485 – Proclus, Greek mathematician, dies in Athens [or Apr 14]
1835 – William Henry Ireland, English forger (Shakespearean manuscripts), dies
1896 – Sophus Tromholt, Danish astrophysicist and photographer (portraits of the Kven and Sami people), dies at 44
1941 – Al Bowlly, South African-British dance band vocalist (“Midnight, The Stars, And You”), and bandleader, dies in a German bombing raid of London at 43
1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and leader, Second President of India (1962-67), dies at 86
1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American rock music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist (Mountain – “Mississippi Queen”), shot and killed by his wife, Gail, at 43
1992 – Arthur “Skeets” Herfurt, American jazz and session saxophonist and clarinetist (Dorsey Brothers; Benny Goodman; Lawrence Wlek), dies at 80
2004 – [Andrew] Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (The Empire Strikes Back), dies of cancer at 73
2008 – Danny Federici, American rock organist, accordionist, and glockenspieler (E Street Band), dies of melanoma at 58
2018 – Tom McBride, Irish traditional and country music singer-songwriter, and band leader (Big Tom and the Mainliners), dies at 81
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 17th April 2026
1930 – Abkhazian ASSR forms in Georgian SSR
1950 – 54th Boston Marathon won by Kee Yong Ham of South Korea in 2:32:39
1956 – Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament
1961 – 1,400 Cuban exiles land in the Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro
1964 – 1st game at Shea Stadium, NY Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1987 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1993 – Two Los Angeles police officers convicted in federal court of violating Rodney King’s civil rights and sentenced to prison, while two others are acquitted,
2006 – 110th Boston Marathon: Kenyan double; Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot wins 2nd men’s title in 2:07:14; Rita Jeptoo takes women’s title in 2:23:38
Today in History for 17th April 2026
Historical Events
1933 – 37th Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson in 2:31:01.6
1939 – 43rd Boston Marathon won by Ellison Brown in 2:28:51.8; his second victory in the event
1981 – New York Islander Dennis Potvin’s 3 playoff power-play goals vs Edmonton Oilers tie NHL record
1995 – 99th Boston Marathon: Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya claims 3rd straight title in 2:09:22; Uta Pippig of Germany wins 2nd consecutive women’s event in 2:25:11
1997 – NJ Devil Martin Brodeur is 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game
Famous Birthdays
1863 – Johannes Petrus Boskaljon, Curacaoian composer and conductor, born in Willemstad (d. 1936)
1885 – Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen-Finecke], Danish baroness and writer (Out of Africa), born in Rungsted, Zealand, Denmark (d. 1962)
1956 – Elizabeth Lindsey, American explorer, filmmaker (Then There Were None), and actress (China Beach; The Byrds of Paradise), born in Oahu, Territory of Hawaii
1962 – Nancy Hogshead, American swimmer (Olympic gold 1984), born in Iowa City
1980 – Lee Hyun-il, South Korean badminton player, born in Seoul
Famous Deaths
1967 – Giorgio Cesana, Italian coxswain (Olympic gold 1906), dies at 75
1987 – Dick Shawn [Richard Schulefand], American character actor and comedian (The Producers – “L.S.D.”; Maid to Order), suffers a fatal heart attack on stage in San Diego on stage at 57
2008 – Danny Federici, American rock organist, accordionist, and glockenspieler (E Street Band), dies of melanoma at 58
2011 – Everard Goodman, English real estate developer (Tops Estates), dies at 79
2024 – Raman Subba Row, English cricket batsman (13 Tests, 3 x 100, HS 137; Surrey CCC, Northamptonshire CCC), dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 16th April 2026
1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
1687 – George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham, English statesman and poet, dies at 59
1993 – Jan Meefout, Dutch sculptor (Resting Woman, Elephant), dies at 77
1995 – Iqbal Masih, Pakistani child slave labourer, activist (b. 1982)
1997 – Ray Green, American composer and publisher, dies at 88
1999 – Nicholas Cayzer, British shipping magnate (British and Commonwealth Shipping), dies at 89
2002 – Ruth Fertel, American restaurateur (Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Louisiana), dies at 75
2010 – Daryl Gates, LAPD Chief, dies at 83
2011 – Harold Volkmer, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, dies at 80
2016 – Peter Tolson, English rock guitarist (Pretty Things), dies at 64
Historical Events for 16th April 2026
1818 – US Senate ratifies Rush-Bagot Agreement, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes
1854 – Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem “Mazeppa” premieres at the Court Theatre in Weimar
1924 – 1st radio-transmission of wireless: Mattheus Passion
1940 – New York Yankees dedicate a plaque to Jacob Ruppert in Monument Park, Yankee Stadium
1977 – Alex Haley finds his Roots in Juffure, Gambia
1982 – Queen Elizabeth proclaims Canada’s new constitution
1983 – Steve Garvey sets NL record by playing in 1,118 consecutive games
2003 – Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens, admitting 10 new member states to the European Union
Today in History for 16th April 2026
Historical Events
1853 – First passenger railway opens in India from Bori Bunder (Bombay) to Thane (34 km)
1986 – To dispel rumors he’s dead, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appears on TV
1987 – August Wilson’s “Fences” wins 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
2014 – South Korean ferry MV Sewol sinks on route Incheon to Jeju, 304 drown, mostly students. National controversy erupts over rescue efforts and actions of crew and owner.
2017 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wins referendum on 18-article constitutional reform package
Famous Birthdays
1820 – Georg Curtius, German classical linguist, born in the Free Imperial City of Lübeck (d. 1885)
1897 – Milton Cross, American radio announcer (Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, 1931-75), born in New York City (d. 1975)
1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar [Lew Alcindor], American Basketball Hall of Fame center (6 x NBA champion; NBA Finals MVP 1971, 1985; 6 × NBA MVP; 19 × NBA All-Star), born in New York City
1954 – John Bowe, Australian racing driver, born in Devonport, Tasmania
1963 – Nick Berry, British actor (EastEnders, Heartbeat), born in Woodford, England
Famous Deaths
1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet, dies at 16
1985 – Scott Brady [Gerald Tierney], American actor (Shotgun Slade, China Syndrome, Gremlins, Johnny Guitar), dies of pulmonary fibrosis at 60
2007 – Kevin Granata, American professor of Engineering (b. 1961)
2007 – Gaetan Duchesne, Canadian hockey player (b. 1962)
2010 – Rasim Delic, Bosnian military chief of staff and war criminal (b. 1949)
Famous Deaths for 15th April 2026
1881 – Sophia Perovskaya, Soviet icon, aristocrat, and socialist revolutionary (Narodnaya Volya), who helped orchestrate the successful assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, executed by hanging at 27
1937 – Ned Hanlon, American Baseball HOF center fielder (NL pennant 1887 Detroit Wolverines) and manager (5 × NL pennant Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Superbas), dies at 79
1983 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch author (The Hiding Place) and Holocaust survivor, dies at 91
1993 – Harry Alexander, Australian cricket fast bowler (1 Test, Bodyline series 1933, 1 wicket; Victoria), dies at 87
2005 – Ken Funston, South African cricket batsman (18 Tests, 5 x 50, HS 92; NE Transvaal, Transvaal, Orange Free State), dies at 79
2013 – Jo Roland [Rolando Bonardelli], Swiss pop singer and TV personality (Rendez-vous), known as the ‘Swiss Perry Como’, dies at 80
2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian actor (Anne of Green Gables), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 48
2017 – Sylvia Moy, American songwriter (“My Cherie Amour”; “This Old Heart Of Mine”; “It Takes Two”), dies of pneumonia at 79
2017 – Clifton James, American actor (Live and Let Die, Silver Streak), dies at 96
2019 – Owen Kay Garriott, American electrical engineer and NASA astronaut (Skylab 3, STS 9), dies at 88
Historical Events for 15th April 2026
1658 – Battle of Dharmat won by future Moghul emperor Aurangzeb, who defeats his brother and designated heir Dara Shikoh
1861 – Federal army of 75,000 volunteers is mobilized by President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War
1865 – Mobile, Alabama is captured by Union forces after a siege led by General Canby
1963 – Steve Allen’s musical “Sophie”, based on the life of American singer, and comic actress Sophie Tucker, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 8 performances
1986 – Viv Richards century off 56 balls v England in Antigua Test Cricket
1994 – Jazz singer Tony Bennett records a session for “MTV’s Unplugged” series at Sony Studios, NYC, featuring the Ralph Sharon trio, and guest appearances by Elvis Costello, and k.d.lang; album release wins 2 Grammy Awards
1997 – Baseball honors Jackie Robinson by retiring #42 for all teams
2020 – South Korea is 1st country to hold a general election under COVID-19, President Moon Jae-in’s ruling Democratic party wins in a landslide
Today in History for 15th April 2026
Historical Events
1250 – Kublai is acclaimed the Great Khan by a Mongol Great Council
1502 – Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres, new Governor of the Indies, lands in Hispaniola, replacing Christopher Columbus
1900 – An early 50 mile race is won by an electric car in over 2 hrs
1960 – Guy Carawan sings “We Shall Overcome” to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh, popularizing the song as a protest anthem
1989 – Hillsborough disaster: 96 people are crushed to death and 766 are injured at Hillsborough Football Stadium in Sheffield, England, during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest
Famous Birthdays
1469 – Guru Nanak, Founder of the religion of Sikhism and the 1st Sikh Guru, born in Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi, Punjab, Pakistan (d. 1539)
1766 – Friedrich Bouterwek, German philosopher and critic, born in Oker, Hanover, Germany (d. 1828)
1922 – Harold Washington, 1st African American Mayor of Chicago (Democrat: 1983-87), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1987)
1959 – Emma Thompson, British actress (Henry V, Howards End, Oscar 1992), born in London, England
1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian actor and writer (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Interview), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
Famous Deaths
1962 – Esther Minciotti, Italian actress, dies at 73
1974 – Giovanni D’Anzi, Italian pianist and songwriter (with Alfredo Bracchi – “Malinconia d’amore”, “El Biscella”), dies at 68
1991 – Marjorie Warfield, American stage, radio, and silent film actress, dies of pneumonia at 88
1991 – Martin Ashe, American actor, dies at 81
2002 – William Leonard “Will” Reed, British pianist and composer, dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 14th April 2026
1345 – Richard Aungerville [Richard de Bury], English bishop, writer (The Philobiblon) and one of the first English book collectors, dies at 58
1578 – James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, consort of Mary I of Scotland
1865 – Rafael Carrera, Guatemalan military commander and Dictator of Guatemala (1844–48, 1851–65), dies at 50
1941 – Guillermo Kahlo, German-Mexican photographer and father of Frida Kahlo, dies at 69
1978 – Frank Raymond [F.R.] Leavis, British literary critic (Culture and Environment), dies at 82
1987 – Karl Höller, German composer, dies at 79
1992 – David Miller, American film director (Billy the Kid), dies of cancer at 82
2009 – Maurice Druon, French writer and journalist (Prix Goncourt), dies at 90
2015 – Percy Sledge, American soul singer (“When A Man Loves A Woman”), dies at 73
2018 – Daedra Charles, American Women’s Basketball HOF forward (NCAA C’ship 1989, 91 Uni of Tennessee; LA Sparks), dies at 49