April 15

Pre-1600

• 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
• 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard.
• 1450 – Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France.

1601–1900

• 1632 – Battle of Rain: Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeat the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
• 1642 – Irish Confederate Wars: A Confederate Irish militia is routed in the Battle of Kilrush when it attempts to halt the progress of a Royalist Army.
• 1715 – The Pocotaligo Massacre triggers the start of the Yamasee War in colonial South Carolina.
• 1736 – Foundation of the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica.
• 1738 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, receives its premiere performance in London, England.
• 1755 – Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.
• 1817 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc found the American School for the Deaf (then called the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons), the first American school for deaf students, in Hartford, Connecticut.
• 1861 – President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.
• 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth. Three hours later, Vice President Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president.
• 1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
• 1896 – Closing ceremony of the Games of the I Olympiad in Athens, Greece.
• 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on U.S. infantry and begin a four-day siege of Catubig, Philippines.

1901–present

• 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,224 passengers and crew on board survive.
• 1920 – Two security guards are murdered during a robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti would be convicted of and executed for the crime, amid much controversy.
• 1922 – U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick of Wyoming introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal, which leads to the discovery of the Teapot Dome scandal.
• 1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.
• 1923 – Racially motivated Nihon Shōgakkō fire lit by a serial arsonist kills 10 children in Sacramento, California.
• 1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.
• 1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.
• 1942 – The George Cross is awarded "to the island fortress of Malta" by King George VI.
• 1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
• 1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
• 1952 – First flight of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
• 1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.
• 1960 – At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
• 1969 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.
• 1970 – During the Cambodian Civil War, massacre of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong river into South Vietnam.
• 1986 – The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a discotheque bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.
• 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.
• 1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
• 1994 – Marrakesh Agreement relating to foundation of World Trade Organization is adopted.
• 2002 – Air China Flight 129 crashes on approach to Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, killing 129 people.
• 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing three people and injuring 281 others.
• 2013 – A wave of bombings across Iraq kills at least 75 people.
• 2014 – In the worst massacre of the South Sudanese Civil War, at least 200 civilians are gunned down after seeking refuge in houses of worship as well as hospitals.
• 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in France is seriously damaged by a large fire.
• 2021 – A mass shooting occurred at a Fedex Ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, killing nine and injuring seven.

Pre-1600

• 68 BC – Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician (d. 8 BC)
• 1282 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1329)
• 1442 – John Paston, English noble (d. 1479)
• 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519)
• 1469 – Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru (d. 1539)
• 1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (d. 1626)
• 1563 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth Sikh leader (d. 1606)
• 1588 – Claudius Salmasius, French author and scholar (d. 1653)
• 1592 – Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Catholic cardinal (d. 1675)

1601–1900

• 1641 – Robert Sibbald, Scottish physician and geographer (d. 1722)
• 1642 – Suleiman II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1691)
• 1646 – Christian V of Denmark (d. 1699)
• 1684 – Catherine I of Russia (d. 1727)
• 1688 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German violinist and composer (d. 1758)
• 1707 – Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1783)
• 1710 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1790)
• 1741 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter and soldier (d. 1827)
• 1771 – Nicolas Chopin, French-Polish educator (d. 1844)
• 1772 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French biologist and zoologist (d. 1844)
• 1793 – Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, German astronomer and academic (d. 1864)
• 1795 – Maria Schicklgruber, mother of Alois Hitler and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler (d.1847)
• 1800 – James Clark Ross, English captain and explorer (d. 1862)
• 1808 – William Champ, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Tasmania (d. 1892)
• 1809 – Hermann Grassmann, German linguist and mathematician (d. 1877)
• 1817 – William Crowther, Dutch-Australian politician, 14th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1885)
• 1828 – Jean Danjou, French captain (d. 1863)
• 1832 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, painter, and illustrator (d. 1908)
• 1841 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (d. 1921)
• 1841 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded the Seagram Company Ltd (d. 1919)
• 1843 – Henry James, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1916)
• 1856 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet and critic (d. 1910)
• 1858 – Émile Durkheim, French sociologist, psychologist, and philosopher (d. 1917)
• 1861 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-British poet and playwright (d. 1929)
• 1863 – Ida Freund, Austrian-born chemist and educator (d. 1914)
• 1874 – George Harrison Shull, American botanist and geneticist (d. 1954)
• 1874 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1875 – James J. Jeffries, American boxer and promoter (d. 1953)
• 1877 – Georg Kolbe, German sculptor (d. 1947)
• 1877 – William David Ross, Scottish philosopher (d. 1971)
• 1878 – Robert Walser, Swiss author and playwright (d. 1956)
• 1879 – Melville Henry Cane, American lawyer and poet (d. 1980)
• 1883 – Stanley Bruce, Australian captain and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1967)
• 1885 – Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Polish general (d. 1947)
• 1886 – Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1921)
• 1887 – Felix Pipes, Austrian tennis player (d. 1983)
• 1887 – William Forgan Smith, Scottish-Australian politician, 24th Premier of Queensland (d. 1953)
• 1888 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet and author (d. 1904)
• 1889 – Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and educator (d. 1975)
• 1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American activist (d. 1979)
• 1890 – Percy Shaw, English businessman, invented the cat's eye (d. 1976)
• 1892 – Theo Osterkamp, German general and pilot (d. 1975)
• 1892 – Corrie ten Boom, Dutch-American clocksmith, Nazi resister, and author (d. 1983)
• 1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian general and politician, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1971)
• 1894 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937)
• 1895 – Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker player (d. 1980)
• 1895 – Abigail Mejia, Dominican feminist activist, nationalist, literary critic and educator (d. 1941)
• 1896 – Nikolay Semyonov, Russian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• 1898 – Harry Edward, Guyanese-English sprinter (d. 1973)
• 1900 – Ramón Iribarren, Spanish civil engineer (d. 1967)

1901–present

• 1901 – Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Ajoy Mukherjee, Indian politician, Chief Minister of West Bengal (d. 1986)
• 1901 – René Pleven, French businessman and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1993)
• 1902 – Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist (d. 2002)
• 1903 – John Williams, English-American actor (d. 1983)
• 1904 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
• 1907 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-English ethologist and ornithologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
• 1908 – eden ahbez, American songwriter and recording artist (d. 1995)
• 1908 – Lita Grey, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Robert Edison Fulton Jr., American inventor and adventurer (d. 2004)
• 1910 – Sulo Bärlund, Finnish shot putter (d. 1986)
• 1910 – Miguel Najdorf, Polish-Argentinian chess player and theoretician (d. 1997)
• 1912 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1998)
• 1912 – Kim Il Sung, North Korean general and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
• 1915 – Elizabeth Catlett, African-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2012)
• 1916 – Alfred S. Bloomingdale, American businessman (d. 1982)
• 1916 – Helene Hanff, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
• 1917 – Hans Conried, American actor (d. 1982)
• 1917 – Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and bomber pilot (d. 1944)
• 1917 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
• 1918 – Hans Billian, German film director, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Alberto Breccia, Uruguayan-Argentinian author and illustrator (d. 1993)
• 1920 – Godfrey Stafford, English-South African physicist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Thomas Szasz, Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German soldier and politician, 6th President of Germany (d. 2015)
• 1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1995)
• 1921 – Angelo DiGeorge, American physician and endocrinologist (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Hasrat Jaipuri, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1987)
• 1922 – Graham Whitehead, English racing driver (d. 1981)
• 1923 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet and author (d. 1966)
• 1923 – Robert DePugh, American activist, founded the Minutemen (an anti-Communist organization) (d. 2009)
• 1924 – M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (d. 1980)
• 1924 – Rikki Fulton, Scottish comedian (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Neville Marriner, English violinist and conductor (d. 2016)
• 1926 – Jurriaan Schrofer, Dutch sculptor, designer, and educator (d. 1990)
• 1927 – Robert Mills, American physicist and academic (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Gérald Beaudoin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Adrian Cadbury, English rower and businessman (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Georges Descrières, French actor (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Icelandic educator and politician, 4th President of Iceland
• 1931 – Kenneth Bloomfield, Northern Irish civil servant
• 1931 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
• 1933 – Roy Clark, American musician and television personality (d. 2018)
• 1933 – David Hamilton, English-French photographer and director (d. 2016)
• 1933 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress and producer (d. 1995)
• 1935 – Stavros Paravas, Greek actor and producer (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Raymond Poulidor, French cyclist (d. 2019)
• 1937 – Bob Luman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1978)
• 1937 – Robert W. Gore, American engineer and businessman, co-inventor of Gore-Tex (d. 2020)
• 1938 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
• 1938 – Hso Khan Pha, Burmese-Canadian geologist and politician (d. 2016)
• 1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor
• 1939 – Desiré Ecaré, Ivorian filmmaker (d. 2009)
• 1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician
• 1940 – Penelope Coelen, South African actress, model, beauty queen and 1958 Miss World
• 1940 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and actor (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Robert Lacroix, Canadian economist and academic
• 1940 – Robert Walker, American actor (d. 2019)
• 1941 – Howard Berman, American lawyer and politician
• 1942 – Francis X. DiLorenzo, American bishop (d. 2017)
• 1942 – Walt Hazzard, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
• 1942 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman and criminal(d. 2006)
• 1942 – Tim Lankester, English economist and academic
• 1943 – Pınar Kür, Turkish author, playwright, and academic
• 1943 – Robert Lefkowitz, American physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1943 – Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater, English politician
• 1943 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., American soldier and pilot (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1946 – John Lloyd, Scottish journalist and author
• 1946 – Pete Rouse, American politician, White House Chief of Staff
• 1947 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter and producer
• 1947 – Martin Broughton, English businessman
• 1947 – Lois Chiles, American model and actress
• 1947 – David Omand, English civil servant and academic
• 1947 – Cristina Husmark Pehrsson, Swedish nurse and politician, Swedish Minister for Social Security
• 1948 – Christopher Brown, English historian, curator, and academic
• 1948 – Michael Kamen, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1948 – Phil Mogg, English singer-songwriter and musician
• 1949 – Alla Pugacheva, Russian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1949 – Craig Zadan, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2018)
• 1950 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Amy Wright, American actress
• 1950 – Karel Kroupa, Czech football player
• 1951 – Heloise, American journalist and author
• 1951 – John L. Phillips, American captain and astronaut
• 1951 – Stuart Prebble, English journalist and producer
• 1951 – Marsha Ivins, American engineer and astronaut
• 1952 – Kym Gyngell, Australian actor, comedian, and screenwriter
• 1952 – Brian Muir, English sculptor and set designer
• 1952 – Avital Ronell, Czech-American philosopher and academic
• 1952 – Glenn Shadix, American actor, (d. 2010)
• 1955 – Dodi Fayed, Egyptian film producer (d. 1997)
• 1955 – Joice Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician
• 1956 – Michael Cooper, American basketball player and coach
• 1957 – Evelyn Ashford, American runner and coach
• 1958 – Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1958 – John Bracewell, New Zealand cricketer
• 1958 – Memos Ioannou, Greek basketball player and coach
• 1958 – Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, author, poet, and playwright (d. 2023)
• 1959 – Fruit Chan, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Kevin Lowe, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter
• 1960 – Pierre Aubry, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1960 – Susanne Bier, Danish director and screenwriter
• 1960 – Pedro Delgado, Spanish cyclist and sportscaster
• 1960 – Tony Jones, English snooker player
• 1961 – Neil Carmichael, English academic and politician
• 1961 – Carol W. Greider, American molecular biologist
• 1961 – Dawn Wright, American geographer and oceanographer
• 1962 – Nawal El Moutawakel, Moroccan athlete and politician
• 1962 – Tom Kane, American voice actor
• 1963 – Alex Crawford, Nigerian-South African journalist
• 1963 – Manzoor Elahi, Pakistani cricketer
• 1963 – Manoj Prabhakar, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1964 – Andre Joubert, South African rugby player
• 1964 – Lee Kernaghan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1965 – Soichi Noguchi, Japanese engineer and astronaut
• 1965 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
• 1965 – Kevin Stevens, American ice hockey player
• 1966 – Samantha Fox, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1966 – Mott Green, American businessman (d. 2013)
• 1967 – Frankie Poullain, Scottish bass player and songwriter
• 1967 – Dara Torres, American swimmer and journalist
• 1968 – Ben Clarke, English rugby player and coach
• 1968 – Brahim Lahlafi, Moroccan-French runner
• 1968 – Ed O'Brien, English guitarist
• 1969 – Jeromy Burnitz, American baseball player
• 1969 – Kaisa Roose, Estonian pianist and conductor
• 1969 – Jimmy Waite, Canadian-German ice hockey player and coach
• 1970 – Chris Huffins, American decathlete and coach
• 1971 – Philippe Carbonneau, French rugby player
• 1971 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
• 1971 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
• 1971 – Josia Thugwane, South African runner
• 1971 – Karl Turner, English lawyer and politician
• 1972 – Arturo Gatti, Italian-Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
• 1972 – Lou Romano, American animator and voice actor
• 1974 – Kim Min-kyo, South Korean actor and director
• 1974 – Danny Pino, American actor and screenwriter
• 1974 – Mike Quinn, American football player
• 1974 – Douglas Spain, American actor, director, and producer
• 1974 – Tim Thomas, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Sarah Teichmann, German-American biophysicist and immunologist
• 1976 – Jason Bonsignore, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1976 – Darius Regelskis, Lithuanian footballer
• 1976 – Kęstutis Šeštokas, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1976 – Steve Williams, English rower
• 1977 – Sudarsan Pattnaik, Indian sculptor
• 1977 – Brian Pothier, American ice hockey player
• 1978 – Milton Bradley, American baseball player
• 1978 – Tim Corcoran, American baseball player
• 1978 – Luis Fonsi, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter and dancer
• 1978 – Chris Stapleton, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Luke Evans, Welsh actor and singer
• 1980 – Patrick Carney, American drummer, musician, and producer
• 1980 – James Foster, English cricketer
• 1980 – Raül López, Spanish basketball player
• 1980 – Willie Mason, New Zealand-Australian rugby league player
• 1980 – Aida Mollenkamp, American chef and author
• 1980 – Billy Yates, American football player
• 1981 – Andrés D'Alessandro, Argentinian footballer
• 1982 – Michael Aubrey, American baseball player
• 1982 – Anthony Green, American singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Alice Braga, Brazilian actress
• 1983 – Matt Cardle, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1983 – Dudu Cearense, Brazilian footballer
• 1983 – Andreas Fransson, Swedish skier (d. 2014)
• 1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Martin Pedersen, Danish cyclist
• 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football player
• 1984 – Cam Janssen, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Daniel Paille, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Ryan Hamilton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Tom Heaton, English footballer
• 1986 – Sylvain Marveaux, French footballer
• 1988 – Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
• 1988 – Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
• 1988 – Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
• 1989 – Darren Nicholls, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 – Emma Watson, English actress
• 1991 – Daiki Arioka, Japanese idol, singer, and actor
• 1991 – Javier Fernández López, Spanish figure skater
• 1992 – Jeremy McGovern, Australian rules football player
• 1994 – Brodie Grundy, Australian rules football player
• 1994 – Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamian sprinter
• 1995 – Leander Dendoncker, Belgian footballer
• 1997 – Ashleigh Gardner, Australian cricketer
• 1997 – Maisie Williams, English actress
• 1999 – Denis Shapovalov, Canadian tennis player
• 2001 – Shanti Dope, Filipino rapper

Pre-1600

• 628 – Suiko, emperor of Japan (b. 554)
• 943 – Liu Bin, emperor of Southern Han (b. 920)
• 956 – Lin Yanyu, Chinese court official and eunuch
• 1053 – Godwin, Earl of Wessex (b. 1001)
• 1136 – Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare (b. 1094)
• 1220 – Adolf of Altena, German archbishop (b. 1157)
• 1237 – Richard Poore, English ecclesiastic
• 1415 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek philosopher and translator (b. 1355)
• 1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1377)
• 1502 – John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange (b. 1443)
• 1558 – Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent (b. c. 1500)
• 1578 – Wolrad II, Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg, German nobleman (b. 1509)

1601–1900

• 1610 – Robert Persons, English Jesuit priest, insurrectionist, and author (b. 1546)
• 1632 – George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1580)
• 1652 – Patriarch Joseph of Moscow, Russian patriarch
• 1659 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymnwriter (b. 1605)
• 1719 – Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, French wife of Louis XIV of France (b. 1635)
• 1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (b. 1676)
• 1757 – Rosalba Carriera, Italian painter (b. 1673)
• 1761 – Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1682)
• 1761 – William Oldys, English historian and author (b. 1696)
• 1764 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer and mathematician (b. 1679)
• 1764 – Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV (b. 1721)
• 1765 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian chemist and physicist (b. 1711)
• 1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711)
• 1793 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian priest, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1718)
• 1854 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (b. 1773)
• 1861 – Sylvester Jordan, Austrian-German lawyer and politician (b. 1792)
• 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (b. 1809)
• 1888 – Matthew Arnold, English poet and critic (b. 1822)
• 1889 – Father Damien, Belgian priest and saint (b. 1840)
• 1898 – Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, New Zealand commander and politician

1901–present

• 1912 – Victims of the Titanic disaster:
  • Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder (b. 1873)
  • John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel, businessman, and author (b. 1864)
  • Archibald Butt, American general and journalist (b. 1865)
  • Jacques Futrelle, American journalist and author (b. 1875)
  • Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (b. 1865)
  • Henry B. Harris, American producer and manager (b. 1866)
  • Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878)
  • Charles Melville Hays, American businessman (b. 1856)
  • James Paul Moody, English Sixth Officer (b. 1887)
  • William McMaster Murdoch, Scottish First Officer (b. 1873)
  • Jack Phillips, English telegraphist (b. 1887)
  • Edward Smith, English Captain (b. 1850)
  • William Thomas Stead, English journalist (b. 1849)
  • Ida Straus, German-American businesswoman (b. 1849)
  • Isidor Straus, German-American businessman and politician (b. 1845)
  • John B. Thayer, American business and sportsman (b. 1862)
  • Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer (b. 1872)
• 1917 – János Murkovics, Slovene author, poet, and educator (b. 1839)
• 1927 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (b. 1868)
• 1938 – César Vallejo, Peruvian journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1892)
• 1942 – Robert Musil, Austrian-Swiss author and playwright (b. 1880)
• 1943 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian painter and set designer (b. 1882)
• 1944 – Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, Russian general (b. 1901)
• 1945 – Hermann Florstedt, German SS officer (b. 1895)
• 1948 – Radola Gajda, Montenegrin-Czech general and politician (b. 1892)
• 1949 – Wallace Beery, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Clara Blandick, American actress (b. 1880)
• 1962 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (b. 1912)
• 1963 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (b. 1903)
• 1966 – Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury, Bengali politician, writer, journalist, first health minister of East Pakistan (b. 1906)
• 1967 – Totò, Italian comedian (b. 1898)
• 1971 – Gurgen Boryan, Armenian poet and playwright (b. 1915)
• 1971 – Friedebert Tuglas, Estonian author and critic (b. 1886)
• 1979 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1912)
• 1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor and soldier (b. 1904)
• 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
• 1982 – Arthur Lowe, English actor (b. 1915)
• 1984 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician (b. 1921)
• 1986 – Jean Genet, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1910)
• 1988 – Kenneth Williams, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1926)
• 1989 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese soldier and politician, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1915)
• 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American actress (b. 1905)
• 1993 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
• 1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geophysicist and geologist (b. 1908)
• 1998 – William Congdon, American-Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
• 1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian general and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925)
• 1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Edward Gorey, American poet and illustrator (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
• 2002 – Damon Knight, American author and critic (b. 1922)
• 2002 – Byron White, American football player, lawyer, and jurist, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese illustrator (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Brant Parker, American illustrator (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish bishop, theologian, and scholar (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Clement Freud, German-English journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1924)
• 2009 – László Tisza, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (b. 1907)
• 2009 – Salih Neftçi, Turkish economist and author (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Jack Herer, American author and activist (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Michael Pataki, American actor and director (b. 1938)
• 2011 – Vittorio Arrigoni, Italian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1975)
• 2012 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Dwayne Schintzius, American basketball player (b. 1968)
• 2013 – Benjamin Fain, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Richard LeParmentier, American-English actor and screenwriter (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Jean-François Paillard, French conductor (b. 1928)
• 2014 – John Houbolt, American engineer and academic (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist and academic (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1966)
• 2015 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1928)
• 2017 – Clifton James, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2017 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, last person verified born in the 1800s (b. 1899)
• 2018 – R. Lee Ermey, American actor (b. 1944)
• 2018 – Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1929)
• 2022 – Bilquis Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist and wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi (b. 1947)
• 2022 – Henry Plumb, British politician and farmer (b. 1925)
• 2022 – Liz Sheridan, American actress (b. 1929)
• 2024 – Whitey Herzog, American professional baseball outfielder and manager (b. 1931)
• 2024 – Josip Manolić, Croatian politician, prime minister, and speaker of the Chamber of Counties (b. 1920)

• Christian feast day:
  • Abbo II of Metz
  • Father Damien (The Episcopal Church)
  • Hunna
  • Paternus of Avranches
  • April 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of the Sun (North Korea)
• Father Damien Day (Hawaii)
• Hillsborough Disaster Memorial (Liverpool, England)
• Jackie Robinson Day (United States)
• National American Sign Language Day (United States)
• Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year; India)
• Tax Day, the official deadline for filing an individual tax return (or requesting an extension). (United States, Philippines)
• Universal Day of Culture
• World Art Day

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on April 15