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This day in history

This day in history: 14 April

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day237 · 114

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Key facts

407 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 14 April.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Flooding in the Persian Gulf starts, killing 19 in Oman.

Holidays and observances

Ambedkar Jayanti (India)

Bengali New Year (Bangladesh)

Black Day (South Korea)

Burt Gummer Day

Cake and Cunnilingus Day

Christian feast day: Anthony, John, and Eustathius

Christian feast day: April 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Bénézet

Christian feast day: Domnina of Terni

Christian feast day: Henry Beard Delany (U.S. Episcopal Church)

Christian feast day: Lidwina

Christian feast day: Peter González

Events

2024Flooding in the Persian Gulf starts, killing 19 in Oman.

2023The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency.

2022Russian invasion of Ukraine: The Russian warship Moskva is struck by two anti-ship missiles and sinks into the Black Sea.

2016The foreshock of a major earthquake occurs in Kumamoto, Japan.

2014Boko Haram abducts 276 girls from a school in Chibok, Nigeria.

2014Two bombs detonate at a bus station in Nyanya, Nigeria, killing at least 88 people and injuring hundreds. Boko Haram claims responsibility.

2006Twin blasts triggered by crude bombs during Asr prayer in the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi injure 13 people.

2005The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.

2003The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.

2003U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner MS Achille Lauro in 1985.

2002Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military.

2001Series of bombings at Ramna Park in Dhaka during the Bengali New Year celebrations leave 10 people dead and dozens other injured.

1999A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$2.3 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.

1999NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees. Yugoslav officials say 75 people were killed.

1997Pai Hsiao-yen, daughter of Taiwanese artiste Pai Bing-bing, is kidnapped on her way to school, preceding her murder.

1994In a friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two U.S. Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two U.S. Army helicopters, killing 26 people.

1991The Republic of Georgia introduces the post of President following its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

1988In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

1988The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.

1986The heaviest hailstones ever recorded, each weighing 1 kilogram (2.2 lb), fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.

1981STS-1: The first operational Space Shuttle, Columbia, completes its first test flight.

1979The Progressive Alliance of Liberia stages a protest, without a permit, against an increase in rice prices proposed by the government, with clashes between protestors and the police resulting in over 70 deaths and over 500 injuries.

1978Tbilisi demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.

1967Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new President of Togo, a title he will hold for the next 38 years.

1958The Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 falls from orbit after a mission duration of 162 days. This was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a female dog named Laika, who likely lived only a few hours.

1945World War II: In what becomes known as the Razing of Friesoythe, the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division deliberately destroys the German town of Friesoythe on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.

1941World War II: German and Italian forces attack Tobruk, Libya.

1940World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway, preceding a larger force which will arrive two days later.

1935The Black Sunday dust storm, considered one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl, sweeps across the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and neighboring areas.

1931The Second Spanish Republic is proclaimed and King Alfonso XIII goes into exile. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Francesc Macià proclaims the Catalan Republic.

1929The inaugural Monaco Grand Prix takes place in the Principality of Monaco. William Grover-Williams wins driving a Bugatti Type 35.

1912The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and begins to sink.

1909Muslims in the Ottoman Empire begin a massacre of Armenians in Adana.

1908Hauser Dam, a steel dam on the Missouri River in Montana, fails, sending a surge of water 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m) high downstream.

1906The first meeting of the Azusa Street Revival, which will launch Pentecostalism as a worldwide movement, is held in Los Angeles.

1900The world's fair Exposition Universelle opens in Paris.

1895The 1895 Ljubljana earthquake, both the most and last destructive earthquake in the area, occurs.

1894The first ever commercial motion picture house opens in New York City, United States. It uses ten Kinetoscopes, devices for peep-show viewing of films.

1890The Pan-American Union is founded by the First International Conference of American States in Washington, D.C.

1881The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight occurs in El Paso, Texas.

Born on this day

2001Jalen Williams, American basketball player

2000Patrick Surtain II, American football player

1999Chase Young, American football player

1997D. J. Moore, American football player

1996Abigail Breslin, American actress

1995Baker Mayfield, American football player

1995Georgie Friedrichs, Australian rugby sevens player

1989Joe Haden, American football player

1988Anthony Modeste, French footballer

1988Brad Sinopoli, Canadian football player

1988Eliška Klučinová, Czech heptathlete

1988Eric Gryba, Canadian ice hockey player

1987Erwin Hoffer, Austrian footballer

1987Michael Baze, American jockey (died 2011)

1987Wilson Kiprop, Kenyan runner

1986Matt Derbyshire, English footballer

1984Blake Costanzo, American football player

1984Charles Hamelin, Canadian speed skater

1984Harumafuji Kōhei, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 70th Yokozuna

1984Tyler Thigpen, American football player

1983James McFadden, Scottish footballer

1983Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Georgian basketball player

1983Simona La Mantia, Italian triple jumper

1983William Obeng, Ghanaian-American football player

1982Larissa França, Brazilian volleyball player

1982Uğur Boral, Turkish footballer

1981Amy Leach, English director and producer

1981Mustafa Güngör, German rugby player

1980Jeremy Smith, New Zealand rugby league player

1980Win Butler, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

1979David Crisafulli, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Queensland

1979Kerem Tunçeri, Turkish basketball player

1979Marios Elia, Cypriot footballer

1979Noé Pamarot, French footballer

1979Rebecca DiPietro, American wrestler and model

1979Ross Filipo, New Zealand rugby player

1978Roland Lessing, Estonian biathlete

1977Luke Priddis, Australian rugby league player

1977Martin Kaalma, Estonian footballer

1977Nate Fox, American basketball player (died 2014)

Died on this day

2025Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysian civil servant and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia (born 1939)

2024Ken Holtzman, American baseball player (born 1945)

2023Mark Sheehan, Irish guitarist (The Script) (born 1976)

2022Ilkka Kanerva, Finnish politician (born 1948)

2022Mike Bossy, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (born 1957)

2022Orlando Julius, Nigerian saxophonist, singer (born 1943)

2021Bernie Madoff, American mastermind of the world's largest Ponzi scheme (born 1938)

2020Carol D'Onofrio, American public health researcher (born 1936)

2019Bibi Andersson, Swedish actress (born 1935)

2015Klaus Bednarz, German journalist and author (born 1942)

2015Mark Reeds, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (born 1960)

2015Percy Sledge, American singer (born 1940)

2015Roberto Tucci, Italian cardinal and theologian (born 1921)

2014Crad Kilodney, American-Canadian author (born 1948)

2014Mick Staton, American soldier and politician (born 1940)

2014Nina Cassian, Romanian poet and critic (born 1924)

2014Wally Olins, English businessman and academic (born 1930)

2013Armando Villanueva, Peruvian politician, 121st Prime Minister of Peru (born 1915)

2013Charlie Wilson, American politician (born 1943)

2013Colin Davis, English conductor and educator (born 1927)

2013Efi Arazi, Israeli businessman, founded the Scailex Corporation (born 1937)

2013George Jackson, American singer-songwriter (born 1945)

2013R. P. Goenka, Indian businessman, founded RPG Group (born 1930)

2012Émile Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1919)

2012Jonathan Frid, Canadian actor (born 1924)

2012Piermario Morosini, Italian footballer (born 1986)

2011Jean Gratton, Canadian Roman Catholic bishop (born 1924)

2010Alice Miller, Polish-French psychologist and author (born 1923)

2010Israr Ahmed, Pakistani theologian and scholar (born 1932)

2010Peter Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player (born 1962)

Quote of the day

“No man is free who is not master of himself.”

Epictetus

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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