Order of Merit – Officer's Cross.
Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (died 2010)
Alan Sillitoe FRSL was an English writer and one of the so-called "angry young men" of the 1950s. He disliked the label, as did most of the other writers to whom it was applied. He is best known for his debut novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and his early short story "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", both of which were adapted into films.
04/03/1927
Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho (died 2023)
Philip Eugene Batt was an American politician who served as the 29th Governor of Idaho from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, Batt had previously served as the 35th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, and as a member of the Idaho Legislature.
Thayer David, American actor (died 1978)
David Thayer Hersey, known professionally as Thayer David, was an American actor. He was best known to television audiences for his roles on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966–71). His notable film roles included Count Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), Reverend Silas Pendrake in Little Big Man (1970), Charlie Robbins in Save the Tiger (1973), Dragon in The Eiger Sanction (1975), fight promoter Miles Jergens in Rocky (1976), and private detective Nero Wolfe in the 1979 ABC television film. He also appeared in numerous Broadway plays, and his raspy, distinctive voice lent itself to voice-over work in commercials and instructional films.
Jacques Dupin, French poet and critic (died 2012)
Jacques Dupin was a French poet, art critic, and co-founder of the journal L'éphemère.
Dick Savitt, American tennis player and businessman (died 2023)
Richard Savitt was an American tennis player.
04/03/1926
Henri de Contenson, French archaeologist and academic (died 2019)
Henri de Contenson was a French archaeologist and a researcher at the CNRS, The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, a research organization funded by France's Ministry of Research.
Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, French businessman, soldier and racing driver (died 2018)
Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma was a French prince, businessman, soldier and racing car driver, who was a member of the deposed sovereign royal and ducal House of Bourbon-Parma.
Richard DeVos, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway (died 2018)
Richard Marvin DeVos Sr. was an American billionaire businessman, co-founder of Amway with Jay Van Andel, and owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team. In 2012, Forbes magazine listed him as the 60th wealthiest person in the United States, and the 205th richest in the world, with an estimated net worth of $5.1 billion.
Pascual Pérez, Argentinian boxer (died 1977)
Pascual Nicolás Pérez was an Argentine flyweight boxer. Pérez was born in Tupungato in the Mendoza Province of Argentina, he went on to make history by becoming Argentina's first world boxing champion.
Don Rendell, English saxophonist and flute player (died 2015)
Donald Percy Rendell was an English jazz musician and arranger. Mainly active as a tenor saxophonist, he also played soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet.
04/03/1925
Alan R. Battersby, English chemist and academic (died 2018)
Sir Alan Rushton Battersby (4 March 1925 – 10 February 2018) was an English organic chemist best known for his work to define the chemical intermediates in the biosynthetic pathway to vitamin B12 and the reaction mechanisms of the enzymes involved. His research group was also notable for its synthesis of radiolabelled precursors to study alkaloid biosynthesis and the stereochemistry of enzymic reactions. He won numerous awards including the Royal Medal in 1984 and the Copley Medal in 2000. He was knighted in the 1992 New Year Honours. Battersby died in February 2018 at the age of 92.
Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (died 2006)
Paul Julien André Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, conductor of Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat, who specialized in the easy listening genre. He is best known in the United States for his million-selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was number 1 for 5 weeks in 1968. Other recordings for which he is known include "El Bimbo", "Toccata", "Love in Every Room/Même si tu revenais", and "Penelope". He co-wrote the song "Chariot" with Franck Pourcel.
04/03/1924
Kenneth O'Donnell, American soldier and politician (died 1977)
Kenneth Patrick O'Donnell was an American political consultant and the special assistant and appointments secretary to President John F. Kennedy from 1961 until Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. O'Donnell was a good friend of President Kennedy and his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy. O'Donnell, along with Larry O'Brien and David Powers, was part of the group of Kennedy's advisers dubbed the "Irish Mafia".
04/03/1923
Russell Freeburg, American journalist and author
Russell William Freeburg is an American journalist who was a former managing editor and Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune. He is the co-author of a book on the role of oil in World War II.
Francis King, English author and poet (died 2011)
Francis Henry King was a British novelist and short-story writer. He worked for the British Council for 15 years, with positions in Europe and Japan. For 25 years, he was a chief book reviewer for the Sunday Telegraph, and for 10 years its theatre critic.
Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (died 2012)
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
04/03/1922
Richard E. Cunha, American director and cinematographer (died 2005)
Richard Earl Cunha was an American cinematographer and film director. Cunha's father was Albert "Sonny" Cunha, an American songwriter.
Dina Pathak, Indian actor and director (died 2002)
Dina Pathak was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).
04/03/1921
Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-American composer and educator (died 2017)
Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh was an Egyptian-American composer, musician, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who had a career spanning six decades. He is particularly known as an early pioneer of electronic music. In 1944 he composed one of the earliest known works of tape music, or musique concrète. From the late 1950s to early 1960s he produced influential work at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.
Joan Greenwood, English actress (died 1987)
Joan Mary Waller Greenwood was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets, and also appeared in The Man in the White Suit, Young Wives' Tale, The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Stage Struck (1958), Tom Jones (1963) and Little Dorrit (1987).
Dinny Pails, English-Australian tennis player (died 1986)
Dennis "Dinny" Pails was an Australian tennis champion.
04/03/1920
Jean Lecanuet, French politician, French Minister of Justice (died 1993)
Jean Adrien François Lecanuet was a French centrist politician.
Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish-English actor (died 2002)
Alan MacNaughtan was a Scottish actor, born in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow Academy, trained at RADA, and graduated in 1940 with the Bancroft Gold Medal. An experienced Old Vic, West End and Broadway actor, he became active in television and certain films between 1954 and 1999.
04/03/1919
Buck Baker, American race car driver (died 2002)
Elzie Wylie Baker Sr., better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia Speedway. Twenty-seven years later, Baker retired after the 1976 National 500.
Tan Chee Khoon, Malaysian physician and politician (died 1996)
Tan Chee Khoon was a major figure in Malaysian politics from 1959 to 1978, at one point being nicknamed "Mr. Opposition" for the outspoken views he presented in Parliament. He was the official Leader of the Opposition in Parliament from 1964 to 1969. Although he was originally a leader of the Labour Party of Malaya and the Socialist Front coalition which Labour had joined, Tan later co-founded Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), and also Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia (Pekemas) after he became disillusioned with Gerakan.
04/03/1918
Kurt Dahlmann, German pilot, lawyer, and journalist (died 2017)
Kurt Dahlmann was a German pilot, attorney, journalist, newspaper editor and political activist. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.
Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (died 2012)
Margaret Osborne duPont was a world No. 1 American female tennis player.
04/03/1917
Clyde McCullough, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1982)
Clyde Edward McCullough was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. After his playing career ended, he also managed in the minor leagues and was a major-league coach. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, McCullough batted and threw right-handed and in his playing days stood 5 ft 11+1⁄2 in (1.82 m) (182 cm) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg).
04/03/1916
William Alland, American actor, director, and producer (died 1997)
William Alland was an American actor, film producer and writer, mainly of Western and science-fiction/monster films, including This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula!, The Deadly Mantis, The Mole People, The Colossus of New York, The Space Children, and the three Creature from the Black Lagoon films. He worked frequently with director Jack Arnold. Alland is also remembered for his acting role as reporter Thompson, who investigates the meaning of "Rosebud" in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941).
Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (died 2000)
Giorgio Bassani was an Italian novelist, poet, essayist, editor, and intellectual.
Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (died 1997)
Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-born British psychologist. He is best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, although he worked on other issues in psychology. At the time of his death, Eysenck was the most frequently cited living psychologist in peer-reviewed scientific journal literature.
Ernest Titterton, English-Australian nuclear physicist (died 1990)
Sir Ernest William Titterton was a British nuclear physicist.
04/03/1915
László Csatáry, Hungarian art dealer (died 2013)
László Csizsik Csatáry was a Hungarian citizen and was convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in 1948 by a Czechoslovak court as a Nazi war criminal. In 2012, his name was added to the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most wanted Nazi war criminals. He would soon afterwards be taken into custody and held under house arrest. In June 2013, he would finally be criminally charged by a Hungarian court, only to die two months later while awaiting trial.
Frank Sleeman, Australian lieutenant and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (died 2000)
Frank Northey Sleeman was an Australian politician, who served as Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1976 to 1982.
Carlos Surinach, Spanish-Catalan composer and conductor (died 1997)
Carlos Suriñach i Wrokona was a Spanish-born composer and conductor.
04/03/1914
Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (died 1939)
Barbara Newhall Follett was an American child prodigy novelist. Her first novel, The House Without Windows, was published in January 1927, when she was twelve years old. Her next novel, The Voyage of the Norman D., received critical acclaim when she was fourteen.
Ward Kimball, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (died 2002)
Ward Walrath Kimball was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored with two Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film.
Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor, and architect (died 2000)
Robert Rathbun Wilson was an American physicist known for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, as a sculptor, and as an architect of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), where he was the first director from 1967 to 1978.
04/03/1913
Taos Amrouche, Algerian singer and author (died 1976)
Marie-Louise-Taos Amrouche was a Kabyle writer and singer. In 1947, she became the first Kabyle woman to publish a novel.
John Garfield, American actor and singer (died 1952)
John Garfield was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of the Group Theatre. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner Bros.' stars. He received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Four Daughters (1938) and Body and Soul (1947).
04/03/1912
Afro Basaldella, Italian painter and academic (died 1976)
Afro Libio Basaldella was one of the most important Italian painters in the post-World War II period. He began as a member of the Scuola Romana, and then embracing [informal] [abstraction], worked and had great international success together with Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana. He was generally known by the single name, "Afro".
Ferdinand Leitner, German conductor and composer (died 1996)
Ferdinand Leitner was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck.
Carl Marzani, Italian-American activist and publisher (died 1994)
Carl Aldo Marzani was an Italian-born American political activist with a series of careers as a volunteer soldier in the Spanish Civil War, organizer for the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), United States intelligence official, documentary filmmaker with an Academy Award nomination, author, and publisher. During World War II he served in the federal intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and later the U.S. Department of State. He picked the targets for the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, which took place on April 18, 1942. Marzani served nearly three years in prison for having concealed his former CPUSA membership when joining the American war effort in 1942.
04/03/1911
Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, English actor (died 1984)
Charles Guy Fulke Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, 7th Earl Brooke, was a British peer and the last Earl of Warwick to live at the family seat Warwick Castle before its sale in 1978. He became the first British aristocrat to star in a Hollywood movie, and was later nicknamed the Duke of Hollywood by the local press.
04/03/1910
Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (died 1985)
Tancredo de Almeida Neves was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and entrepreneur. He served as Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs from 1953 to 1954, President of the Council of Ministers from 1961 to 1962, Minister of Finance in 1962, and as Governor of Minas Gerais from 1983 to 1984. He was elected President of the Republic in 1985, but died before he had the chance to take office; the vice-president-elect, José Sarney, took office as president in his place.
04/03/1909
Harry Helmsley, American businessman (died 1997)
Harry Brakmann Helmsley was an American real estate billionaire whose company, Helmsley-Spear, became one of the country's biggest property holders, owning the Empire State Building, the Helmsley Building, the Graybar Building, the Flatiron Building, and some of New York's most noted hotels. His second marriage to Leona Roberts led to charges of false accounting and tax evasion as well as a celebrated trial, where Harry was judged too frail to plead, but Leona was fined and jailed.
George Edward Holbrook, American chemist and engineer (died 1987)
George Edward Holbrook was a noted American chemical engineer and a founding member of the National Academy of Engineering.
04/03/1908
T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (died 1976)
Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard was an American civil rights leader, fraternal organization leader, entrepreneur and surgeon. He was a mentor to activists such as Medgar Evers, Charles Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Amzie Moore, Aaron Henry, and Jesse Jackson, whose efforts gained local and national attention leading up to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Thomas Shaw, American singer and guitarist (died 1977)
Thomas Edgar Shaw was an American blues singer and guitarist.
04/03/1907
Edgar Barrier, American actor (died 1964)
Edgar Barrier was an American actor who appeared on radio, stage and screen. In the 1930s he was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and appeared in the 1938 Welles-directed short, Too Much Johnson, which was long believed lost but was rediscovered in 2013. He was also in two films with Welles, Journey into Fear (1943) and Macbeth (1948).
Maria Branyas, American-Spanish supercentenarian (died 2024)
Maria Branyas Morera was an American-born Catalan supercentenarian who, until her death at the age of 117 years, 168 days, was the world's oldest verified living person, following the death of Lucile Randon on 17 January 2023.
04/03/1906
Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (died 1991)
Meindert De Jong, also spelled de Jong, DeJong, or Dejong, was a Dutch-born American Newbery Medal–winning writer of children's books. During the height of his popularity, he frequently collaborated with Maurice Sendak, who illustrated seven of De Jong's books.
Avery Fisher, American violinist and engineer, founded Fisher Electronics (died 1994)
Avery Robert Fisher, known as Avery Fisher, was an amateur violinist, a pioneer in the field of high fidelity sound reproduction, founder of the Philharmonic Radio Company and Fisher Electronics, and a philanthropist who donated millions of dollars to arts organizations and universities.
Georges Ronsse, Belgian cyclist and manager (died 1969)
Georges Ronsse was a two-time national cyclo-cross and two-time world champion road bicycle racer from Belgium, who raced between 1926 and 1938.
04/03/1904
Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (died 1973)
Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as Prime Minister of Spain. Upon graduating from the naval academy Carrero Blanco participated in the Rif War, and later the Spanish Civil War, in which he supported the Nationalist faction. He became one of the most prominent figures in Francoist Spain's power structure and held throughout his career a number of high-ranking offices such as those of Minister-Under Secretary of the Presidency from 1941 to 1967 and Franco's deputy prime minister from 1967 to 1973. He also was the main drafter behind the 1947 Law of Succession to the Headship of the State. Franco handpicked him as his successor in the role of head of government, with Carrero thereby taking office in June 1973.
George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (died 1968)
George Gamow was a Soviet and American polymath, theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He was an early advocate and developer of Georges Lemaître's Big Bang theory. Gamow discovered a theoretical explanation of alpha decay by quantum tunneling, invented the liquid drop model, worked on radioactive decay, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and predicted the existence of the cosmic microwave background radiation and molecular genetics.
Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (died 1942)
Joseph Schmidt was an Austro-Hungarian and Romanian Jewish tenor.
04/03/1903
William C. Boyd, American immunologist and chemist (died 1983)
William Clouser Boyd was an American immunochemist. In the 1930s, with his wife Lyle, he made a worldwide survey of the distribution of blood types.
Malcolm Dole, American chemist and academic (died 1990)
Malcolm Dole was an American chemist known for the Dole Effect in which he proved that the atomic weight of oxygen in air is greater than that of oxygen in water and for his work on electrospray ionization, polymer chemistry, and electrochemistry.
Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress and singer (died 1990)
Dorothy Mackaill was a British-American actress, most active during the silent-film era and into the pre-Code era of the early 1930s.
John Scarne, American magician and author (died 1985)
John Scarne was an American magician and author who was particularly adept at playing card manipulation. He became known as an expert on cards and other games, and authored a number of popular books on cards, gambling, and related topics.
04/03/1902
Rachel Messerer, Lithuanian-Russian actress (died 1993)
Rachel Mikhailovna Messerer-Plisetskaya, also known by her stage name Ra Messerer, was a Russian silent film and theatre actress.
Russell Reeder, American soldier and author (died 1998)
Colonel Russell Potter "Red" Reeder Jr. was a United States Army officer and writer.
04/03/1901
Wilbur R. Franks, Canadian scientist, invented the g-suit (died 1986)
Wilbur Rounding Franks, OBE was a Canadian scientist, notable as the inventor of the anti-gravity suit or G-suit, and for his work in cancer research.
Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (died 1991)
Charles Henry Goren was an American bridge player and writer who significantly developed and popularized the game. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s and widely known as "Mr. Bridge".
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French author, poet, and playwright (died 1937)
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, born Joseph-Casimir Rabearivelo, was a Malagasy poet who is widely considered to be Africa's first modern poet and the greatest literary artist of Madagascar. Part of the first Malagasy generation raised under French colonization, Rabearivelo grew up impoverished and failed to complete secondary education. His passion for French literature and traditional Malagasy oral poetry (hainteny) prompted him to read extensively and educate himself on a variety of subjects, including the French language and its poetic and prose traditions. He published his first poems as an adolescent in local literary reviews, soon obtaining employment at a publishing house where he worked as a proofreader and editor of its literary journals. He published numerous poetry anthologies in French and Malagasy as well as literary critiques, an opera, and two novels.
04/03/1900
Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (died 1971)
Herbert J. Biberman was an American screenwriter and film director. He was one of the Hollywood Ten and directed Salt of the Earth (1954), a film barely released in the United States, about a zinc miners' strike in Grant County, New Mexico. His membership in the Directors Guild of America was posthumously restored in 1997; he had been expelled in 1950.
04/03/1899
Peter Illing, Austrian born, British film and television actor (died 1966)
Peter Illing was an Austrian-born British film and television actor.
Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and author (died 1962)
Emilio Prados was a Spanish poet and editor, a member of the Generation of '27.
04/03/1898
Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (died 1986)
Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil was a French philologist, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and mythology.
Hans Krebs, German general (died 1945)
Hans Otto Wilhelm Eugen Krebs was a German Army general of infantry who served during World War II. A career soldier, he served in the Imperial German Army, Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht’s Heer. He served as the last Chief of Staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) for the Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) during the final phase of the war in Europe. Krebs tried to open negotiations to surrender with the Red Army, which failed; he committed suicide in the Führerbunker during the early hours of 2 May 1945, two days after Adolf Hitler killed himself.
04/03/1897
Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player and manager (died 1969)
Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul was an American professional baseball player and manager. Though he spent eleven seasons in Major League Baseball, most notably for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies, he is best known for his career in the Pacific Coast League, where he was a star player and a successful manager. His .349 career batting average is the sixth highest in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB).
04/03/1896
Kai Holm, Danish actor and director (died 1985)
Kai Holm was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 41 films between 1927 and 1979. He was born in Lemvig, Denmark and died in Denmark.
04/03/1895
Milt Gross, American animator, director, and screenwriter (died 1953)
Milt Gross was an American cartoonist and animator. His work is noted for its exaggerated cartoon style and Yiddish-inflected English dialogue. He originated the non-sequitur "Banana Oil!" as a phrase deflating pomposity and posing. His character Count Screwloose's admonition, "Iggy, keep an eye on me!", became a national catchphrase. The National Cartoonists Society fund to aid indigent cartoonists and their families, for many years was known as the Milt Gross Fund. In 2005, it was absorbed by the Society's Foundation, which continues the charitable work of the Fund.
04/03/1894
Charles Corm, Lebanese businessman and philanthropist (died 1963)
Charles Corm (1894–1963) was a Lebanese writer, industrialist, and philanthropist. He is considered to be the leader of the Phoenicianism movement in Lebanon, which ignited a surge of nationalism that led to Lebanon's independence. In a country torn by sectarian conflicts, his intention was to find a common root shared by all Lebanese beyond their religious beliefs. At the age of 40, he quit a successful business empire to dedicate his time to writing and philanthropy. In addition to his prolific literary legacy that can now be found in most libraries and universities around the world, Charles Corm left one of the most substantial fortunes in the Middle East.
04/03/1893
Charles Herbert Colvin, American engineer, co-founded the Pioneer Instrument Company (died 1985)
Charles Herbert Colvin was an aeronautical engineer who was the co-founder of the Pioneer Instrument Company in Brooklyn, with Brice Herbert Goldsborough and Morris M. Titterington.
Adolph Lowe, German sociologist and economist (died 1995)
Adolph Lowe was a German sociologist and economist. His best known student was Robert Heilbroner. He was born in Stuttgart and died in Wolfenbüttel.
04/03/1891
Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (died 1961)
Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance was an American professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher for five different franchises in Major League Baseball (MLB) in a career that spanned 16 seasons over 21 years. A late bloomer, Vance pitched his first full season in 1922 at age 31 and, aided by his impressive fastball, became the only pitcher to lead the National League in strikeouts for seven consecutive seasons. Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.
04/03/1890
Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (died 1939)
Henry Norman Bethune was a Canadian thoracic surgeon, early advocate of universal health care, and member of the Communist Party of Canada. Bethune came to international prominence first for his service as a frontline trauma surgeon supporting the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, and later supporting the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Bethune helped bring modern medicine to rural China, treating both sick villagers and wounded soldiers. He died from infection during an operation, prompting Mao Zedong to dedicate a eulogy to him. He remains widely commemorated in China today.
04/03/1889
Oscar Chisini, Italian mathematician and statistician (died 1967)
Oscar Chisini was an Italian mathematician. He introduced the Chisini mean in 1929.
Oren E. Long, American soldier and politician, 10th Territorial Governor of Hawaii (died 1965)
Oren Ethelbirt Long was an American politician who served as the tenth Territorial Governor of Hawaii from 1951 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Long was appointed to the office after the term of Ingram Stainback. After statehood was achieved he served in the United States Senate, one of the first two, along with Hiram Fong, to represent Hawaii in that body. Long was the only non–Asian American U.S. Senator from Hawaii until the appointment of Brian Schatz to the position in 2012.
Pearl White, American actress (died 1938)
Pearl Fay White was an American stage and film actress. She began her career on the stage at age 6, and later moved on to silent films appearing in a number of popular serials.
Robert William Wood, English-American painter (died 1979)
Robert William Wood was a British-American landscape painter. Although he never became an American citizen, most of his career was in the United States, and he is designated as an "American" artist. He rose to prominence in the 1950s with sales of his color reproductions numbering in the millions.
04/03/1888
Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (died 1942)
Rafaela Ottiano was an Italian-American actress. She was best known for her role as Suzette in Grand Hotel (1932) and as Russian Rita in She Done Him Wrong (1933).
Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball player (died 1972)
Edward Joseph Pfeffer was an American pitcher for the St. Louis Browns (1911), Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins (1913–1921), St. Louis Cardinals (1921–1924) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1924). His older brother Francis was known as Big Jeff Pfeffer.
Emma Richter, German paleontologist (died 1956)
Emma Richter was a German paleontologist. She is best known for her work concerning Trilobites. She was an honorary member of the Paleontological Society of America and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Tübingen.
Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (died 1931)
Knute Kenneth Rockne was a Norwegian-American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships.
04/03/1886
Paul Bazelaire, French cellist and composer (died 1958)
Paul Bazelaire was a French cellist and composer.
04/03/1884
Red Murray, American baseball player (died 1958)
John Joseph "Red" Murray was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball.
Lee Shumway, American actor (died 1959)
Lee Shumway, born Leonard Charles Shumway, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1909 and 1953. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and died in Los Angeles, California.
04/03/1883
Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (died 1971)
Maude Fealy was an American stage and silent film actress whose career survived into the sound era.
Robert Emmett Keane, American actor (died 1981)
Robert Emmett Keane was an American actor of both the stage and screen.
Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (died 1956)
Samuel Edgar Langford was a Canadian professional boxer who competed from 1902 to 1926. Called the "Greatest Fighter Almost Nobody Knows" by ESPN, Langford is considered by many boxing historians to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. Originally from Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts as a teenager, and began his professional boxing career there in 1902. Langford was known as "the Boston Bonecrusher", "the Boston Terror", and, most famously, "the Boston Tar Baby". Langford stood 5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (1.69 m) and weighed 185 lb (84 kg) in his prime. He fought from lightweight to heavyweight and defeated many world champions and legends of the time in each weight class. Considered a devastating puncher even at heavyweight, The Ring rated Langford second on their list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time". One boxing historian described Langford as "experienced as a heavyweight James Toney with the punching power of Mike Tyson".
04/03/1882
Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian academic and politician, 61st Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1941)
Nicolae Titulescu was a Romanian politician and diplomat, at various times ambassador, finance minister, and foreign minister, and for two terms served as president of the General Assembly of the League of Nations (1930–32).
04/03/1881
Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian educator and activist (died 1924)
Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov, anglicised as Todor Alexandrov, was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, Bulgarian army officer, and teacher. He initially favoured the annexation of Macedonia to Bulgaria, but later switched to the idea of an Independent Macedonia as a second Bulgarian state on the Balkans. Aleksandrov was a member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO) and later part of the Central Committee of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO), as well as its leader.
Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (died 1965)
Thomas Sigismund Stribling was an American writer. Although he acquired a law degree and practiced law for a few years, his career was mainly that of an author of fiction. Known first for adventure stories published in fiction magazines, he later published novels of social satire set mainly in the southern USA. His best-known work is the Vaiden trilogy, set in Florence, Alabama. The first volume is The Forge (1931). He won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1933 for the second novel of this series, The Store. The last, set during the 1920s, is The Unfinished Cathedral (1934). Both the second and third novels were chosen as selections by the Literary Guild.
Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (died 1948)
Richard Chace Tolman was an American mathematical physicist and physical chemist who made many contributions to statistical mechanics and theoretical cosmology. He was a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
04/03/1880
Channing Pollock, American playwright and critic (died 1946)
Channing Pollock was an American playwright, critic and screenwriter, whose works included The Evil Thereof (1916) and the memoir The Footlights, Fore and Aft (1911). Pollock is perhaps best remembered in connection with a review of one of his later plays, in which Dorothy Parker wrote "The House Beautiful is the play lousy."
04/03/1879
Bernhard Kellermann, German author and poet (died 1951)
Bernhard Kellermann was a German author and poet.
04/03/1878
Takeo Arishima, Japanese author and critic (died 1923)
Takeo Arishima was a Japanese novelist, short-story writer and essayist during the late Meiji and Taishō periods. His two younger brothers, Ikuma Arishima (有島生馬) and Ton Satomi (里美弴), were also authors. His son was the internationally known film and stage actor, Masayuki Mori.
Egbert Van Alstyne, American pianist and songwriter (died 1951)
Egbert Anson Van Alstyne was an American songwriter and pianist. Van Alstyne was the composer of a number of popular and ragtime tunes of the early 20th century.
04/03/1877
Alexander Goedicke, Russian pianist and composer (died 1957)
Alexander Fyodorovich Goedicke was a Russian and Soviet composer and pianist.
Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist (died 1934)
Robert Fritz Graebner was a German geographer and ethnologist best known for his development of the theory of Kulturkreis, or culture circle. He was the first theoretician of the Vienna School of Ethnology.
Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (died 1963)
Garrett Augustus Morgan Sr. was an American inventor, businessman, and community leader. His most notable inventions were a protective 'smoke hood' that he notably used in a 1916 tunnel construction disaster rescue, a type of three-way traffic light invented in 1923, a hair-straightening cream, and other hair-care products. Morgan created a successful company called "G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company" based on his hair product inventions. He was involved in African Americans' civic and political advancement, especially in and around Cleveland, Ohio.
04/03/1876
Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet and author (died 1947)
Léon-Paul Fargue was a French poet and essayist.
Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-American magician (died 1945)
Ferenc Dezső Weisz, known as Theodore "Dash" Hardeen, was a Hungarian-American magician and escape artist who was the younger brother of Harry Houdini. Hardeen, who usually billed himself as the "brother of Houdini", was the founder of the Magician's Guild. Hardeen was the first magician to conceive escaping from a straitjacket in full view of the audience, rather than behind a curtain.
04/03/1875
Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of Hungary (died 1955)
Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi de Nagykároly was a Hungarian politician who served as a leader of the short-lived and unrecognized First Hungarian Republic from 1918 to 1919. He served as prime minister between 1 and 16 November 1918 and as president between 16 November 1918 and 21 March 1919.
Enrique Larreta, Argentinian historian and author (died 1961)
Enrique Rodríguez Larreta was an Argentine writer, academic, diplomat and art collector. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature ten times.
04/03/1873
Guy Wetmore Carryl, American journalist and poet (died 1904)
Guy Wetmore Carryl was an American humorist and poet.
John H. Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 70th Governor of Connecticut (died 1961)
John Harper Trumbull was an American politician who served as the 70th Governor of Connecticut.
04/03/1871
Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (died 1945)
Boris Grigoryevich Galerkin was a Soviet mathematician and an engineer.
04/03/1870
Thomas Sturge Moore, English author and poet (died 1944)
Thomas Sturge Moore was a British poet, author and artist.
04/03/1867
Jacob L. Beilhart, American activist, founded the Spirit Fruit Society (died 1908)
Jacob L. Beilhart was the founder and leader of a communitarian group known as the Spirit Fruit Society. Beilhart believed that jealousy, materialism, and the fear of losing another's love were at the root of much of the illness in the world. Under his direction, the Spirit Fruit Society sought to model and practice those beliefs.
Charles Pelot Summerall, American Army officer (died 1955)
General Charles Pelot Summerall was a senior United States Army officer. He commanded the 1st Infantry Division in World War I, was Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1926 to 1930, and was President of The Citadel between 1931 and 1953.
04/03/1866
Eugène Cosserat, French mathematician and astronomer (died 1931)
Eugène-Maurice-Pierre Cosserat was a French mathematician and astronomer.
04/03/1864
David W. Taylor, American admiral, architect, and engineer (died 1940)
David Watson Taylor was an American naval architect and an engineer in the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. Taylor is best known as the man who constructed the first experimental towing tank ever built in the United States.
04/03/1863
R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (died 1947)
Reginald Innes Pocock, was a British zoologist.
John Henry Wigmore, American academic and jurist (died 1943)
John Henry Wigmore (1863–1943) was an American lawyer and legal scholar known for his expertise in the law of evidence and for his influential scholarship. Wigmore taught law at Keio University in Tokyo (1889–1892) before becoming the first full-time dean of Northwestern Law School (1901–1929). His scholarship is best remembered for his Treatise on the Anglo-American System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law (1904), often simply called Wigmore on Evidence, and a graphical analysis method known as a Wigmore chart. He served as the second president of the American Association of University Professors.
04/03/1862
Jacob Robert Emden, Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist (died 1940)
Jacob Robert Emden was a Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist. He is best known for his book, Gaskugeln: Anwendungen der mechanischen Wärmetheorie auf kosmologische und meteorologische probleme, published in 1907. It presents a mathematical model of the behaviour of polytropic gaseous stellar objects under the influence of their own gravity, known as the Lane–Emden equation.
04/03/1861
Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian and author (died 1933)
Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian, was born in Sauquoit, New York, the son of a Presbyterian minister of Scots-Irish descent.
04/03/1856
Alfred William Rich, English painter, author, and educator (died 1921)
Alfred William Rich was an English artist, teacher and author.
04/03/1854
Napier Shaw, English meteorologist and academic (died 1945)
Sir William Napier Shaw was a British meteorologist. He introduced the tephigram, a diagram for evaluating convective instability in the atmosphere. He also served as president of the International Meteorological Committee and Royal Meteorological Society.
04/03/1851
Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (died 1911)
Alexandros Papadiamantis was an influential Greek novelist, short-story writer and poet.
04/03/1847
Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (died 1904)
Carl Josef Bayer was a chemist from Austria-Hungary who invented and named the Bayer process of extracting alumina from bauxite, essential to this day to the economical production of aluminium.
04/03/1838
Paul Lacôme, French pianist, cellist, and composer (died 1920)
Paul-Jean-Jacques Lacôme d'Estalenx was a French composer. Between 1870 and the turn of the century he produced a series of operettas and operas-bouffes that were popular both in France and abroad. Interest in his works revived briefly during the First World War, when they were successfully revived in Paris.
04/03/1828
Owen Wynne Jones, Welsh clergyman and poet (died 1870)
Owen Wynne Jones, often known by his bardic name of Glasynys, was a Welsh clergyman, folklorist, poet, novelist and short-story writer.
04/03/1826
August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist, ethnographer, and theologian (died 1907)
August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein was a Baltic German linguist, folklorist, ethnographer, and theologian.
John Buford, American general (died 1863)
John Buford Jr. was a United States Army cavalry officer. He fought for the Union during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of major general. Buford is best known for his actions in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, by identifying Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge as high ground that would be crucial in the impending battle, and by placing vedettes to the west and north that delayed the enemy long enough for the Union Army to arrive.
Elme Marie Caro, French philosopher and academic (died 1887)
Elme Marie Caro was a French philosopher.
Theodore Judah, American engineer, founded the Central Pacific Railroad (died 1863)
Theodore Dehone Judah was an American civil engineer who was a central figure in the original promotion, establishment, and design of the first transcontinental railroad. He found investors for what became the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR). As chief engineer, he performed much of the route survey work to determine the best alignment for the railroad over the Sierra Nevada, which was completed six years after his death.
04/03/1823
George Caron, Canadian businessman and politician (died 1902)
George Caron was a Quebec businessman and political figure. He represented Maskinongé in the 1st Canadian Parliament as a Conservative member.
04/03/1822
Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician and academic (died 1880)
Jules Antoine Lissajous was a French physicist, after whom Lissajous figures are named. Among other innovations, Lissajous invented the Lissajous apparatus, a device that creates the figures that bear his name. In it, a beam of light is bounced off a mirror attached to a vibrating tuning fork, and then reflected off a second mirror attached to a perpendicularly oriented vibrating tuning fork, onto a wall, resulting in a Lissajous figure. This led to the invention of other apparatus such as the harmonograph.
04/03/1820
Francesco Bentivegna, Italian rebel leader (died 1856)
Baron Francesco Bentivegna was an Italian patriot, who led various revolts in Sicily against the Bourbon rulers between 1848 and 1856.
04/03/1817
Edwards Pierrepont, American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General (died 1892)
Edwards Pierrepont was an American attorney, reformer, jurist, traveler, New York U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Minister to England, and orator. Having graduated from Yale in 1837, Pierrepont studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1840. During the American Civil War, Pierrepont was a Democrat, although he supported President Abraham Lincoln. Pierrepont initially supported President Andrew Johnson's conservative Reconstruction efforts having opposed the Radical Republicans. In both 1868 and 1872, Pierrepont supported Ulysses S. Grant for president. For his support, President Grant appointed Pierrepont United States Attorney in 1869. In 1871, Pierrepont gained the reputation as a solid reformer, having joined New York's Committee of Seventy that shut down Boss Tweed's corrupt Tammany Hall. In 1872, Pierrepont modified his views on Reconstruction and stated that African American freedman's rights needed to be protected.
04/03/1815
Mykhailo Verbytsky, Ukrainian composer of religious hymns and the national anthem of Ukraine (died 1870)
Mykhailo Mykhailovych Verbytskyi, also anglicized as Michael Werbitzky, was a Ukrainian composer and a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He is considered to be one of the first professional composers of Galicia. He is best known for composing the melody to the national anthem of Ukraine.
04/03/1814
Napoleon Collins, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War (died 1875)
Rear Admiral Napoleon Collins served in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.
04/03/1800
William Price, Welsh physician, Chartist, and neo-Druid (died 1893)
William Price was a Welsh physician and political activist best known for his support of Welsh nationalism, Chartism and involvement with the Neo-Druidic religious movement. Historians have characterised Price as one of the most significant figures in Wales during the Victorian era.
04/03/1793
Karl Lachmann, German philologist and critic (died 1851)
Karl Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Lachmann was a German philologist and critic. He is particularly noted for his foundational contributions to the field of textual criticism.
04/03/1792
Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (died 1886)
Isaac Lea was an American publisher, conchologist and geologist. He was a partner in the publishing businesses Matthew Carey & Sons; Carey, Lea & Carey; Carey, Lea & Blanchard; and Lea & Blanchard.
04/03/1782
Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss philosopher, author, and academic (died 1830)
Johann Rudolf Wyss was a Swiss author, writer, and folklorist who wrote the words to the former Swiss national anthem Rufst Du, mein Vaterland in 1811, and also edited the novel The Swiss Family Robinson, written by his father Johann David Wyss, published in 1812.
04/03/1781
Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (died 1869)
Rebecca Gratz was a Jewish American educator and philanthropist in 19th-century America. She was a member of the Gratz family, who settled in the United States before the Revolutionary War.
04/03/1778
Robert Emmet, Irish republican (died 1803)
Robert Emmet was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt in Ireland to overthrow the British Crown and Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, and to break the recently enforced union with Great Britain. Emmet entertained, but ultimately abandoned, hopes of immediate French assistance and of coordination with radical militants in Great Britain. In Ireland, many of the surviving veterans of '98 hesitated to lend their support, and his rising in Dublin in 1803 proved abortive.
04/03/1770
Joseph Jacotot, French philosopher and academic (died 1840)
Jean Joseph Jacotot was a French teacher and educational philosopher, creator of the method of "intellectual emancipation."
04/03/1769
Muhammad Ali, Ottoman military leader and pasha (died 1849)
Muhammad Ali was the Ottoman viceroy and governor who became the de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely considered the founder of modern Egypt. At the height of his rule in 1840, he controlled Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, the Levant, Crete and parts of Greece and transformed Cairo from a mere Ottoman provincial capital to the center of an expansive empire.
04/03/1760
William Payne, English painter (died 1830)
William Payne was an English painter and etcher who invented the tint Payne's grey.
Hugh Ronalds, British nurseryman who cultivated and documented 300 varieties of apples (died 1833)
Hugh Ronalds was a nurseryman and horticulturalist in Brentford, who published Pyrus Malus Brentfordiensis: or, a Concise Description of Selected Apples (1831). His plants were some of the first European species to be shipped to Australia when the British colony was founded.
04/03/1756
Henry Raeburn, Scottish portrait painter (died 1823)
Sir Henry Raeburn was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland.
04/03/1745
Charles Dibdin, English actor, playwright, and composer (died 1814)
Charles Dibdin was an English composer, musician, dramatist, novelist, singer and actor. With over 600 songs to his name, for many of which he wrote both the lyrics and the music and performed them himself, he was in his time the most prolific English singer-songwriter. He is best known as the composer of "Tom Bowling", one of his many sea songs, which often features at the Last Night of the Proms. He also wrote about 30 dramatic pieces, including the operas The Waterman (1774) and The Quaker (1775), and several novels, memoirs and histories.
Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (died 1779)
Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski, anglicised as Casimir Pulaski, was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called "The Father of American cavalry" or "The Soldier of Liberty". Born in Warsaw and following in his father's footsteps, he became interested in politics at an early age. He soon became involved in the military and in revolutionary affairs in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Pulaski was one of the leading military commanders for the Bar Confederation and fought against the Commonwealth's foreign domination. When this uprising failed, he was driven into exile.
04/03/1729
Anne d'Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (died 1794)
Anne d'Arpajon, comtesse de Noailles was a French noblewoman and court official. She served as the dame d'honneur of two Queens of France, Marie Leszczyńska and Marie Antoinette. She was called "Madame Etiquette" by Marie Antoinette for her insistence that the minutiae of court etiquette could never be altered or disregarded.
04/03/1719
George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, English politician (died 1777)
George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot was twice the British President of the British East India Company.
04/03/1715
James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, English historian and politician (died 1763)
James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, was a British politician who is sometimes regarded as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in British history. His brief tenure as First Lord of the Treasury is lent a more lasting significance by his memoirs, which are regarded as significant in the development of Whig history.
04/03/1706
Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect, designed the Hermitage Hunting Lodge and Gammel Holtegård (died 1759)
Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah, known as Lauritz de Thurah, was a Danish architect and architectural writer. He became the most important Danish architect of the late baroque period. As an architectural writer and historian he made a vital contribution to the understanding of both Denmark's architectural heritage and building construction in his day.
04/03/1702
Jack Sheppard, English criminal (died 1724)
John Sheppard, nicknamed "Honest Jack", "Gentleman Jack" or "Jack the Lad", was an English criminal who became notorious in early 18th-century London.
04/03/1678
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (died 1741)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique and programmatic music. He consolidated the emerging concerto form, especially the solo concerto, into a widely accepted and followed idiom.
04/03/1665
Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (died 1694)
Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, also spelled Philipp, was a Swedish count and soldier. He was allegedly the lover of Sophia Dorothea, Princess of Celle, the wife of Duke George Louis of Brunswick and Lüneburg, the heir presumptive of the Principality of Calenberg, later to become Elector of Hanover and King of Great Britain.
04/03/1655
Fra Galgario, Italian painter (died 1743)
Fra’ Galgario, born Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, and also called Fra’ Vittore del Galgario, was an Italian painter, mainly active in Bergamo as a portraitist during the Rococo or late-Baroque period.
04/03/1651
John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English lawyer, jurist, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (died 1716)
John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, was an English jurist and Whig statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on their defence counsel. He published tracts on political topics such as the succession to the crown, where he elaborated his Whig principles in support of the Exclusionists. He played a leading part in shaping the Revolution settlement. He was Lord High Chancellor of England under King William III and was a chief architect of the union between England and Scotland achieved in 1707 and the Protestant succession achieved in 1714. He was a leading Whig during the twenty-five years after 1688; with four colleagues he formed the Whig Junto.
04/03/1634
Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (died 1689)
Kazimierz Łyszczyński, also known in English as Casimir Liszinski, was a Polish nobleman, philosopher, and soldier in the ranks of the Sapieha family, who was accused, tried, and executed for atheism in 1689.
04/03/1602
Kanō Tan'yū, Japanese painter (died 1674)
Kanō Tan'yū was a Japanese painter of the Kanō school. One of the foremost Kanō painters of the Tokugawa period, many of the best known Kanō works today are by Tan'yū.
04/03/1526
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (died 1596)
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon was an English peer and courtier. He was the patron of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, William Shakespeare's playing company. The son of Mary Boleyn, he was a cousin of Elizabeth I.
04/03/1519
Hindal Mirza, Mughal prince (died 1551)
Abu'l-Nasir Muhammad, better known by the sobriquet Hindal, was a Mughal prince and the youngest son of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. He was also the older brother of Gulbadan Begum, the younger half-brother of the second Mughal emperor Humayun, as well as the paternal-uncle and father-in-law of the third Mughal emperor Akbar.
04/03/1502
Elisabeth of Hesse, princess of Saxony (died 1557)
Elisabeth of Hesse was Hereditary Princess of Saxony in 1519-1537 by marriage to John of Saxony. After the death of her husband, she managed her Wittum, the Saxon districts of Rochlitz and Kriebstein between 1537 and 1547, earning her the name Elisabeth of Rochlitz. She allowed for the spread of Protestantism in her territories. She acted as mediator between her Catholic mother and Lutheran brother, and as the nurse of Maurice of Saxony.
04/03/1492
Francesco de Layolle, Italian organist and composer (died 1540)
Francesco de Layolle, was an Italian composer and organist of the Renaissance. He was one of the first native Italian composers to write sacred music in the Franco-Flemish polyphonic style, combining it with the indigenous harmonic idioms of the Italian Peninsula.
04/03/1484
George, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (died 1543)
George of Brandenburg-Ansbach, known as George the Pious, was a margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the House of Hohenzollern.
04/03/1394
Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (died 1460)
Prince Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu, better known in English as Prince Henry the Navigator, was a Portuguese prince, a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and 15th-century European maritime exploration. He is regarded as the main initiator of what would be known as the Age of Discovery. Henry was the third child of King John I of Portugal, who founded the House of Aviz.
04/03/1188
Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (died 1252)
Blanche of Castile was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during his absence from 1248 until 1252.
04/03/0977
Al-Musabbihi, Fatimid historian and official (died 1030)
Al-Amīr al-Mukhtār ʿIzz al-Mulk Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abīʾl Qāsim ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Azīz al-Ḥarranī al-Musabbiḥī al-Kātib, commonly known simply as al-Musabbihi, was a Sunni Fatimid historian, writer and administrative official. He is known to have authored some 40,000 pages of manuscripts dealing with an array of topics, including history, psychology, law, grammar, sexology and cooking. Akhbār Miṣr, a contemporary chronicle of Egyptian history and news, was among al-Musabbihi's well-known works. However, like the vast majority of al-Musabbihi's works, only fragments of Akhbār Miṣr survived; most of his writings disappeared not long after his death.
04/03/0895
Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the Later Han Dynasty (died 948)
Liu Zhiyuan, later changed to Liu Gao (劉暠), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han (後漢高祖), was the founding emperor of the Shatuo-led Chinese Later Han dynasty, the fourth of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He was the older brother of the Northern Han founder Liu Min.
Lives Remembered on 4th March
On 4th March, 166 remarkable people passed away — from 306 to 2025. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
04/03/2025
Roy Ayers, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, vibraphonist, and producer (born 1940)
Roy Edward Ayers Jr. was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped to pioneer jazz-funk. He was a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been described as "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He was best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Running Away", and "Freaky Deaky" and others that charted in the 1970s. At one time, Ayers was listed among the performers whose music was most often sampled by rappers.
04/03/2023
Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho (born 1927)
Philip Eugene Batt was an American politician who served as the 29th Governor of Idaho from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, Batt had previously served as the 35th Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, Chair of the Idaho Republican Party, and as a member of the Idaho Legislature.
04/03/2022
Rod Marsh, Australian cricketer and coach (born 1947)
Rodney William Marsh was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
Shane Warne, Australian cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (born 1969)
Shane Keith Warne was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire, the Melbourne Stars and Australia. Warne is regarded by many cricket players, statisticians and sporting analysts as not just the greatest ever leg spinner, but one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket. Warne also played for and coached the Rajasthan Royals, including captaining the team to victory in the inaugural season of the IPL.
04/03/2020
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat (born 1920)
Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar Guerra was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime minister of Peru from 2000 to 2001.
04/03/2019
Keith Flint, English singer (The Prodigy) (born 1969)
Keith Charles Flint was an English singer, motorcyclist, hype man, and a vocalist of the electronic dance act the Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer for the group, he became the vocalist and performed on the group's two UK number-one singles, "Firestarter" and "Breathe", both released in 1996. He was also the singer of his own band, Flint.
Luke Perry, American actor (born 1966)
Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. Perry also starred as Fred Andrews on the CW series Riverdale. He had guest roles on shows such as Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Simpsons, and Will & Grace, as well as a recurring role voicing Rick Jones in The Incredible Hulk (1996–1997) from Marvel Comics, and also appeared in various films, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), 8 Seconds (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), The Final Storm, The Beat Beneath My Feet (2015), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), which was his final feature performance and earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. He died of a stroke on March 4, 2019, at the age of 52.
04/03/2018
Davide Astori, Italian soccer player (born 1987)
Davide Astori was an Italian professional footballer who played as a central defender.
04/03/2017
Clayton Yeutter, American politician (born 1930)
Clayton Keith Yeutter, ONZM was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991 before serving as counselor to the president in 1992. He served as United States Trade Representative from 1985 to 1989 and as chairman for the Republican National Committee from 1991 until 1992. Yeutter was employed as a senior advisor at the international law firm Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. He additionally founded the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance at his alma mater, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university subsequently published his biography, Rhymes with Fighter.
04/03/2016
Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (born 1929)
Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen.
Pat Conroy, American author (born 1945)
Donald Patrick Conroy was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books The Water Is Wide, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini were made into films, the last two being nominated for Oscars. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th-century American Southern literature.
P. A. Sangma, Indian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (born 1947)
Purno Agitok Sangma was an Indian politician who served as the 11th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998 and the 4th Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990. He served as a member of the Lok Sabha from Tura in Meghalaya from 2014 to 2016, 1991 to 2008 and from 1977 to 1989 and the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Rao ministry from 1995 to 1996. He was the co-founder of the Nationalist Congress Party and founder of the National People's Party.
Zhou Xiaoyan, Chinese soprano and educator (born 1917)
Zhou Xiaoyan was a Chinese vocal pedagogue and classical soprano. Dubbed by The New York Times as "China's First Lady of Opera", she was considered to be the first important instructor of Western opera in China.
04/03/2015
Dušan Bilandžić, Croatian historian and politician (born 1924)
Dušan Bilandžić was a Croatian historian and politician.
Ray Hatton, English-American runner, author, and academic (born 1932)
Raymond Robert (Ray) Hatton was an English educator, author, and long-distance runner. Born in England, Hatton moved to the United States in 1956 to attend college, earning degrees in education and geography from University of Idaho and the University of Oregon. He was an award-winning college geography professor for many years. Hatton wrote ten books on Oregon geography, history, and climatology. In the 1970s and 1980s, he won numerous Masters level running championships and set American records in several long-distance running events. Ran a Masters WR in the Mile at 4:26.0 in 1972. Hatton was inducted into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2001.
04/03/2014
Mark Freidkin, Russian author and poet (born 1953)
Mark Iehielyevich Freidkin was a Russian poet, author, translator, and singer.
Elaine Kellett-Bowman, English lawyer and politician (born 1923)
Dame Mary Elaine Kellett-Bowman, DBE was a British Conservative Party politician, serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Lancaster for 27 years from 1970 to 1997. She also served a single term in the European Parliament from 1979 to 1984.
Jack Kinzler, American engineer (born 1920)
Jack Kinzler was a NASA engineer, the former chief of the Technical Services Center at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, known within the agency as Mr. Fix It. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for creating the solar shield that saved Skylab after the original micrometeoroid shield was lost during launch of the station. His other contributions included the flagstaff and plaques used on the Moon for all six of the Apollo program Moon landings and the special six iron golf club head with which Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard made his two famous golf drives on the Moon.
Wu Tianming, Chinese director and producer (born 1939)
Wu Tianming was a Chinese film director and producer who was considered one of the leading "Fourth Generation" directors. He is best known for his film The King of Masks (1995).
04/03/2013
Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (born 1923)
Lillian Cahn was a Hungarian-born American businessperson who co-founded Coach New York with her husband, Miles Cahn. Lillian Cahn also created Coach's first line of handbags, which remains the label's trademark consumer product. She had emigrated to the United States with her family during the Great Depression. After selling Coach in 1985, the Cahns operated a goat farm and cheese-making business in Pine Plains, New York.
Mickey Moore, Canadian-American actor and director (born 1914)
Mickey Moore was a Canadian-born American film director, second unit director, and child actor. He was credited as Michael Moore on all the films and television projects that he directed, and on most of the films on which he was second unit director.
Toren Smith, Canadian businessman, founded Studio Proteus (born 1960)
Toren V. Smith was a Canadian manga translator and founder of Studio Proteus.
04/03/2012
Paul McBride, Scottish lawyer and politician (born 1965)
Paul McBride QC was a Scottish criminal lawyer based in Edinburgh. He was a board member of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and a former vice chairman of the Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association. He died suddenly on a trip to Pakistan.
Don Mincher, American baseball player (born 1938)
Donald Ray Mincher was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and longtime minor league executive. He played in the majors from 1960 to 1972 for the "original" Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins, California Angels, Seattle Pilots, Oakland Athletics, and the expansion Washington Senators and Texas Rangers, all of the American League. The native of Huntsville, Alabama, batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 205 pounds (93 kg). He was a member of the last editions of each of Washington's two 20th Century American League teams and their first-year squads in their new locales, Minneapolis–Saint Paul (1961) and Dallas–Fort Worth (1972). Based on his popularity in his hometown, Huntsville, he would gain the nickname of Mr. Baseball of Huntsville.
04/03/2011
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Nepalese journalist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1924)
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, popularly known as Kishunji, was a Nepalese revolutionary, statesman, politician, journalist, novelist, and one of the founding leaders of the Nepali Congress. He was one of the main leaders involved in transitioning Nepal from an absolute monarchy to democracy.
Vivienne Harris, English journalist and publisher, co-founded the Jewish Telegraph (born 1921)
Vivienne Harris was a British businesswoman, newspaper publisher and journalist who co-founded the Jewish Telegraph in December 1950 with her husband, Frank Harris. The couple married in 1949.
Ed Manning, American basketball player and coach (born 1943)
Edward R. Manning was an American professional basketball player and college and National Basketball Association (NBA) assistant coach. He was the father of former NBA player and college coach Danny Manning.
Arjun Singh, Indian politician (born 1930)
Arjun Singh was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, who served twice as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in the 1980s. He also served twice as the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, in the Manmohan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao ministries.
Alenush Terian, Iranian astronomer and physicist (born 1920)
Ālenush Teriān was an Iranian-Armenian astronomer and physicist and is called 'Mother of Modern Iranian Astronomy'.
Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1925)
Simon van der Meer was a Dutch particle accelerator physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Carlo Rubbia for contributions to the CERN project which led to the discovery of the W and Z particles, the two fundamental communicators of the weak interaction.
04/03/2010
Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect and educator, designed the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (born 1933)
Raimund Johann Abraham was an Austrian architect.
Johnny Alf, Brazilian pianist and composer (born 1929)
Alfredo José da Silva, popularly known as Johnny Alf, was a Brazilian musician, sometimes known as the "Father of Bossa Nova".
Vladislav Ardzinba, Abkhazian historian and politician, 1st President of Abkhazia (born 1945)
Vladislav Ardzinba was an Abkhaz historian and politician who served as the first de facto president of Abkhazia. Ardzinba led Abkhazia to de facto independence in the 1992–1993 War with Georgia, but its de jure independence from Georgia remained internationally unrecognised during Ardzinba's two terms as President from 1994 to 2005. His government orchestrated ethnic cleansing of Georgian civilians in Abkhazia in 1993.
Fred Wedlock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1942)
Peter Frederick Wedlock was an English folk singer best known for his UK hit single "The Oldest Swinger in Town", which was covered by German comedian Karl Dall as "Der älteste Popper der Stadt". He performed at many venues in Britain and Europe, presented programmes for West Country TV and acted with the Bristol Old Vic, as well as undertaking after-dinner speaking engagements.
04/03/2009
Yvon Cormier, Canadian wrestler (born 1938)
Yvon Cormier was a Canadian professional wrestler. Competing primarily under the ring name The Beast, he and his three wrestling brothers made up the Cormier wrestling family. He wrestled in many countries but regularly returned to Canada, where he competed for the Eastern Sports Association (ESA) and the ESA-promoted International Wrestling (IW). He also competed in the Calgary, Alberta-based Stampede Wrestling for many years.
Horton Foote, American playwright and screenwriter (born 1916)
Albert Horton Foote Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and Tender Mercies (1983). He was also known for his notable live television dramas produced during the Golden Age of Television.
George McAfee, American football player (born 1918)
George Anderson McAfee was an American professional football halfback, defensive back and return specialist who played for the Chicago Bears from 1940 to 1941 and 1945 to 1950 in the National Football League (NFL). As an undergraduate at Duke University, McAfee starred in baseball and track and field as well as college football. McAfee was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As of 2018, he still holds the NFL record for punt return average in a career.
04/03/2008
Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (born 1938)
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) with Dave Arneson.
Leonard Rosenman, American composer and conductor (born 1924)
Leonard Rosenman was an American film, television and concert composer with credits in over 130 works, including East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Barry Lyndon, Race with the Devil, and the animated The Lord of the Rings.
04/03/2007
Thomas Eagleton, American lawyer and politician, 38th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (born 1929)
Thomas Francis Eagleton was an American lawyer who served as a United States senator from Missouri from 1968 to 1987. He was briefly the Democratic vice presidential nominee under George McGovern in 1972. He suffered from bouts of depression throughout his life, resulting in several hospitalizations, which were kept secret from the public. When they were revealed, the McGovern campaign was humiliated, and Eagleton was forced to quit the race. He later became adjunct professor of public affairs at Washington University in St. Louis.
Tadeusz Nalepa, Polish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1934)
Tadeusz Nalepa was a Polish composer, guitar player, vocalist, and lyricist.
Ian Wooldridge, English journalist (born 1932)
Ian Edmund Wooldridge, OBE was a British sports journalist. He was with the Daily Mail for nearly 50 years.
04/03/2006
John Reynolds Gardiner, American author and engineer (born 1944)
John Reynolds Gardiner was an American writer best known for writing the book Stone Fox.
Edgar Valter, Estonian author and illustrator (born 1929)
Edgar Valter was an Estonian graphic artist, caricaturist, writer and illustrator of children's books, with over 250 books to his name, through 55 years of activity (1950–2005). His most famous work is Pokuraamat.
04/03/2005
Nicola Calipari, Italian general (born 1953)
Nicola Calipari was an Italian major general and SISMI military intelligence officer. Calipari was accidentally killed in Iraq by American soldiers while escorting a recently released Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, to Baghdad International Airport.
Yuriy Kravchenko, Ukrainian police officer and politician (born 1951)
Yuriy Fedorovych Kravchenko was a Ukrainian General of Internal Service and politician, serving as the country's Minister of Internal Affairs (1995—2001). In 2000, while he was serving as the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kravchenko became directly involved in the murder case of Georgiy Gongadze and the subsequent "Cassette Scandal." Kravechenko later was the governor of the Kherson Oblast (2001—2002) and Head of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine (2002—2003).
Carlos Sherman, Uruguayan-Belarusian author and activist (born 1934)
Carlos Sherman was a Uruguay-born Belarusian–Spanish translator, writer, human rights activist and honorary vice-president of the Belarusian PEN Center. He translated from Spanish into Belarusian and Russian.
04/03/2004
Claude Nougaro, French singer-songwriter (born 1929)
Claude Nougaro was a French jazz singer and poet.
04/03/2003
Jaba Ioseliani, Georgian playwright, academic, and politician (born 1926)
Jaba Ioseliani was a Georgian politician, member of Parliament of Georgia, writer, thief-in-law and leader of the paramilitary organisation Mkhedrioni.
Sébastien Japrisot, French author, screenwriter, and director (born 1931)
Sébastien Japrisot was a French author, screenwriter and film director. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Renowned for subverting the rules of the crime genre, Japrisot broke down the established formulas "into their component pieces to re-combine them in original and paradoxical ways." Some critics argue that though Japrisot's work may lack the explicit experimental element present in the novels of some of his contemporaries, it shows influences of structuralist theories and the unorthodox techniques of the New Novelists.
04/03/2002
Ugnė Karvelis, Lithuanian author and translator (born 1935)
Ugnė Karvelis was a writer, a translator and a member of the UNESCO Executive Board from 1997 to 2002.
Elyne Mitchell, Australian skier and author (born 1913)
Elyne Mitchell, OAM was an Australian author noted for the Silver Brumby series of children's novels. Her nonfiction works draw on family history and culture.
Velibor Vasović, Serbian footballer and manager (born 1939)
Velibor Vasović was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan and Ajax and is regarded one of greatest defenders of his generation. A sweeper who could play in midfield, Vasović was renowned for his defensive positioning, never-say-die attitude and tactical awareness.
04/03/2001
Gerardo Barbero, Argentinian chess player (born 1961)
Gerardo Fabián Barbero was an Argentine chess grandmaster. He was born in Lanús, Buenos Aires, and raised in Rosario, Santa Fe.
Jean René Bazaine, French painter and author (born 1904)
Jean René Bazaine was a French painter, designer of stained glass windows and writer. He was the great great grandson of the English Court portraitist Sir George Hayter.
Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (born 1916)
Fred D. Lasswell was an American cartoonist best known for his decades of work on the comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.
Jim Rhodes, American businessman and politician, 61st Governor of Ohio (born 1909)
James Allen Rhodes was an American politician who served as the 61st and 63rd governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, from 1944 to 1952, and as Ohio State Auditor from 1953 to 1963. Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year terms in office and is tied for the sixth-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,840 days.
Harold Stassen, American educator and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (born 1907)
Harold Edward Stassen was an American Republican Party politician, military officer, and attorney who was the 25th governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 1948. Though he was considered for a time to be the front-runner, he lost the nomination to New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. He thereafter regularly continued to run for the presidency and other offices, such that his name became most identified with his status as a perennial candidate.
04/03/2000
Hermann Brück, German-Scottish physicist and astronomer (born 1905)
Hermann Alexander Brück CBE FRSE GCSG was a German-born astronomer, who spent the great portion of his career in various positions in Britain and Ireland.
Michael Noonan, New Zealand-Australian author and screenwriter (born 1921)
Michael John Noonan was an Australian / New Zealand novelist and radio script writer. He also created the Australian TV series Riptide.
Ta-You Wu, Chinese physicist and academic (born 1907)
Wu Ta-You was a Chinese physicist and writer who worked in the United States, Canada, China and Taiwan. He has been called the Father of Chinese physics.
04/03/1999
Harry Blackmun, American lawyer and judge (born 1908)
Harold Andrew Blackmun was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. Appointed by President Richard Nixon, Blackmun ultimately became one of the most liberal justices on the Court. He is best known as the author of the Court's opinion in Roe v. Wade.
Del Close, American actor and educator (born 1934)
Del Close was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was one of the influences on modern improvisational theater. Close was co-founder of the ImprovOlympic (iO).
Miłosz Magin, Polish pianist and composer (born 1929)
Miłosz Magin was a Polish composer and pianist.
04/03/1998
Ivan Dougherty, Australian general (born 1907)
Major General Sir Ivan Noel Dougherty, was an Australian Army officer during the Second World War and early Cold War period.
04/03/1997
Joe Baker-Cresswell, English captain (born 1901)
Captain Addison Joe Baker-Cresswell DSO was a Royal Navy officer, aide-de-camp to King George VI and High Sheriff of Northumberland. He is noted prominently for his role as the commanding officer of HMS Bulldog during the capture of U-110, from which an intact Enigma cipher machine was seized.
Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (born 1916)
Robert Henry Dicke was an American astronomer and physicist who made important contributions to the fields of astrophysics, atomic physics, cosmology and gravity. He was the Albert Einstein Professor in Science at Princeton University (1975–1984).
04/03/1996
Minnie Pearl, American entertainer (born 1912)
Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian and country singer who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (1940–1991) and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.
John Sauer, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1925)
John Edward Sauer was an American football player, coach, and broadcaster.
04/03/1995
Matt Urban, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1919)
Matt Louis Urban was a United States Army lieutenant colonel and one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War II. Urban performed valiantly in combat on many occasions despite being wounded in action several times. He received over a dozen personal decorations for combat, including seven Purple Hearts. In 1980, he received the Medal of Honor and three other U.S. decorations and one foreign decoration for his actions in France and Belgium in 1944.
04/03/1994
John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (born 1950)
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian best known for his work in Hollywood comedy films.
George Edward Hughes, Irish-Scottish philosopher and author (born 1918)
George Edward Hughes was an Irish-born New Zealand philosopher and logician whose principal scholarly works were concerned with modal logic and medieval philosophy.
04/03/1993
Art Hodes, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (born 1904)
Arthur W. Hodes, was a Russian-born American jazz and blues pianist. He is regarded by many critics as the greatest white blues pianist.
Tomislav Ivčić, Croatian singer-songwriter and politician (born 1953)
Tomislav Ivčić was a Croatian pop singer, songwriter and politician. He died in a car accident and is buried in Zagreb at the Mirogoj Cemetery.
Izaak Kolthoff, Dutch chemist and academic (born 1894)
Izaak Maurits (Piet) Kolthoff was an analytical chemist and chemistry educator. He is widely considered the father of analytical chemistry for his large volume of published research in diverse fields of analysis, his work to modernize and promote the field, and for advising a large number of students who went on to influential careers of their own.
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment (born 1929)
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.
04/03/1992
Art Babbitt, American animator and director (born 1907)
Arthur Harold Babitsky, better known as Art Babbitt, was an American animator, best known for his work at the Walt Disney Productions animation unit. He received over 80 awards as an animation director and animator, and also developed the character of Goofy. Babbitt worked as an animator or animation director on films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo, among others. Outside of Disney, he also animated The Wise Quacking Duck for Leon Schlesinger Productions.
Pare Lorentz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1905)
Pare Lorentz was an American filmmaker known for his film work about the New Deal. Born Leonard MacTaggart Lorentz in Clarksburg, West Virginia he was educated at Buckhannon High School, West Virginia Wesleyan College, and West Virginia University. As a young film critic in both New York City and Hollywood, Lorentz spoke out against censorship in the film industry.
04/03/1991
Godfrey Bryan, English cricketer (born 1902)
Brigadier Godfrey James Bryan was an English army officer and cricketer. A left-handed batsman, he played first-class cricket between 1920 and 1935 for Kent County Cricket Club and the Army cricket team. His brothers Jack and Ronnie also played for Kent, though Godfrey was considered as "possibly the most talented" of the three.
04/03/1990
Hank Gathers, American basketball player (born 1967)
Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season. Gathers was a consensus second-team All-American as a senior in 1990. His No. 44 was retired by the Lions, who also placed a statue of him in his honor outside their home arena Gersten Pavilion.
04/03/1989
Tiny Grimes, American guitarist (born 1916)
Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a recording session with Charlie Parker. He is notable for playing the electric tenor guitar, a four-stringed instrument.
04/03/1988
Beatriz Guido, Argentine author and screenwriter (born 1924)
Beatriz Guido was an Argentine novelist and screenwriter.
04/03/1987
Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (born 1884)
Seibo Kitamura was a Japanese sculptor. He is known as the sculptor of the 10-meter-tall Peace Statue in Nagasaki Peace Park. He is most often referred to as "Seibo".
04/03/1986
Ding Ling, Chinese feminist and socialist realist author (born 1904)
Ding Ling, formerly romanized as Ting Ling, was the pen name of Jiang Bingzhi, also known as Bin Zhi, one of the most celebrated Chinese women authors of the 20th century. She is known for her feminist and socialist realist literature.
Albert L. Lehninger, American biochemist and academic (born 1917)
Albert Lester Lehninger was an American chemist in the field of bioenergetics. He made fundamental contributions to the current understanding of metabolism at a molecular level. In 1948, he discovered, with Eugene P. Kennedy, that mitochondria are the site of oxidative phosphorylation in eukaryotes, which ushered in the modern study of energy transduction. He is the author of a number of classic texts, including Biochemistry, The Mitochondrion, Bioenergetics and, most notably, his series Principles of Biochemistry. This last is a widely used text for introductory biochemistry courses at the college and university levels.
Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1943)
Richard George Manuel was a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in the Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Elizabeth Smart, Canadian poet and author (born 1913)
Elizabeth Smart was a Canadian poet and novelist. Her best-known work is the novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept (1945), an extended prose poem inspired by her romance with the poet George Barker.
04/03/1981
Torin Thatcher, American actor (born 1905)
Torin Herbert Erskine Thatcher was a British actor who was noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains.
Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, German admiral (born 1900)
Karl-Jesko Otto Robert von Puttkamer was a German admiral who was naval adjutant to Adolf Hitler during World War II.
04/03/1980
Alan Hardaker, English lieutenant and businessman (born 1912)
Alan Hardaker OBE was an English football administrator for the Football League, a wartime Royal Navy officer, and previously an amateur footballer. He was born in Hull, Yorkshire and was the second son to John and Emma Hardaker. He was younger brother of Ernest Hardaker.
04/03/1979
Willi Unsoeld, American mountaineer and educator (born 1926)
William Francis Unsoeld was an American mountaineer who was a member of the first American expedition to summit Mount Everest. The American Mount Everest Expedition was led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, and included Unsoeld, Jim Whittaker, Lute Jerstad, Barry Bishop and Tom Hornbein. Whittaker, with Sherpa Nawang Gombu, reached the summit on May 1, 1963. Unsoeld, Hornbein, Bishop and Jerstad reached the top on May 22, 1963. Unsoeld and Hornbein's climb was the first ascent from the peak's west ridge, and the first major traverse of a Himalayan peak. His subsequent activities included working as a U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, Peace Corps director in Nepal, speaker for Outward Bound, faculty member at Oregon State University and The Evergreen State College and mountaineering guide. He died on Mount Rainier in an avalanche.
04/03/1978
Wesley Bolin, American businessman and politician, 15th Governor of Arizona (born 1909)
Harvey Wesley Bolin was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 15th governor of Arizona between 1977 and 1978. His five months in office mark the shortest term in office for any Arizona governor. Prior to ascending to the Governorship, Bolin was the longest serving Secretary of State of Arizona, serving 28 years from 1949 until he succeeded to the governorship in 1977 following the resignation of his predecessor.
Joe Marsala, American clarinet player and songwriter (born 1907)
Joseph Francis Marsala was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist, alto and tenor saxophonist, and songwriter, older brother of trumpeter Marty Marsala.
04/03/1977
Anatol E. Baconsky, Romanian poet, author, and critic (born 1925)
Anatol E. Baconsky, also known as A. E. Bakonsky, Baconschi or Baconski, was a Romanian modernist poet, essayist, translator, novelist, publisher, literary and art critic. Praised for his late approach to poetry and prose, which transgresses the genres and introduces an aestheticized, original and progressively dark perspective to Romanian literature, he was also criticized for his early commitment to Socialist Realism and communism. Much of his work belongs to the field of travel literature, recording his experiences in the Eastern Bloc, the Far East and Soviet Union, and finally Central Europe. He was also a critically acclaimed translator of foreign works, including the Mahābhārata and poems by Jorge Semprún, Artur Lundkvist and others, the author of world literature anthologies, and the editor of monographs on Romanian and foreign painters.
Nancy Tyson Burbidge, Australian botanist and curator (born 1912)
Nancy Tyson Burbidge was an Australian systemic botanist, conservationist and herbarium curator.
Andrés Caicedo, Colombian author, poet, and playwright (born 1951)
Luis Andrés Caicedo Estela was a Colombian writer born in Cali, the city where he would spend most of his life. Despite his premature death, his works are considered to be some of the most original produced in Colombia. Caicedo led different cultural movements in the city like the literary group "Los Dialogantes", the Cinema Club of Cali and the "Ojo al Cine" Magazine. In 1970, he won the First Literary Contest of Caracas with his work "Los dientes de caperucita" that opened the doors of national recognition for him. Some sources say that he used to say that to live more than 25 years was a shame and it is seen as the main reason of his suicide on March 4, 1977, when he was that age.
William Paul, American lawyer and politician (born 1885)
William Lewis Paul was an American attorney, legislator, and political activist from the Tlingit Nation in Southeast Alaska. He was known as a leader in the Alaska Native Brotherhood, and became the first Native attorney and first Native legislator in Alaskan history.
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1887)
Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk was a German senior government official who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1932 to 1945 and de facto chancellor of Germany during May 1945.
04/03/1976
John Marvin Jones, American judge and politician (born 1882)
John Marvin Jones was a United States representative from Texas and a Judge of the United States Court of Claims.
Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (born 1886)
Walter Schottky was a German physicist and electrical engineer who played a major early role in developing the theory of thermionic emission, invented the screen-grid vacuum tube in 1915, co-invented the ribbon microphone and ribbon loudspeaker along with Dr. Erwin Gerlach in 1924, and later made many significant contributions in the areas of semiconductor devices, technical physics, and technology.
04/03/1974
Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (born 1903)
Adolph Gottlieb was an American abstract expressionist painter who also made sculpture and became a printmaker.
04/03/1972
Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand general, lawyer, and politician, 8th Chief Justice of New Zealand (born 1894)
Major General Sir Harold Eric Barrowclough was a New Zealand military leader, lawyer and Chief Justice from 1953 to 1966.
Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (born 1911)
Charles Biro was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He created the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and worked on Daredevil Comics and Crime Does Not Pay at Lev Gleason Publications.
04/03/1969
Nicholas Schenck, Russian-American businessman (born 1881)
Nicholas M. Schenck was a Russian-American film studio executive and businessman.
04/03/1963
William Carlos Williams, American poet, short story writer, and essayist (born 1883)
William Carlos Williams was an American-Puerto Rican poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His Spring and All (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land (1922). In his five-volume poem Paterson (1946–1958), he took Paterson, New Jersey as "my 'case' to work up. It called for a poetry such as I did not know, it was my duty to discover or make such a context on the 'thought.'" Some of his best-known poems, "This Is Just to Say" and "The Red Wheelbarrow", are reflections on the everyday. Other poems reflect the influence of the visual arts. He, in turn, influenced the visual arts; his poem "The Great Figure" inspired the painting I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold by Charles Demuth. Williams was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems (1962).
04/03/1960
Herbert O'Conor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 51st Governor of Maryland (born 1896)
Herbert Romulus O'Conor was an American lawyer serving as the 51st governor of Maryland from 1939 to 1947. He also served in the United States Senate, representing Maryland from 1947 to 1953. He was a Democrat.
04/03/1954
Noel Gay, English composer and songwriter (born 1898)
Reginald Moxon Armitage known professionally as Noel Gay was a British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows. Sheridan Morley has commented that he was "the closest Britain ever came to a local Irving Berlin". He is best known for the musical, Me and My Girl.
04/03/1952
Charles Scott Sherrington, English neurophysiologist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1857)
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington was a British neurophysiologist. His experimental research established many aspects of contemporary neuroscience, including the concept of the spinal reflex as a system involving connected neurons, and the ways in which signal transmission between neurons can be potentiated or depotentiated. Sherrington himself coined the word "synapse" to define the connection between two neurons. His book The Integrative Action of the Nervous System (1906) is a synthesis of this work, in recognition of which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1932.
04/03/1949
Clarence Kingsbury, English cyclist (born 1882)
Clarence Brickwood Kingsbury was a British track cyclist who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He belonged to the Paddington and North End cycling clubs.
04/03/1948
Antonin Artaud, French actor and director (born 1896)
Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely recognized as a major figure of the European avant-garde, he had a particularly strong influence on twentieth-century theatre through his conceptualization of the Theatre of Cruelty. Known for his raw, surreal and transgressive work, his texts explored themes from the cosmologies of ancient cultures, philosophy, the occult, mysticism and indigenous Mexican and Balinese practices.
04/03/1945
Lucille La Verne, American actress (born 1872)
Lucille La Verne Mitchum was an American actress known for her appearances in early sound films, as well as for her triumphs on the American stage. She is most widely remembered to modern audiences as the voice of the first Disney villain, the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney's first full-length animated feature film, serving as her final film role.
Mark Sandrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1900)
Mark Sandrich was an American film director, writer, and producer.
04/03/1944
Fannie Barrier Williams, American educator and activist (born 1855)
Frances Barrier Williams was an American educator, civil rights and women's rights activist, and the first black woman to gain membership to the Chicago Woman's Club. She became well known for her efforts to have black people officially represented on the Board of Control of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. She was also a musician and portraitist, and studied foreign languages.
Louis Buchalter, American mob boss (born 1897)
Louis Buchalter, known as Louis Lepke, Lepke Buchalter or Judge Louie,, was a Jewish-American organized crime figure and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc., during the 1930s. Buchalter was one of the premier labor union racketeers in New York City during that era.
Louis Capone, Italian-American gangster (born 1896)
Louis Capone was a New York organized crime figure who became a supervisor for Murder, Inc. Louis Capone had no known relation to Al Capone, the boss of the Chicago Outfit. Capone was convicted of murder in 1941, and sentenced to death. He was electrocuted at Sing Sing Prison on March 4, 1944.
René Lefebvre, French businessman (born 1879)
René Charles Joseph Marie Lefebvre was a French factory-owner from Tourcoing, who died in the German concentration camp in Sonnenburg, in the Province of Brandenburg, where he had been imprisoned by the German Gestapo because of his work for the French Resistance and British Intelligence. René Lefebvre was the father of French Roman Catholic archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the international Traditionalist Catholic organisation Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX).
04/03/1941
Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1858)
Ludwig Quidde was a German politician and pacifist who is mainly remembered today for his acerbic criticism of German Emperor Wilhelm II. Quidde's long career spanned four different eras of German history: Otto von Bismarck, the Hohenzollern Empire under Wilhelm II (1888–1918), the Weimar Republic (1918–1933); and Nazi Germany. In 1927, Quidde was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
04/03/1940
Hamlin Garland, American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer (born 1860)
Hannibal Hamlin Garland was an American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, Georgist, and psychical researcher. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.
04/03/1938
George Foster Peabody, American banker and philanthropist (born 1852)
George Foster Peabody was an American banker and philanthropist.
Jack Taylor, American baseball player (born 1874)
John W. Taylor was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
04/03/1927
Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (born 1846)
Ira Remsen was an American chemist who introduced organic chemistry research and education in the United States along the lines of German universities where he received his early training. He was the first professor of chemistry and the second president of Johns Hopkins University. He founded the American Chemical Journal, which he edited from 1879 to 1914. The discovery of saccharin was made in his laboratory by Constantine Fahlberg who worked in collaboration with Remsen but patented the synthesis on his own, earning the ire of Remsen.
04/03/1925
Moritz Moszkowski, Polish-German pianist and composer (born 1854)
Moritz Moszkowski was a German-Polish composer, pianist, and teacher. His brother Alexander Moszkowski was a famous writer and satirist in Berlin.
James Ward, English psychologist and philosopher (born 1843)
James Ward was an English psychologist and philosopher. He was a Cambridge Apostle.
John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player and manager (born 1860)
John Montgomery Ward, also known as Monte Ward, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher, shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, manager, executive, union organizer, owner and author. Ward, of English descent, was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania and grew up in Renovo, Pennsylvania. He led the formation of the first professional sports players union and a new baseball league, the Players' League.
04/03/1916
Franz Marc, German painter (born 1880)
Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter, a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it.
04/03/1915
William Willett, English inventor, founded British Summer Time (born 1856)
William Willett was a British builder and a promoter of British Summer Time.
04/03/1906
John Schofield, American general and politician, 28th United States Secretary of War (born 1831)
John McAllister Schofield was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of War (1868–1869) under President Andrew Johnson and later served as Commanding General of the United States Army (1888–1895).
04/03/1903
Joseph Henry Shorthouse, English author (born 1834)
Joseph Henry Shorthouse was an English novelist. His first novel, John Inglesant, was particularly admired as a "philosophical romance". It discusses a religious intrigue in the English 17th century.
04/03/1888
Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher and educator (born 1799)
Amos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a plant-based diet. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights.
04/03/1883
Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (born 1812)
Alexander Hamilton Stephens was an American politician who served as the only vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1883. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state of Georgia in the United States House of Representatives before and after the Civil War.
04/03/1872
Carsten Hauch, Danish poet and playwright (born 1790)
Johannes Carsten Hauch was a Danish poet.
04/03/1866
Alexander Campbell, Irish-American minister and theologian (born 1788)
Alexander Campbell was an Ulster Scots immigrant who became an ordained minister in the United States and joined his father Thomas Campbell as a leader of a reform effort that is historically known as the Restoration Movement, and by some as the "Stone-Campbell Movement". It resulted in the development of non-denominational Christian churches, which stressed reliance on scripture and few essentials.
04/03/1864
Thomas Starr King, American minister and politician (born 1824)
Thomas Starr King, often known as Starr King, was an American Universalist and Unitarian minister, influential in California politics during the American Civil War, and Freemason. Starr King spoke zealously in favor of the Union and was credited by Abraham Lincoln with preventing California from becoming a separate republic. He is sometimes referred to as "the orator who saved the nation".
04/03/1858
Matthew C. Perry, American naval commander (born 1794)
Matthew Calbraith Perry was a United States Navy officer who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. He led the Perry Expedition that ended Japan's isolationism and signed the Convention of Kanagawa between Japan and the United States in 1854.
04/03/1853
Thomas Bladen Capel, English admiral (born 1776)
Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel was a Royal Navy officer whose distinguished service in the French Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 earned him rapid promotion and great acclaim both in and out of the Navy. He was also a great friend of Admiral Nelson and can be considered a full member of Nelson's band of brothers.
Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (born 1774)
Christian Leopold von Buch, usually cited as Leopold von Buch, was a German geologist and paleontologist born in Stolpe an der Oder and is remembered as one of the most important contributors to geology in the first half of the nineteenth century. His scientific interest was devoted to a broad spectrum of geological topics: volcanism, petrology, fossils, stratigraphy and mountain formation. His most remembered accomplishment is the scientific definition of the Jurassic system.
04/03/1852
Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (born 1809)
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
04/03/1851
James Richardson, English explorer (born 1809)
James Richardson was a British explorer known for his expeditions into the Sahel region of the Saharan desert.
04/03/1832
Jean-François Champollion, French philologist and scholar (born 1790)
Jean-François Champollion, also known as Champollion le jeune, was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in the field of Egyptology. Partially raised by his brother, the scholar Jacques Joseph Champollion-Figeac, Champollion was a child prodigy in philology, giving his first public paper on the decipherment of Demotic in his late teens. As a young man he was renowned in scientific circles, and read Coptic, Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic.
04/03/1811
Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician (born 1778)
Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution.
04/03/1807
Abraham Baldwin, American minister, lawyer, and politician (born 1754)
Abraham Baldwin was an American minister, patriot, politician, and Founding Father who signed the United States Constitution. Born and raised in Connecticut, he was a 1772 graduate of Yale College. After the Revolutionary War, Baldwin became a lawyer. He moved to the U.S. state of Georgia in the mid-1780s and founded the University of Georgia. Baldwin was a member of Society of the Cincinnati.
04/03/1805
Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (born 1725)
Jean-Baptiste Greuze was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting.
04/03/1795
John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (born 1717)
John Collins, was an American politician and a Founding Father of the United States who, as a member of the Continental Congress, signed the Articles of Confederation. He was the third governor of the U.S. state of Rhode Island from 1786 to 1790.
04/03/1793
Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre (born 1725)
Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon was the son of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon and his wife Marie Victoire de Noailles. He was therefore a grandson of Louis XIV and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. From birth he was known as the Duke of Penthièvre. He also possessed the following titles: Prince of Lamballe ; Prince of Carignano; Duke of Rambouillet; Duke of Aumale (1775); Duke of Gisors; Duke of Châteauvillain; Duke of Arc-en-Barrois; Duke of Amboise; Count of Eu; Count of Guingamp. He was the father in law of Philippe Égalité.
04/03/1762
Johannes Zick, German painter (born 1702)
Johannes (Johann) Zick was a German painter of frescoes in southern Germany and active during the Baroque period. He was the father of painter Januarius Zick and considered to be an important master of the Late Baroque.
04/03/1744
John Anstis, English historian and politician (born 1669)
John Anstis was an English officer of arms, antiquarian and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1702 and 1722. He rose to the highest heraldic office in England and became Garter King of Arms in 1718 after years of political manoeuvring.
04/03/1733
Claude de Forbin, French admiral and politician (born 1656)
Claude, comte de Forbin-Gardanne was a French Navy officer, nobleman and diplomat. From 1685 to 1688, he led a diplomatic mission to the Ayutthaya Kingdom. He became governor of Bangkok and a general in the Siamese army, and left Siam shortly before King Narai fell ill and was deposed by the 1688 coup d'état. Returning to Europe, he got involved in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession.
04/03/1710
Louis III, duke of Bourbon (born 1668)
Louis III de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a prince du sang as a member of the reigning House of Bourbon at the French court of Louis XIV. Styled as Duke of Bourbon from birth, he succeeded his father in 1709 as Prince of Condé ; however, he was still known by the ducal title. He was prince for less than a year.
04/03/1615
Hans von Aachen, German painter and educator (born 1552)
Hans von Aachen was a German painter who was one of the leading representatives of Northern Mannerism.
04/03/1604
Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and educator (born 1539)
Fausto Paolo Sozzini, often known in English by his Latinized name Faustus Socinus, was an Italian Renaissance humanist and theologian, and, alongside his uncle Lelio Sozzini, founder of the Nontrinitarian Christian belief system known as Socinianism. His doctrine was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Polish Reformed Church between the 16th and 17th centuries, and embraced by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period.
04/03/1583
Bernard Gilpin, English priest and theologian (born 1517)
Bernard Gilpin, was an Oxford theologian and then an influential clergyman in the emerging Church of England spanning the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Jane, Mary and Elizabeth I. He was known as the 'Apostle of the North' for his work in the wilds of northern England.
04/03/1556
Leonhard Kleber, German organist (born 1495)
Leonhard Kleber was a German organist, and probably composer, of the Renaissance.
04/03/1496
Sigismund, archduke of Austria (born 1427)
Sigismund, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1439 until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the County of Tyrol from 1446 until his resignation in 1490.
04/03/1484
Saint Casimir, Polish prince (born 1458)
Casimir Jagiellon was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The second son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was tutored by Johannes Longinus, a Polish chronicler, diplomat, and priest. After his elder brother Vladislaus was elected as King of Bohemia in 1471, Casimir became the heir apparent. At the age of 13, Casimir participated in the failed military campaign to install him as King of Hungary. He became known for his piety, devotion to God, and generosity towards the sick and poor. He became ill and died at the age of 25. He was buried in Vilnius Cathedral. His canonization was initiated by his brother King Sigismund I the Old in 1514 and the tradition holds that he was canonized in 1521. Saint Casimir the Prince is the patron saint of Poland, Lithuania and Lithuanian youth and the only saint with this name.
04/03/1388
Thomas Usk, English author
Thomas Usk was an English civil servant and writer, briefly appointed the under-sheriff of London by Richard II in 1387, but hanged in the following year. He was the author of The Testament of Love, formerly ascribed to Chaucer.
04/03/1371
Jeanne d'Évreux, queen consort of France (born 1310)
Joan of Évreux was Queen of France and Navarre as the third wife of King Charles IV of France.
04/03/1314
Jakub Świnka, Polish priest and archbishop
Jakub Świnka was a Polish Catholic priest, the Archbishop of Gniezno and a notable politician and statesman, supporter of the idea of unification of all Polish lands under the rule of Władysław I the Elbow-high. His coat of arms was Świnka.
04/03/1303
Daniel of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (born 1261)
Daniil Aleksandrovich, also known as Daniil of Moscow, was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky and forefather of all Princes of Moscow. His descendants are known as the Daniilovichi. He has been locally approved for veneration in the Russian Orthodox Church, with feast days on 17 March and 12 September.
04/03/1238
Joan of England, queen of Scotland (born 1210)
Joan of England, was Queen of Alba (Scotland) from 1221 until her death as the wife of Alexander II. She was the third child of John, King of England, and Isabella of Angoulême.
Yuri II, Russian Grand Prince (born 1189)
Yuri II, also known as George II of Vladimir, or Georgy II Vsevolodovich, was the fourth Grand Prince of Vladimir who presided over the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal at the time of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'.
04/03/1193
Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid Sultanate (born 1137)
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was a Kurdish commander and political leader. He was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
04/03/1172
Stephen III, king of Hungary (born 1147)
Stephen III was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1162 and 1172. He was crowned king in early June 1162, shortly after the death of his father, Géza II. However, his two uncles, Ladislaus and Stephen, who had joined the court of the Byzantine Empire, challenged his right to the crown. Only six weeks after his coronation, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos launched an expedition against Hungary, forcing the Hungarian lords to accept Ladislaus' rule. Stephen sought refuge in Austria, but returned and seized Pressburg. Ladislaus, who died on 14 January 1163, was succeeded by Stephen's younger uncle and namesake, Stephen IV, without resistance, but his rule was unpopular. The young Stephen defeated his uncle on 19 June 1163 and expelled him from Hungary.
04/03/0934
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (born 873)
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn, better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī biʾllāh, was the founder of the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate, the only major Shi'a caliphate in Islamic history, and the eleventh Imam of the Isma'ili branch of Shi'ism.
04/03/0561
Pelagius I, pope of the Catholic Church
Pope Pelagius I was the bishop of Rome from 16 April 556 to his death on 3 March 561. A former apocrisiarius to Constantinople, Pelagius I was elected pope as the candidate of Emperor Justinian I, a designation not well received in the Western Church. Before his papacy, he opposed Justinian's efforts to condemn the "Three Chapters" in order to reconcile theological factions within the Church, but later adopted Justinian's position.
04/03/0480
Landry of Sées, French bishop and saint
Landry of Sées (Landericus) was a Gallo-Roman saint and bishop. The earliest record found of a person named Landry was in the 5th century ca. 450 in the person of St. Landry, third Bishop of Sées who died on March 4, 480 and whose feast day is July 16.
04/03/0306
Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrs
Adrian of Nicomedia or Saint Adrian was a Herculian Guard of the Roman Emperor Galerius. After becoming a convert to Christianity with his wife Natalia (Ναταλία), Adrian was martyred at Nicomedia in Asia-Minor (Turkey). Adrian was the chief military saint of Northern Europe for many ages, second only to Saint George, and is much revered in Flanders, Germany and the north of France.
Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 4th March
Christian feast day: Adrian of Nicomedia
Adrian of Nicomedia or Saint Adrian was a Herculian Guard of the Roman Emperor Galerius. After becoming a convert to Christianity with his wife Natalia (Ναταλία), Adrian was martyred at Nicomedia in Asia-Minor (Turkey). Adrian was the chief military saint of Northern Europe for many ages, second only to Saint George, and is much revered in Flanders, Germany and the north of France.
Christian feast day: Casimir
Casimir Jagiellon was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The second son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was tutored by Johannes Longinus, a Polish chronicler, diplomat, and priest. After his elder brother Vladislaus was elected as King of Bohemia in 1471, Casimir became the heir apparent. At the age of 13, Casimir participated in the failed military campaign to install him as King of Hungary. He became known for his piety, devotion to God, and generosity towards the sick and poor. He became ill and died at the age of 25. He was buried in Vilnius Cathedral. His canonization was initiated by his brother King Sigismund I the Old in 1514 and the tradition holds that he was canonized in 1521. Saint Casimir the Prince is the patron saint of Poland, Lithuania and Lithuanian youth and the only saint with this name.
Christian feast day: Felix of Rhuys
Saint Felix of Rhuys was a Breton Benedictine hermit and abbot, who re-founded Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys Abbey.
Christian feast day: Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
Giovanni Antonio Farina was an Italian Catholic bishop known for his compassionate treatment of the poor and for his enlightened views of education; he was sometimes dubbed as the "Bishop of the Poor". He served as the Bishop of Vicenza and later as the Bishop of Treviso; he is also known for ordaining the future Pope Pius X to the priesthood.
Christian feast day: Blessed Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".
Christian feast day: Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
Paul Cuffe, also known as Paul Cuffee was a Black American and Wampanoag businessman, whaler and abolitionist. Born free into a free people of color family on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts, Cuffe became a successful merchant and sea captain. His mother, Ruth Moses, was a Wampanoag from Harwich, Cape Cod, and his father an Ashanti captured as a child in West Africa and sold into slavery in Newport, Rhode Island, about 1720. In the mid-1740s, his father was manumitted by his Quaker owner, John Slocum. His parents married in 1747 in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Christian feast day: Peter of Pappacarbone
Pietro of Pappacarbone was an Italian abbot, bishop, and saint. He was abbot of La Trinità della Cava, located at Cava de' Tirreni. Born in Salerno, he had first been a monk at Cava under Leo I of Cava. He then was at Cluny from 1062 to 1068 and later became bishop of Policastro in 1079.
Christian feast day: Blessed Placide Viel
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".
Christian feast day: Blessed Zoltán Meszlényi
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".
Christian feast day: March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
March 3 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - March 5
St Casimir's Day (Poland and Lithuania)
Kaziuko mugė or Saint Casimir's Fair is a large annual folk arts and crafts fair in Lithuania, dating to the beginning of the 17th century. The fair is traditionally held in city's markets and streets on the Sunday nearest to 4 March, the anniversary of Saint Casimir's death. In Lithuanian, Kaziukas is a diminutive of Casimir. Today, Saint Casimir's fair also features music, dance, theater performances; it attracts tens of thousands of visitors and many craftsmen from across Lithuania as well as from neighbouring countries such as Latvia, Estonia, and Poland. In recent years, the fair has expanded into other cities in Lithuania, Belarus, Poland.
World Obesity Day
World Obesity Day, an internationally recognized event, moved to March 4 in 2020 from its previous date on October 11. It serves as an annual platform to raise awareness and advocate for practical solutions in addressing the global obesity crisis.
World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development
The World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development is one of the UNESCO international days and is celebrated every 4 March. It was proclaimed by UNESCO General Conference on 25 November 2019, based on a proposal by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO).
What Happened on 4th March?
77 significant events took place on Saturday, 4th March — stretching from 51 to 2020. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
04/03/2020
Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
Nikolas Wallenda is an American acrobat, aerialist, daredevil, high wire artist, and author. He is known for his high-wire performances without a safety net. He holds 11 Guinness World Records for various acrobatic feats, and is best known as the first person to walk a tightrope stretched directly over Niagara Falls. Wallenda walked 1,800 feet (550 m) on a steel cable over Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua, his longest walk, on March 4, 2020.
04/03/2018
Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service is directly accountable to the foreign secretary.
04/03/2015
At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.
On 4 March 2015, at around 05:20 local time, there was a mining accident at the Zasyadko coal mine in rebel-held Eastern Ukraine. It is suspected to have been caused by a gas explosion.
04/03/2012
A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
On 4 March 2012, a series of blasts occurred at an army arms dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo. At least 300 people were killed by the explosions. Additional bodies were said to be "unfindable." Among the dead were six Chinese workers from a Beijing Construction Engineering Group work site close to the armoury. Interior Minister Raymond Mboulou said that nearby hospitals were overflowing with injuries, with many wounded lying in hallways due to lack of space. Total injuries exceeded 2,500. More than 121,000 people were left homeless and 672 million dollars in damages were done. One survivor described the event as feeling like "the apocalypse;" others described it as "like a tsunami" or "earthquake".
04/03/2009
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. Established in 2002 under the multilateral Rome Statute, the ICC is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The ICC is intended to complement, not replace, national judicial systems; it can exercise its jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals. It is distinct from the International Court of Justice, an organ of the United Nations that hears disputes between states.
04/03/2002
Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
The war in Afghanistan was a prolonged armed conflict lasting from 2001 to 2021. It began with an invasion by a United States–led coalition under the name Operation Enduring Freedom in response to the September 11 attacks (9/11) carried out by the Taliban-allied and Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda. The Taliban were expelled from major population centers by American-led forces supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, thus toppling the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate. In 2004, the U.S.-backed Islamic Republic was established, but by then, the Taliban, led by founder Mullah Omar, had reorganized and begun an insurgency against the Afghan government and coalition forces. The conflict ended as the 2021 Taliban offensive reestablished the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in United States military history, surpassing the Vietnam War by six months.
04/03/2001
BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
The 2001 BBC bombing was a bomb attack on the BBC's main news centre within BBC Television Centre, on Wood Lane in the White City area of West London.
04/03/1998
Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in the United States have developed over time, with public opinion and jurisprudence changing significantly since the late 1980s. Lesbian, gay and bisexual rights are considered advanced, but rights of transgender people have faced significant erosion since the beginning of Donald Trump's second presidency.
04/03/1996
A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
The Weyauwega derailment was a railroad accident that occurred in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, United States, in the early morning hours of March 4, 1996. The derailed train was carrying a large quantity of hazardous material, which immediately caught fire. The fire, which involved the train cars and an adjacent feed mill, burned for more than two weeks after the actual derailment, resulting in the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 18 days, including the entire city of Weyauwega, with about 1,700 evacuees.
04/03/1994
Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-62.
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was canceled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.
04/03/1990
American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference tournament game.
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through a hoop at each end of the court. Teams alternate between offense, when they attempt to score, and defense, when they try to prevent the opposing side from scoring. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the fouled team either takes one to three free throws worth one point each, or restarts play with an inbound pass. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. If regulation play expires with the score tied, most basketball leagues mandate additional periods of play (overtime) until the score is no longer tied.
Lennox Sebe, President for life of the South African Bantustan of Ciskei, is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by Brigadier Oupa Gqozo.
Lennox Leslie Wongama Ngweyesizwe Sebe was the chief minister of the Xhosa bantustan of Ciskei after its self-rule in 1972, and the nominally independent country's first president from 1983. He was the Chief of the AmaKhambashe Tribal Authority and his praise name (isikhahlelo) was Ngweyesizwe.
04/03/1986
The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, the largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, with the largest and most populous being the Russian SFSR. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, it was the flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.
04/03/1985
The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, caffeine products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed, and veterinary products.
04/03/1980
Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who led Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He served as the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from internationally recognised independence in 1980 to 1987, then as the second president of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017. He was also the Leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) from 1975 to 1980 and led its successor political party, the ZANU – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) as its First Secretary, from 1980 to 2017. Ideologically an African nationalist, during the 1970s and 1980s he identified as a Marxist–Leninist, and from the 1990s as a socialist.
04/03/1977
The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
The 1977 Vrancea earthquake occurred on 4 March 1977, at 21:22 local time, and was felt throughout the Balkans. It had a magnitude of 7.5, making it the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Romania in the 20th century, after the 10 November 1940 seismic event. The hypocenter was situated in the Vrancea Mountains, the most seismically active part of Romania, at a depth of 85.3 km.
04/03/1976
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland, resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland.
04/03/1970
French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
Eurydice was a French submarine, one of eleven of the Daphné class.
04/03/1966
A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian as well as international routes until it was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines and absorbed into Canadian Airlines International.
In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles' John Lennon declares that the band is "more popular than Jesus now".
The London Standard, branded online as The Standard and formerly known as the Evening Standard, is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly on Thursdays and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is printed in tabloid format and also has a digital edition for reading the print publication digitally.
04/03/1962
A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
Caledonian Airways was a wholly private, independent charter airline in the United Kingdom formed in April 1961. It began with a single 104-seat Douglas DC-7C leased from the Belgian flag carrier Sabena. Caledonian grew rapidly over the coming years to become the leading transatlantic "affinity group" charter operator by the end of the decade. During that period, passenger numbers grew from just 8,000 in 1961 to 800,000 in 1970. The latter represented 22.7% of all British non-scheduled passengers. It also became Britain's most consistently profitable and financially most secure independent airline of its era, never failing to make a profit in all its ten years of existence. By the end of 1970, Caledonian operated an all-jet fleet consisting of eleven aircraft and provided employment for over 1,000 workers. At that time, its principal activities included group charters between North America, Europe and the Far East using Boeing 707s, and general charter and inclusive tour (IT) activities in Europe utilising One-Elevens.
04/03/1960
The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
The French freighter La Coubre exploded in the harbour of Havana, Cuba, on 4 March 1960 while it was unloading 76 tons of grenades and munitions. Seventy-five to 100 people were killed, and many were injured. Fidel Castro alleged it was an act of sabotage on the part of the United States, which denied any involvement.
04/03/1957
The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
S&P 500 is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and includes approximately 80% of the total market capitalization of U.S. public companies, with an aggregate market cap of more than $61.1 trillion as of December 31, 2025.
04/03/1955
An order to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is legalized.
The Saimaa ringed seal is a species of seal. It is among the most endangered seals in the world, having a total population of only about 500 individuals. The only existing population of these seals is found in Lake Saimaa, Finland. It has lived in complete isolation from other ringed seal populations for around 9,500 years, and have diverged into a morphologically and ecologically different species or subspecies. The population is descended from ringed seals that were separated from the rest when the land rose after the last ice age. This seal, along with the Baikal seal, the Ladoga seal, and the Ungava seal, is one of the few living freshwater seals.
04/03/1946
The sixth President of Finland, Gustaf Mannerheim, submits his resignation for health reasons.
The president of the Republic of Finland is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024.
04/03/1944
World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
Operation Argument, after the war dubbed Big Week, was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Nazi Germany. The objective of Operation Argument was to destroy aircraft factories in central and southern Germany in order to defeat the Luftwaffe before the Normandy landings during Operation Overlord were to take place later in 1944.
04/03/1943
World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops to Lae, New Guinea. Most of the Japanese task force was destroyed, and Japanese troop losses were heavy.
World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena.
The Battle of Fardykambos, also known as the Battle of Bougazi, was fought between the National Liberation Front (EAM-ELAS) of the Greek Resistance against the Italian troops during the Axis Occupation of Greece. The battle was notable for the large-scale and spontaneous participation of the local populace, and of officers from other groups and organizations, including right-wing rivals to ELAS.
04/03/1941
World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands, the first large-scale British Commando raid.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
04/03/1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the only one to have served more than two terms. His first two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth focused on US involvement in World War II. A member of the Democratic Party, Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate from 1911 to 1913 and as the 44th governor of New York from 1929 to 1932.
The United States Senate confirms Frances Perkins as United States Secretary of Labor and she is sworn in the same day, making her the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, and the U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the Constitution to make and pass or defeat federal legislation.
The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
The Austrian Parliament is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets in the Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna.
04/03/1918
A case of influenza is recorded at Camp Funston, Kansas, conventionally marking the beginning of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic.
Camp Funston is a U.S. Army training camp located on the grounds of Fort Riley, southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The camp was named for Brigadier General Frederick Funston (1865–1917). It is one of sixteen such camps that were established at the outbreak of World War I for use as infantry division training camps.
04/03/1917
Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
Jeannette Pickering Rankin was an American politician and women's rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916 for one term, then was elected again in 1940. Rankin remains the only woman ever elected to Congress from Montana.
04/03/1913
First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states' combined armies overcame the initially numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies, achieving rapid success.
The United States Department of Labor is formed.
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemployment benefits, reemployment services, and occasionally, economic statistics. It is headed by the secretary of labor, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
04/03/1909
U.S. President William Howard Taft uses what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution's Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices.
04/03/1908
The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
The Collinwood school fire was a major disaster that occurred at the Lake View School in Collinwood, Ohio, when a fire erupted on March 4, 1908, killing 172 students, two teachers and one rescuer. It is one of the deadliest school disasters in United States history.
04/03/1901
William McKinley is inaugurated President of the United States for the second time; Theodore Roosevelt is vice president.
William McKinley was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party, he led a realignment that made Republicans largely dominant in the industrial states and nationwide for decades. McKinley successfully led the U.S. in the Spanish–American War and oversaw a period of American expansionism, with the annexations of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and American Samoa.
04/03/1899
Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
Cyclone Mahina was the deadliest cyclone in recorded Australian history, and also potentially the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Cape York Peninsula, colonial Queensland, on 4 March 1899, and its winds and enormous storm surge combined to cause the deaths of more than 300 people.
04/03/1890
The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 8,094 feet (2,467 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, 9 miles west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was designed by English engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is sometimes referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge, although this is not its official name.
04/03/1882
Britain's first electric trams run in east London.
There have been two separate generations of trams in London, from 1860 to 1952 and from 2000 to the present. There were no trams at all in London between 1952 and 2000.
04/03/1878
Pope Leo XIII reestablishes the Catholic Church in Scotland, recreating sees and naming bishops for the first time since 1603.
Pope Leo XIII was head of the Catholic Church from 1878 until his death in 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of St. Peter, Pius IX, and John Paul II.
04/03/1865
The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and the "Blood-Stained Banner", used in 1865 shortly before the Confederacy's dissolution. A rejected national flag design was also used as a battle flag by the Confederate Army and featured in the "Stainless Banner" and "Blood-Stained Banner" designs. Although this design was never a national flag, it is the most commonly-recognized symbol of the Confederacy.
U.S. politician Andrew Johnson makes his drunk vice-presidential inaugural address in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a War Democrat who ran with Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket in the 1864 presidential election, coming to office as the American Civil War concluded. Johnson favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the newly freed people who were formerly enslaved, as well as pardoning ex-Confederates. This led to conflict with the Republican Party-dominated U.S. Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.
04/03/1861
The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Stars and Bars") is adopted.
The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and the "Blood-Stained Banner", used in 1865 shortly before the Confederacy's dissolution. A rejected national flag design was also used as a battle flag by the Confederate Army and featured in the "Stainless Banner" and "Blood-Stained Banner" designs. Although this design was never a national flag, it is the most commonly-recognized symbol of the Confederacy.
04/03/1849
Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States of America and Millard Fillmore, 12th Vice President, did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
Zachary Taylor was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Before his presidency, Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general and becoming a national hero for his victories in the Mexican–American War. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was to preserve the Union. He died 16 months into his term from a stomach disease. Taylor had the third-shortest presidential term in U.S. history.
04/03/1848
Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia.
Charles Albert was the King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Statuto Albertino, and with the First Italian War of Independence (1848–1849).
04/03/1837
The city of Chicago is incorporated.
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. The Chicago metropolitan area has 9.41 million residents and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Chicago is the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S.
04/03/1814
War of 1812: Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
The War of 1812 was a conflict initiated by the United States against the United Kingdom and its allies fought mainly in North America and at sea during the wider Napoleonic Wars. The United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.
04/03/1813
Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Cyril VI of Constantinople, lay name Konstantinos Serpentzoglou, was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople between the years 1813 and 1818.
04/03/1804
Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
The Castle Hill convict rebellion was a convict rebellion in Castle Hill, Sydney, then part of the British colony of New South Wales. Led by veterans of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the poorly armed insurgents confronted the colonial forces of Australia on 5 March 1804 at Rouse Hill. Their rout in the resulting skirmish was hailed by loyalists as "Australia's Vinegar Hill" after the 1798 battle of Vinegar Hill, where Society of United Irishmen rebels were decisively defeated. The incident was the first major convict uprising in Australian history to be suppressed under martial law.
04/03/1797
John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain. During the latter part of the Revolutionary War and in the early years of the new nation, he served the Continental Congress of the United States as a senior diplomat in Europe. Adams was the first vice president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. He was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with contemporaries, including his wife and advisor Abigail Adams and his friend and rival Thomas Jefferson.
04/03/1794
The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
The Eleventh Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals to bring suit against states of which they are not citizens in federal court.
04/03/1791
Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
Vermont is a landlocked state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. According to the most recent U.S. census estimates, the state has an estimated population of 644,663, making it the second-least populated of all U.S. states. It is the nation's sixth-smallest state by total area. The state's capital, Montpelier, is the least populous U.S. state capital. No other U.S. state has a most populous city with fewer residents than Burlington.
04/03/1790
France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government under the national level, between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 departments, consisting of ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, and five overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons. These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as the administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments, and, in certain cases, elections.
04/03/1789
In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect.
The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in New York City and later at Congress Hall in Philadelphia. With the initial meeting of the First Congress, the United States federal government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, of the Constitution. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority. Twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution were passed by this Congress and sent to the states for ratification; the ten ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, are collectively known as the Bill of Rights, with an additional amendment ratified more than two centuries later to become the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.
04/03/1776
American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence or simply the American Revolution, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.
04/03/1773
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart departs Italy after the last of his three tours there.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a Classical composer and musician. He completed more than 800 works in his life—including outstanding examples of most of the genres of his time: symphonies, concertos, chamber music, opera, and choral music.
04/03/1686
After being unofficially established as a settlement in 1678, the Dominican mission of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
The Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by the Castilian priest Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius III via the papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally display the letters OP after their names, standing for Ordo Praedicatorum, meaning of "the Order of Preachers". Membership in the order includes friars, nuns, active sisters, and lay or secular Dominicans, formerly known as tertiaries. More recently, there have been a growing number of associates of the religious sisters who are unrelated to the tertiaries.
04/03/1681
Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
William Penn was an English writer, theologian, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania. An advocate of democracy and religious freedom, Penn was known for his amicable relations and successful treaties with the Lenape native peoples who had resided in present-day Pennsylvania before European colonisation there.
04/03/1675
John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
John Flamsteed was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, Catalogus Britannicus, and a star atlas called Atlas Coelestis, both published posthumously. He also made the first recorded observations of Uranus, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a star, and he laid the foundation stone for the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
04/03/1665
English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands, marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
04/03/1628
The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were in southern New England, with initial settlements on two natural harbors and surrounding land about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around Salem and Boston, north of the previously established Plymouth Colony. The territory nominally administered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony covered much of central New England, including portions of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.
04/03/1519
Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
Hernán Cortés, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish conquistador, military commander, explorer, captain general, and writer who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish explorers and conquistadors who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
04/03/1493
Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish transatlantic voyages in the name of the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.
04/03/1461
Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, and also the Cousins' War, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought for control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fought between supporters of the House of Lancaster and House of York, two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit, through the female line, the Lancaster claim to the throne. Conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England.
04/03/1386
Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
Jogaila, later Władysław II Jagiełło, was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and King of Poland from 1386 until his death. As Grand Duke, he ruled Lithuania from 1377 to 1381 and from 1382 to 1401, at which time he became the Supreme Duke of Lithuania in exchange for naming his cousin Vytautas as the new Grand Duke. Władysław II initially served as King of Poland alongside his wife Jadwiga until her death in 1399, and then the sole ruler until his own death in 1434.
04/03/1351
Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
King U-thong or King Ramathibodi I was the founder and first monarch of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, reigning from 1351 to 1369. He is traditionally regarded as a pivotal figure in Thai history for unifying the rival power centers of Lopburi (Lavo) and Suphan Buri (Suphannaphum), establishing a centralized state that would dominate mainland Southeast Asia for over four centuries.
04/03/1238
The Battle of the Sit River begins two centuries of Mongol horde domination of Rus.
The Battle of the Sit River took place on 4 March 1238 between the Mongol forces of Batu Khan and the army of Vladimir-Suzdal led by Grand Prince Yuri II of Vladimir during the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'. The engagement occurred in the northern part of what is now the Sonkovsky District of Tver Oblast, near the selo of Bozhonka.
04/03/1171
Alexios II Komnenos is crowned Byzantine co-emperor to his father Manuel I Komnenos.
Alexios II Komnenos, Latinized Alexius II Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1180 to 1183. He ascended to the throne as a minor. For the duration of his short reign, the imperial power was de facto held by regents.
04/03/1152
Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
Frederick Barbarossa, also known as Frederick I, was the Holy Roman emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome. Two years later, the term sacrum ("holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his empire. He was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. His nickname of Barbarossa "was first used by the Florentines only in 1298 to differentiate the emperor from his grandson, Frederick II ... and was never employed in medieval Germany". In German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, which in English means "Emperor Redbeard". The prevalence of the Italian nickname, even in later German usage, reflects the centrality of the Italian campaigns under his reign, and "remains to this day one of the [most] powerful historical monikers."
04/03/0938
Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Shamanism, and many other religions. Relic derives from the Latin reliquiae, meaning "remains", and a form of the Latin verb relinquere, to "leave behind, or abandon". A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics.
04/03/0852
Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
A knyaz, also knez, knjaz, kniaź or kniaz, is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical context and the potentially known Latin equivalents at the time; the word was originally derived from the common Germanic *kuningaz ('king').
04/03/0581
Yang Jian declares himself Emperor Wen of Sui, ending the Northern Zhou and beginning the Sui dynasty.
Emperor Wen of Sui, personal name Yang Jian (楊堅), childhood name Naluoyan (那羅延), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (普六茹堅), was the founding emperor of the Sui dynasty of China. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state.
04/03/0306
Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
A martyr is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial usage, the term can also refer to any person who suffers a significant consequence in protest or support of a cause.
04/03/0051
Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
AD 51 (LI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Scipio. The denomination AD 51 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.