May 3......

May 3 is the 123rd (124th in leap years) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 242 days remaining in the year on this date.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Economic Justice "The 'trickle-down' theory: the principle that the poor who must subsist on table scraps dropped by the rich, can best be served by giving the rich bigger meals." — William Blum

Stupidest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Obtuseness "Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them." — Jerry Falwell{Begging the question: Then should boys (not grown men) have sex with prostitutes?}

Thought for the day: "Creditors have much better memories than debtors."

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 1294 - John II becomes duke of Brabant/Limburg

● 1342 - Count Hartmann II becomes ruler of Vaduz (Liechtenstein)

● 1382 - Battle on Beverhoutsfield near Brugge

● 1455 - Jews flee Spain

● 1469 - Birth of Niccoli Machiavelli. Italian political thinker and historical figure in the turning point from Middle Ages to Modern World.

● 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I.

● 1494 - Christopher Columbus first sights land that will be called Jamaica. He named it "St Iago."

● 1512 - The Fifth Lateran Council (18th ecumenical council) opened under Pope Julius II. Its twelve sessions lasting through 1517, the council continued under Leo X, following Julius' death in 1513.

● 1515 - Persian Gulf: Portugese fleet occupies Ormuz

● 1568 - French forces in Florida slaughtered hundreds of Spanish.

● 1616 - Treaty of Loudun kills French civil war

● 1621 - Francis Bacon accused of bribery

● 1624 - Spanish silver fleet sails to Panamá

● 1629 - French Huguenot leader duke De Rohan signs accord with Spain

● 1640 - English Upper house accept Act of Attainder

● 1654 - Bridge at Rowley MA begins charging tolls for animals

● 1660 - Sweden, Poland, Brandenburg & Austria sign Peace of Oliva

● 1661 - Johannes Hevelius observes 3rd transit of Mercury ever to be seen

● 1662 - Royal charter granted Connecticut

● 1675 - A Massachusetts law was enacted requiring church doors to be locked during the worship service. (Too many people were leaving before the long sermons were completed.)

● 1678 - French conquering fleet at Curaçao, 1200 die

● 1715 - Edmund Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon "Baily's Beads"

● 1738 - English revivalist George Whitefield, 23, first arrived in America. In all, Whitefield crossed the Atlantic thirteen times, and died in Massachusetts in 1770, during his seventh visit.

● 1747 - Willem IV appointed viceroy of Holland/Utrecht

● 1765 - 1st US medical college opens in Philadelphia; founded by John Morgan, the School of Medicine belonged to the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania).

● 1791 - The May Constitution of Poland (first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Polish Diet.

● 1802 - Washington DC incorporates as a city

● 1808 - Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.

● 1808 - Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are fired upon near Príncipe Pío hill.

● 1815 - Battle at Tolentino: Austria beats king Joachim of Naples

● 1830 - 1st regular steam train passenger service starts

● 1837 - The University of Athens is founded. It is the oldest university in the eastern Mediterranean.

● 1845 - 1st black lawyer (Macon B Allen) admitted to the bar (Massachusetts)

● 1845 - Fire kills 1,600 in popular theater in Canton China

● 1846 - Mexican army surrounds fort in Texas

● 1849 - The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the German revolutions of 1848.

● 1845 - 1st black lawyer (Macon B Allen) admitted to the bar (Massachusetts)

● 1845 - Fire kills 1,600 in popular theater in Canton China

● 1846 - Mexican army surrounds fort in Texas

● 1850 - Sixteen year old Charles H. Spurgeon made his public profession of faith in Jesus Christ in a Primitive Methodist Chapel, in Colchester, England. Spurgeon began a preaching career the following year which did not end until his death in 1892.

● 1851 - Most of San Fransisco destroyed by fire; 30 die

● 1855 - Antwerp-Rotterdam railway opens

● 1859 - France declared war on Austria.

● 1860 - Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.

● 1861 - General Winfield Scott presents his Anaconda Plan

● 1861 - Lincoln asks for 42,000 Army Volunteers & another 18,000 seamen

● 1863 - Battle of Chancellorsville-Beaten Union army withdraws

● 1863 - Battle of Fredricksburg VA (Marye's Heights)

● 1863 - Battle of Salem Church VA

● 1864 - 3rd day in Battle at Alexandria LA: Confederate assault

● 1867 - The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.

● 1861 - General Winfield Scott presents his Anaconda Plan

● 1861 - Lincoln asks for 42,000 Army Volunteers & another 18,000 seamen

● 1863 - Battle of Chancellorsville-Beaten Union army withdraws

● 1863 - Battle of Fredricksburg VA (Marye's Heights)

● 1863 - Battle of Salem Church VA

● 1864 - 3rd day in Battle at Alexandria LA: Confederate assault

● 1878 - Death of William Whiting, 53, Anglican poet and music instructor. He is known to have written only one hymn during his life, but its popularity has endured: "Eternal Father, Strong to Save."

● 1886 - Police attack a demonstration of striking workers on Chicago's south side at McCormick Reaper, killing four and wounding at least 200.

● 1886 - M A Maclean elected 1st mayor of Vancouver British Columbia

● 1898 - Birth of Septima Clark, civil rights activist with Highlander Institute and citizenship schools.

● 1898 - Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of the State of Israel, was born.

● 1898 - Camp Merriman established at Presidio (San Fransisco)

● 1901 - Great Fire of 1901 begins in Jacksonville, FL. It will destroy about 1,700 buildings.

● 1906 - British-controlled Egypt takes Sinai peninsula from Turkey

● 1916 - Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed in Dublin by the British for their roles in the Easter Rising.

● 1906 - British-controlled Egypt takes Sinai peninsula from Turkey

● 1917 - French 21st Division soldiers refuse orders to attack after repeated suicide charges.

● 1919 - Folk singer Pete Seeger born, Patterson, New York.

● 1919 - Afghánistán Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain

● 1919 - America's 1st passenger flight (New York-Atlantic City)

● 1920 - American anarchist Andrea Salsedo "suicided" out the 14th floor of the Department of Justice, where he was being questioned for anarchist attacks over the past year.

● 1920 - James Larkin sentenced to 5-10 years in prison in New York "criminal anarchy" case.

● 1921 - West Virginia imposes 1st state sales tax

● 1922 - Salt layer find at Winterswijk

● 1923 - Lieutenants John Macready and Oakley Kelly land their Fokker T-2 aircraft in San Diego, California. This is the first non-stop transcontinental flight. It took nearly 27 hrs.

● 1919 - Afghánistán Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain

● 1919 - America's 1st passenger flight (New York-Atlantic City)

● 1921 - West Virginia imposes 1st state sales tax

● 1922 - Salt layer find at Winterswijk

● 1926 - British general strike-3 million workers support miners

● 1926 - US marines land in Nicaragua (9-months after leaving), stay until 1933

● 1927 - Francis E.J. Wilde of Meadowmere Park, NY, patented the electric sign flasher.

● 1928 - Argentinian anarchists bomb the Italian consulate in Buenos Aires.

● 1928 - Japanese atrocities in Jinan, China.

● 1929 - Prussia bans anti-fascists

● 1932 - 24 tourists begin 1st air-charter holiday (London-Basle, Switzerland)

● 1933 - Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to head the United States Mint.

● 1934 - IWW strike at Draper Manufacturing Co. begins, Cleveland, Ohio.

● 1936 - Birth of "Godfather of Soul" James Brown.

● 1936 - French People's Front wins elections

● 1937 - Spain - Republican government attacks workers; beginning of open resistance to both Republican and Communist authorities by workers, anarchists, and other radicals, opposing the regional government takeover of the worker-run telephone company in Barcelona. Fighting spread to all parts of the city, lasting for four days. Stalinists denounce Trotskyite P.O.U.M. as "Franco's Fifth Column" in preparation for its own liquidation of independent radicals and anarchists.

● 1938 - Concentration camp at Flossenbürg goes into use

● 1938 - Vatican recognizes Franco-Spain

● 1939 - The All India Forward Bloc is formed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

● 1941 - German air raid on Liverpool

● 1942 - Luftwaffe bombs Exeter

● 1942 - Nazis execute 72 OD'ers in reprisial in Sachsenhausen, Netherlands

● 1942 - Nazis require Dutch Jews to wear a Jewish star

● 1942 - Japanese naval troops invade Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands during the first part of Operation Mo that resulted in the Battle of the Coral Sea between Japanese forces and forces from the United States and Australia.

● 1943 - Strike against obligatory labor camps ends, after 200 killed

● 1943 - US 1st armour division occupies Mateur Tunisia

● 1944 - Wartime rationing of most grades of meats ended in the U.S.

● 1944 - Dr. Robert Woodward and Dr. William Doering produced the first synthetic quinine at Harvard University.

● 1945 - 1st Polish armour brigade occupies Wilhelmshafen

● 1945 - Allies arrests German nuclear physics Werner Heisenberg

● 1945 - Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.

● 1945 - World War II: Sinking of the floating-jails Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the RAF in Lübeck Bay.

● 1946 - World War II: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

● 1947 - New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.

● 1948 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.

● 1949 - 1st firing of a US Viking rocket; reached 80 km

● 1951 - King George opens Festival of Britain; The King inaugurates the Festival of Britain at a service in St Paul's Cathedral and later attends a concert at the new Royal Festival Hall on London's south bank.

● 1951 - The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

● 1952 - U.S. Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the North Pole.

● 1949 - 1st firing of a US Viking rocket; reached 80 km

● 1953 - Westchester conference of American Library Association proclaims "Freedom to Read"

● 1956 - A new range of mountains discovered in Antarctica (2 over 13,000')

● 1960 - The Anne Frank House opened in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

● 1962 - Express train crashed into wreckage of a commuter train and a freight, killing 163, injuring 400 (Tokyo, Japan)

● 1963 - Martin Luther King Jr delivers his "I have a dream" speech

● 1965 - Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US

● 1967 - Black students seize finance building at Northwestern University

● 1968 - Students take over Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), demanding African-oriented curriculum.

● 1968 - Surgeons conduct UK's first heart transplant; The first heart transplant in Britain is carried out at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London.

● 1968 - After three days of battle, the U.S. Marines retook Dai Do complex in Vietnam. They found that the North Vietnamese had evacuated the area.

● 1971 - ROTC building at Kent State Univ., Ohio, burnt to the ground.

● 1971 - Anti-war protesters calling themselves the Mayday Tribe began four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C., aimed at shutting down the nation's capital.

● 1971 - James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King's assassin, was caught in a jailbreak attempt.

● 1971 - Erich Honecker succeeds Walter Ulbricht as East German party leader

● 1971 - National Public Radio begins programming; 112 NPR stations premiere "All Things Considered"

● 1971 - Nixon administration arrests 13,000 anti-war protesters in 3 days

● 1972 - Cree and Inuit of northern Quebec file for permanent injunction to halt construction of James Bay Hydroelectric Project. They would fail, but 24 years later would succeed in stopping a second, even larger project.

● 1973 - The Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out as the world's tallest building.

● 1979 - Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.

● 1981 - In Washington, DC, 100,000 protest U.S. intervention in El Salvador.

● 1982 - New York Times reports that military will get 25% of NASA's budget

● 1983 - Soviet leader Andropov decreases nuclear weapons in Europe

● 1983 - US bishops condemn nuclear weapons

● 1986 - Bomb kills 21 in Sri Lanka; A lethal bomb explodes on an Air Lanka passenger jet at Colombo's airport leaving 21 dead and 41 injured. The finger of blame points to the Tamil Tigers.

● 1986 - In NASA's first post-Challenger launch, an unmanned Delta rocket lost power in its main engine shortly after liftoff. Safety officers destroyed it by remote control.

● 1987 - Miami Herald reports a woman spent Friday & Saturday with Gary Hart

● 1988 - The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule her husband's activities.

● 1988 - 4,200 kg Colombian cocaine in seized at Tarpon Springs FL

● 1990 - Latvia to declare independence; Members of the Soviet Republic's new parliament meet to discuss breaking away from the USSR

● 1991 - The Declaration of Windhoek is signed.

● 1992 - Five days of rioting and looting ended in Los Angeles, CA. The riots, that killed 53 people, began after the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.

● 1994 - D66/Dutch Liberal Party win Dutch 2nd Parliamentary election

● 1994 - US space probe Clementine launched

● 1997 - The "Republic of Texas" surrendered to authorities ending an armed standoff where two people were held hostage. The group asserts the independence of Texas from the U.S.

● 1999 - Mark Manes, at age 22, was arrested for supplying a gun to Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold, who later killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado.

● 1999 - Oklahoma City is slammed by an F5 tornado killing 42 people, injuring 665, and causing $1 billion in damage. The tornado was one of 66 from the Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak.

● 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time in its history at 11,014.70.

● 2000 - Leading stock exchanges plan merger; The London Stock Exchange and Germany's Deutsche Boerse confirm they are to merge, creating the world's second largest stock market.

● 2000 - The trial of two Libyans accused of killing 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (over Lockerbie) opened.

● 2000 - The archbishop of New York, Cardinal John O'Connor, died at age 80.

● 2001 - The United States lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.

● 2002 - Pipe bombs exploded in six mailboxes in rural parts of Illinois and Iowa, injuring six people.

● 2002 - A military MiG-21 aircraft crashed into the Bank of Rajasthan in India, killing eight.

● 2003 - New Hampshire's famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses.

● 2004 - The U.S. military said it had reprimanded seven officers in the abuse of inmates at Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison; two of the officers were relieved of their duties.

● 2005 - Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in.

● 2006 - A federal jury in Alexandria, Va., rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

● 2006 - Armavia Flight 967 crashes into the Black Sea, killing 113 people on board, with no survivors.

BIRTHS

● 612 - Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor (d. 641)

● 1415 - Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1495)

● 1428 - Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (d. 1495)

● 1446 - Margaret of York, wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1503)

● 1469 - Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (d. 1527)

● 1662 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (d. 1736)

● 1695 - Henri Pitot, Italian-born French engineer (d. 1771)

● 1713 - Alexis Clairault, French mathematician (d. 1765)

● 1761 - August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819)

● 1826 - Charles, Crown Prince of Sweden-Norway (d. 1872)

● 1835 - Alfred Austin, English poet (d. 1913)

● 1844 - Richard D'Oyly Carte, English theatrical impresario (d. 1901)

● 1849 - Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)

● 1853 - E. W. Howe, American editor, essayist and novelist (d. 1937)

● 1857 - George Gore, baseball player (d. 1933)

● 1859 - Andy Adams, American author (d. 1935)

● 1860 - John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist (d. 1936)

● 1860 - Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician (d. 1940)

● 1861 - Emmett Dalton, American outlaw (d. 1937)

● 1867 - J.T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)

● 1873 - Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian general (d. 1945)

● 1874 - François Coty, French perfume manufacturer (d. 1934)

● 1874 - V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer (d. 1954)

● 1877 - Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (d. 1925)

● 1886 - Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)

● 1888 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)

● 1891 - Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet (d. 1969)

● 1892 - George Paget Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)

● 1893 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (d. 1975)

● 1895 - Cornelius Van Til, philosopher and Christian apologist (d. 1987)

● 1896 - Dodie Smith, English novelist and playwright (d. 1990)

● 1896 - Karl Allmenroder, German World War I Ace (d. 1917)

● 1898 - Septima P. Clark, American educator and civil rights activist (d. 1987)

● 1898 - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)

● 1901 - Gino Cervi, Italian actor (d. 1974)

● 1902 - Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)

● 1903 - Bing Crosby, American singer (d. 1977)

● 1905 - Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (d. 1988)

● 1905 - Sebastian Shaw, English actor (d. 1994)

● 1906 - Anna E. Roosevelt, American radio personality (d. 1975)

● 1906 - Mary Astor, Academy Award-winning American actress (d. 1987)

● 1910 - Norman Corwin, American radio pioneer

● 1912 - May Sarton, American poet, novelist and essayist (d. 1995)

● 1912 - Virgil Fox, American organist (d. 1980)

● 1913 - William Inge, American playwright (d. 1973)

● 1915 - Stu Hart, Canadian professional wrestler and trainer (d. 2003)

● 1916 - Léopold Simoneau, French Canadian tenor (d. 2006)

● 1919 - Betty Comden, American lyricist (d. 2006)

● 1919 - John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist (d. 2004)

● 1919 - Pete Seeger, American singer

● 1920 - John Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 2001)

● 1921 - Joe Ames, American singer

● 1921 - Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer; world champion six times between 1946 and 1960 (d. 1989)

● 1923 - Ralph Hall, American politician

● 1926 - Ann B. Davis, Actress ("The Brady Bunch")

● 1928 - Dave Dudley, American singer (d. 2003)

● 1932 - Robert Osborne, American film historian

● 1933 - James Brown, American singer (d. 2006)

● 1933 - Steven Weinberg, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

● 1933 - Alex Cord, American actor

● 1934 - Georges Moustaki, Greek-French singer and songwriter

● 1934 - Henry Cooper, English boxer

● 1934 - Frankie Valli, American singer (The Four Seasons)

● 1935 - Ron Popeil, American inventor

● 1938 - Chris Cannizzaro, baseball player

● 1940 - Clemens Westerhof, Dutch football manager

● 1941 - Edward "Monk" Malloy, American university president

● 1942 - Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast

● 1942 - C.L. "Butch" Otter, Governor of Idaho

● 1945 - Davey Lopes, baseball player and coach

● 1946 - Norm Chow, American football coach

● 1946 - Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player

● 1946 - Greg Gumbel, Sports announcer

● 1947 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)

● 1949 - Ron Wyden, U.S. senator, D-Ore.

● 1950 - Howard Ashman, American lyricist (d. 1991)

● 1950 - Mary Hopkin, Welsh musician and comedian

● 1951 - Christopher Cross, American musician

● 1951 - Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian writer

● 1952 - Allan Wells, British athlete

● 1955 - David Hookes, Australian cricketer (d. 2004)

● 1956 - Marc Bellemare, Quebec lawyer and politician

● 1957 - Rod Langway, American ice hockey player

● 1957 - Cactus Moser, Country musician (Highway 101)

● 1959 - David Ball, British musician (Soft Cell)

● 1959 - Uma Bharati, Indian politician

● 1959 - Ben Elton, British comedian and author

● 1960 - Amy Steel, American actress

● 1961 - Joe Murray, cartoonist

● 1961 - David Vitter, U.S. senator, R-La.

● 1962 - Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder

● 1963 - Jamie Reeves, British strongman

● 1963 - Jeff Hornacek, basketball player

● 1964 - Ron Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1965 - Rob Brydon, Welsh comedian

● 1966 - Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player

● 1966 - Peter Abbay, American actor

● 1968 - Shane Minor, Country singer

● 1970 - Bobby Cannavale, Actor

● 1971 - Damon Dash, Actor, producer

● 1971 - Josey Scott, American singer (Saliva)

● 1972 - Celeste, American adult film actress

● 1972 - Shonie Carter, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter

● 1973 - Brad Martin, Country singer

● 1974(75? NYT) - Dulé Hill, American actor ("The West Wing" and "Psych")

● 1974 - Haya bint Hussein, Jordanian princess

● 1975 - Maksim Mrvica, Croatian pianist

● 1976 - Jeff Halpern, ice hockey player

● 1977 - Eric Church, Country singer

● 1978 - Paul Banks, American vocalist (Interpol)

● 1980 - Zuzana Ondrášková, Czech tennis player

● 1980 - Marcel Vigneron, American chef (Top Chef)

● 1981 - Farrah Franklin, American singer (Former member of Destiny's Child)

● 1983 - Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer

● 1984 - Jeremy Dick, American filmmaker

● 1984 - Nam Sang-mi, South Korean actress and model

● 1990 - Jill Berard, Actress

DEATHS

● 1152 - Matilda of Boulogne, Queen of England (b. 1105)

● 1160 - Peter Lombard, Italian scholar and bishop (b. c.1100)

● 1270 - King Béla IV of Hungary (b. 1206)

● 1294 - John I, Duke of Brabant (b. 1252/1253)

● 1481 - Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1432)

● 1598 - Anna Guarini, Italian singer (b. 1563)

● 1606 - Henry Garnet, English Jesuit (executed) (b. 1555)

● 1622 - Pedro Páez, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1564)

● 1679 - James Sharp, English archbishop (assassinated) (b. 1613)

● 1693 - Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (b. 1607)

● 1704 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Bohemian composer (b. 1644)

● 1724 - John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard (b. 1662)

● 1750 - John Willison, Scottish minister and writer (b. 1680)

● 1752 - Samuel Ogle, British provincial Governor of Maryland (b. c. 1692)

● 1758 - Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675)

● 1763 - George Psalmanazar, British impostor (b. 1679)

● 1764 - Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (b. 1712)

● 1779 - John Winthrop, American astronomer (b. 1714)

● 1793 - Martin Gerbert, German theologian and historian (b. 1720)

● 1839 - Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer (b. 1771)

● 1856 - Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer (b. 1803)

● 1942 - Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873)

● 1958 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)

● 1972 - Bruce Cabot, American film director (b. 1904)

● 1987 - Dalida, French singer (b. 1933)

● 1988 - Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908)

● 1988 - Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) (b. 1907)

● 1989 - Christine Jorgensen, American transexual (b. 1926)

● 1989 - Edward Ochab, Polish Communist politician (b. 1906)

● 1991 - Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-born writer (b. 1933)

● 1992 - George Murphy, American dancer, actor and politician (b. 1902)

● 1994 - Ezra Taft Benson, thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899)

● 1996 - Jack Weston, American actor (b. 1924)

● 1996 - Alex Kellner, baseball player (b. 1924)

● 1997 - Narciso Yepes, Spanish classical guitarist (b. 1927)

● 1999 - Steve Chiasson, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1967)

● 1999 - Joe Adcock, American baseball player (b. 1927)

● 2000 - John Joseph Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York (b. 1920)

● 2001 - Billy Higgins, American drummer (b. 1936)

● 2002 - Barbara Castle, British politician (b. 1910)

● 2003 - Suzy Parker, American actress (b. 1932)

● 2004 - Anthony Ainley, British actor (b. 1932)

● 2004 - Darrell Johnson, baseball player (b. 1928)

● 2006 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921)

● 2006 - Pramod Mahajan, Indian politician (b. 1949)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● Feast of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa Queen and Protector of Poland (since April 1, 1656)
● Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, aka the Invention of the True Cross.
● St. Adalsindis
● St. Alexander I
● St. Anastasius XV
● St. Ansfrid (c. 1008)
● Sts. Antonia & Alexander (martyrs of 313)
● Sts. Cantius, Cantianus, Cantianilla, & Protus
● St. Crescentian
● St. Diodorus
● St. Ethelwin
● St. Emily Bicchiere (1238 – 1314)
● Sts. Eventius, Alexander, & Theodulus (martyrs of 119)
● St. Exuperantius
● St. Ferdinand III of Castile
● St. Gluvias
● St. Hermias
● St. Hubert
● St. James the Lesser, Apostle
● St. Joan of Arc
● St. Juvenal of Narni (d. 369)
● St. Luke Kirby
● St. Madelgisilus
● St. Mechtildis
● St. Paschasius
● St. Philip, Apostle
● St. Philip of Zell
● St. Scannal
● St. Thomas Du
● St. Timothy & Martha
● St. Venantius
● St. Vitalis
● St. Walstan
● St. Winnow, Mancus, & Mybrad
● Bl. Lawrence Richardson
● Bl. Maurus Scott
● Bl. Richard Newport
● Bl. Thomas Cottam
● Bl. William Filby

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for April 21 (Civil Date: May 3)
● Hieromartyr Januarius, Bishop of Benevento, and his companions: Festus, Proculus, and Sosius deacons; Desiderius, reader; and Eutychius and Acutius, laymen; at Pozzuoli.
● Hieromartyr Theodore of Perge in Pamphylia, his mother Philippa, and Martyrs Dioscorus, Socrates, and Dionysius.
● Martyr Alexandra the Empress (same as April 23).
● Martyrs Isaacius, Apollo, and Codratus of Nicomedia.
● St. Maximian, Patriarch of Constantinople.
● St. Niphont, Bishop of Novgorod (Kiev Caves).
● Repose of Schemamonk Nicetas of Valaam (1907).

● Discoflux (Discordianism).

● Constitution Day in Poland (1791) and Japan (1947).

● World Press Freedom Day.

● Lesotho : King's Birthday

● Northern Ireland : Bank Holiday

● These Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● Zambia: Labour Day - (Monday)
● New Orleans: McDonogh Day (1850) - (Friday)

IN FICTION

● 1985 - Date of $5 million check in "View to a Kill"


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Quotes of the Day taken from The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right Compiled by William P. Martin ©2004

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