Major historical anniversaries and events for this day in history and this week for 2026.
TIP: You might also like to search historical anniversaries for a particular day or month!
Historical Anniversaries this Week
April 1
Events (0 years ago today): 2026 – Artemis II launches, marking the first crewed deep-space mission since Apollo XVII in 1972. [54]
Births (250 years ago today): 1776 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (died 1831)[57]
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Anne McCaffrey, American-Irish author (died 2011)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Hazem El Masri, Lebanese-Australian rugby league player and educator
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – David Gilliland, American race car driver
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Gábor Király, Hungarian footballer[82]
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – David Oyelowo, English actor
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch-Brazilian footballer and manager
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Yuka Yoshida, Japanese tennis player
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – Max Ernst, German painter and sculptor (born 1891)[128]
April 2
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (died 2014)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (died 2006)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
Commemorations:
World Autism Awareness Day
April 3
Births (150 years ago today): 1876 – Margaret Anglin, Canadian actress, director, and producer (died 1958)
Births (150 years ago today): 1876 – Tomá? Ba?a, Czech businessman, founded Bata Shoes (died 1932)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Alex Grammas, American baseball player, manager, and coach (died 2019)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Gus Grissom, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (died 1967)[33]
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Nicolas Escudé, French tennis player
Deaths (200 years ago today): 1826 – Reginald Heber, English priest (born 1783)[54]
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – David M. Dennison, American physicist and academic (born 1900)
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – Claude-Henri Grignon, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1894)
April 4
Births (200 years ago today): 1826 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (died 1901)
Births (150 years ago today): 1876 – Maurice de Vlaminck, French painter and poet (died 1958)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Ronnie Masterson, Irish actress (died 2014)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Nathan Blacklock, Australian rugby player
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Sébastien Enjolras, French race car driver (died 1997)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Emerson Ferreira da Rosa, Brazilian footballer
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – James Roday, American actor, director, and screenwriter
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – Harry Nyquist, Swedish engineer and theorist (born 1889)
Commemorations:
International Day for Mine Awareness
April 5
Births (300 years ago today): 1726 – Benjamin Harrison V, American politician, planter and merchant (died 1791)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Roger Corman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2024)[43]
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Liang Yusheng, Chinese writer (died 2009)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Luis de Agustini, Uruguayan footballer
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Péter Biros, Hungarian water polo player
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Aleksei Budőlin, Estonian judoka
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer and coach
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Natascha Ragosina, Russian boxer
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Valeria Straneo, Italian long-distance runner
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Indrek Tobreluts, Estonian biathlete
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Anouska van der Zee, Dutch cyclist
Deaths (400 years ago today): 1626 – Anna Koltovskaya, Russian tsarina
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – Howard Hughes, American pilot, engineer, and director (born 1905)
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian surgeon and academic (born 1891)
Deaths (50 years ago today): 1976 – Harry Wyld, British cyclist (born 1900)
April 6
Events (100 years ago today): 1926 – Varney Airlines makes its first commercial flight (Varney is the root company of United Airlines).
Births (300 years ago today): 1726 – Gerard Majella, Italian saint (died 1755)
Births (200 years ago today): 1826 – Gustave Moreau, French painter and academic (died 1898)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American singer and actor (died 1990)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (died 2000)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Ian Paisley, Northern Irish evangelical minister and politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland (died 2014)
Births (100 years ago today): 1926 – Randy Weston, American jazz pianist and composer (died 2018)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Candace Cameron Bure, American actress and talk show panelist[32]
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – James Fox, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Chris Hoke, American football player
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Georg Hólm, Icelandic bass player
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Hirotada Ototake, Japanese author and educator
Deaths (650 years ago today): 1376 – Preczlaw of Pogarell, Cardinal and Bishop of Wroc?aw (born 1310)
Deaths (350 years ago today): 1676 – John Winthrop the Younger, English politician, 1st Governor of Connecticut (born 1606)
April 7
Events (50 years ago today): 1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party after being arrested for faking his own death.
Births (150 years ago today): 1876 – Fay Moulton, American sprinter, football player, coach, and lawyer (died 1945)
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Kevin Alejandro, American actor and producer
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Martin Buß, German high jumper
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Jessica Lee, English lawyer and politician
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Aaron Lohr, American actor
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Barbara Jane Reams, American actress
Births (50 years ago today): 1976 – Gang Qiang, Chinese anchor
Commemorations:
Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide
World Health Day
© 1998-2026 Russel Tarr, ActiveHistory.co.uk Limited (Reg. 6111680)
1 Torrin Drive, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 6AW, England
Privacy Policy | Contact



