André René Roussimoff (19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride. His size was a result of acromegaly, and led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World". In the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE), Roussimoff was a one-time WWF Champion and a one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. In 1993, he was the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame.
Events
- 1445 – John II of Castile defeats the Infantes of Aragon at the First Battle of Olmedo.
- 1499 – Catherine of Aragon is married by proxy to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales. Catherine is 13 and Arthur is 12.
- 1535 – French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest.
- 1542 – Prome Kingdom falls to Toungoo Dynasty.
- 1568 – Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- 1643 – Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
- 1649 – An Act of Parliament declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
- 1749 – King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.
- 1780 – New England's Dark Day: A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 A.M.
- 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Legion of Honour.
- 1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.
- 1845 – Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
- 1848 – Mexican-American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
- 1864 – American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.
- 1897 – Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol Prison.
- 1911 – Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, is established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
- 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what is later termed the Turkish War of Independence.
- 1921 – The U.S. Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration.
- 1922 – The Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union is established.
- 1934 – Zveno and the Bulgarian Army engineer a coup d'état and install Kimon Georgiev as the new Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
- 1943 – World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the Normandy landings ("D-Day"). It would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather.
- 1950 – A barge containing munitions destined for Pakistan explodes in the harbor at South Amboy, New Jersey, devastating the city.
- 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army establishes Group 559, whose responsibility is to determine how to maintain supply lines to South Vietnam; the resulting route is the Ho Chi Minh trail.
- 1961 – Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
- 1961 – 11 bengali martyrs gave up their life in a police firing in Silchar Railway Station, Assam, while demanding state recognition of bengali language in the Bengali Language Movement.
- 1962 – A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's rendition of "Happy Birthday".
- 1971 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
- 1986 – The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
- 1991 – Croatians vote for independence in a referendum.
- 1997 – The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.
- 2001 – Apple Store, the first two Apple Stores opened in Tysons Corner, Virginia and the same day in Glendale, California at Glendale Galleria.
- 2007 – President of Romania Traian Basescu survives an impeachment referendum and returns to office from suspension.
- 2010 – The Royal Thai Armed Forces concludes its crackdown on protests by forcing the surrender of United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship leaders.
Births
- 1593 – Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (d. 1678)
- 1700 – José de Escandón, Spanish governor (d. 1770)
- 1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, English admiral and politician (d. 1779)
- 1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, German wife of King George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1818)
- 1762 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814)
- 1773 – Arthur Aikin, English mineralogist (d. 1854)
- 1795 – Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist (d. 1873)
- 1797 – Maria Isabel of Portugal (d. 1818)
- 1827 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (d. 1896)
- 1861 – Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera singer (d. 1931)
- 1870 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)
- 1871 – Walter Russell, American artist (d. 1963)
- 1874 – Gilbert Laird Jessop, English cricketer (d. 1955)
- 1878 – Alfred Laliberté, French Canadian sculptor and painter (d. 1953)
- 1879 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-English politician (d. 1964)
- 1880 – Albert Richardson, English architect, writer, and educator (d. 1964)
- 1890 – Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German pilot (d. 1916)
- 1897 – Frank Luke, American pilot (d. 1918)
- 1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher and esotericist (d. 1974)
- 1906 – Bruce Bennett, American athlete and actor (d. 2007)
- 1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Merriam Modell, American author (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Nicholas Winton, English humanitarian
- 1910 – Alan Melville, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
- 1910 – Nathuram Godse, Indian assassin of Mahatma Gandhi (d. 1949)
- 1913 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian politician, 6th President of India (d.1996)
- 1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-English biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Go Seigen, Japanese Go player
- 1914 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Mitja Ribicic, Slovenian politician, Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
- 1919 – Georgie Auld, Canadian-American musician and bandleader (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Yuri Kochiyama, American civil rights activist
- 1921 – Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Daniel Gélin, French actor (d. 2002)
- 1922 – Joe Gilmore, Irish barkeep
- 1924 – Sandy Wilson, English composer
- 1925 – Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
- 1925 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (d. 1998)
- 1925 – Guy Provost, French-Canadian actor (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Swami Kriyananda, Indian teacher and author
- 1926 – Fernand Raynaud, French comedian and actor (d. 1973)
- 1926 – Peter Zadek, German director (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Colin Chapman, English car designer, founder of Lotus Cars (d. 1982)
- 1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach
- 1928 – Gil McDougald, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1929 – John Stroger, American politician (d. 2008)
- 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (d. 1965)
- 1931 – Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor
- 1931 – Bob Anderson, English race car driver (d. 1967)
- 1932 – Claude Blanchard, French-Canadian comedian and actor (d. 2006)
- 1932 – Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966)
- 1932 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian author
- 1934 – Bill Fitch, American basketball coach
- 1934 – Jim Lehrer, American journalist
- 1935 – David Hartman, American actor and journalist
- 1937 – Pat Roach, English actor and wrestler (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese politician (d. 1989)
- 1938 – Madge Hindle, English actress
- 1939 – Livio Berruti, Italian athlete
- 1939 – James Fox, English actor
- 1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong actress
- 1939 – Dick Scobee, American astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1940 – Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
- 1940 – Mickey Newbury, American singer-songwriter (d. 2002)
- 1941 – Bobby Burgess, American dancer and singer
- 1941 – Nora Ephron, American screenwriter
- 1941 – Tania Mallet, English model and actress
- 1942 – Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, founded Digital Research, Inc. (d. 1994)
- 1942 – Robert Kilroy-Silk, English politician and television presenter
- 1943 – Eddie May, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1944 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor
- 1945 – Pete Townshend, English singer-songwriter, musician, and author (The Who, Deep End, and Thunderclap Newman)
- 1946 – André the Giant, French wrestler and actor (d. 1993)
- 1946 – Claude Lelièvre, Belgian activist
- 1946 – Michele Placido, Italian actor and director
- 1947 – Paul Brady, Irish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Planxty)
- 1947 – Steve Currie, English bassist (T. Rex) (d. 1981)
- 1947 – David Helfgott, Australian pianist
- 1947 – Gijs IJlander, Dutch writer
- 1948 – Grace Jones, Jamaican singer-songwriter and actress
- 1949 – Dusty Hill, American singer-songwriter and musician (ZZ Top and American Blues)
- 1949 – Archie Manning, American football player
- 1951 – Joey Ramone, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Ramones and Sniper) (d. 2001)
- 1951 – Dick Slater, American wrestler
- 1952 – Bert van Marwijk, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Armenian swimmer
- 1953 – Dawud M. Mu'Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997)
- 1953 – Victoria Wood, English comedian and actress
- 1953 – Jimmy Thackery, American singer and guitarist (The Nighthawks)
- 1954 – Rick Cerone, American baseball player
- 1954 – Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC and Buster Brown)
- 1955 – James Gosling, Canadian computer scientist, created Java
- 1956 – Steven Ford, American actor
- 1956 – Martyn Ware, English musician and producer (The Human League, Heaven 17, and B.E.F.)
- 1957 – Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Nicole Brown Simpson, American murder victim, wife of O. J. Simpson (d. 1994)
- 1960 – Yazz, English singer and model
- 1961 – Wayne Van Dorp, Dutch-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Gregory Poirier, American screenwriter and director
- 1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer
- 1964 – Miloslav Mecír, Slovakian tennis player
- 1964 – Lawrence Ng, Hong Kong actor
- 1964 – Sean Whalen, American actor
- 1965 – Cecilia Bolocco, Chilean model and television host, Miss Universe 1987
- 1965 – Boris, French singer-songwriter and composer
- 1965 – Maile Flanagan, American actress
- 1966 – Marc Bureau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Sophia Crawford, English actress and martial artist
- 1966 – Jodi Picoult, American writer
- 1966 – Polly Walker, English actress
- 1967 – Massimo Taccon, Italian artist
- 1968 – Kyle Eastwood, American singer and musician
- 1970 – Choi Kyung-Ju, South Korean golfer
- 1970 – Mario Dumont, Canadian politician
- 1970 – Jason Gray-Stanford, Canadian actor
- 1971 – Ross Katz, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Psicosis, Mexican wrestler
- 1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer-songwriter (Ace of Base)
- 1972 – Claudia Karvan, Australian actress
- 1973 – Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
- 1974 – Andrew Johns, Australian rugby player
- 1975 – Masanobu Ando, Japanese actor
- 1975 – Jonas Renkse, Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Katatonia, Bloodbath, and October Tide)
- 1975 – London Fletcher, American football player
- 1975 – Delma Gonçalves, Brazilian footballer
- 1975 – Josh Paul, American baseball player
- 1976 – Ed Cota, American basketball player
- 1976 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
- 1977 – Manuel Almunia, Spanish footballer
- 1977 – Wouter Hamel, Dutch singer and guitarist
- 1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player
- 1977 – Natalia Oreiro, Uruguayan singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and actress
- 1977 – Kelly Sheridan, Canadian voice actress
- 1978 – Marcus Bent, English footballer
- 1978 – Dave Bus, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Kim Zolciak, American television personality
- 1979 – Diego Forlán, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Barbara Nedeljáková, Slovak actress
- 1979 – Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
- 1980 – Drew Fuller, American actor and model
- 1980 – Tony Hackworth, English footballer
- 1981 – Bong Tae-gyu, South Korean actor
- 1981 – Luciano Figueroa, Argentine footballer
- 1981 – Georges St. Pierre, Canadian mixed martial artist
- 1981 – Michael Leighton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- 1982 – Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer
- 1982 – Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Klaas Vantornout, Belgian cyclist
- 1983 – Eve Angel, Hungarian porn actress
- 1983 – Jessica Fox, English actress
- 1984 – Marcedes Lewis, American football player
- 1984 – Carla Lynch, English cactress and model
- 1985 – Chris Loudon, Scottish darts player
- 1986 – Mario Chalmers, American basketball player
- 1986 – Eric Lloyd, American actor
- 1987 – David Edgar, Canadian footballer
- 1987 – Mariano Torres, Argentine footballer
- 1988 – Lily Cole, English model and actress
- 1989 – Jasmine, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
- 1991 – Jordan Pruitt, American singer-songwriter
- 1992 – Michele Camporese, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Ola John, Dutch footballer
Deaths
- 804 – Alcuin, English monk and scholar (b. c.735)
- 988 – Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 909)
- 1102 – Stephen II, Count of Blois (b. c.1045)
- 1125 – Vladimir II Monomakh, Russian prince (b. 1053)
- 1296 – Pope Celestine V (b. 1215)
- 1319 – Louis, Count of Évreux, son of Philip III of France (b. 1276)
- 1389 – Dmitry Donskoy, Russian prince (b. 1350)
- 1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
- 1531 – Jan Laski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, English second wife of Henry VIII of England (b. 1501 or 1507)
- 1601 – Costanzo Porta, Italian composer (b. 1528 or 1529)
- 1610 – Thomas Sanchez, Spanish theologian (b. 1550)
- 1637 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588)
- 1715 – Charles Montagu, English poet and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
- 1786 – John Stanley, English composer (b. 1712)
- 1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and statesman, signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1729)
- 1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
- 1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English nobleman and duelist (b. 1722)
- 1821 – Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771)
- 1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, French philosopher (b. 1760)
- 1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (b. 1804)
- 1865 – Sengge Rinchen, Mongol nobleman and general (b. 1811)
- 1876 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (b. 1801)
- 1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
- 1895 – José Martí, Cuban independence leader (b. 1853)
- 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
- 1901 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, south African politician, 1st President of the South African Republic (b. 1819)
- 1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricketer (b. 1856)
- 1904 – Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851)
- 1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840)
- 1912 – Boleslaw Prus, Polish writer (b. 1847)
- 1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick, Australian soldier (b. 1892)
- 1918 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American pilot and flying ace (b. 1885)
- 1935 – T. E. Lawrence, English soldier (b. 1888)
- 1940 – Diego Mazquiarán, Spanish matador (b. 1895)
- 1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter (b. 1865)
- 1945 – Philipp Bouhler, German Nazi leader (b. 1889)
- 1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869)
- 1954 – Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874)
- 1958 – Archie Scott-Brown, English race car driver (b. 1927)
- 1958 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Walter Russell, American artist (b. 1871)
- 1965 – Tu'i Malila, Malagasy turtle, the world's oldest tortoise (b. 1777)
- 1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist (b. 1901)
- 1971 – Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
- 1975 – Li Tobler, Swiss actress (b. 1948)
- 1980 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (b. 1906)
- 1983 – Jean Rey, Belgian lawyer and politician 2nd President of the European Commission (b. 1902)
- 1984 – John Betjeman, English poet (b. 1906)
- 1986 – Jimmy Lyons, American saxophone player (b. 1931)
- 1987 – James Tiptree, Jr, American author (b. 1915)
- 1989 – C. L. R. James, Indian writer and journalist (b. 1901)
- 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American editor and First Lady of the United States, wife of John F. Kennedy (b. 1929)
- 1994 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945)
- 1998 – Sosuke Uno, Japanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1922)
- 1999 – James Blades, English percussionist (b. 1901)
- 1999 – Candy Candido, American actor (b. 1913)
- 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1933)
- 2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
- 2002 – John Gorton, Australian politician, 19th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911)
- 2002 – Walter Lord, American writer (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Camoflauge, American rapper (b. 1981)
- 2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Henry Corden, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Freddie Garrity, English singer and actor (Freddie and the Dreamers) (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Vijay Tendulkar, Indian playwright (b. 1928)
- 2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1916)
- 2009 – Nicholas Maw, English composer (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Clint Smith, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Herbert York, American physicist (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish politician (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Bob Boozer, American basketball player (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Paul Cyr, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1963)
- 2012 – Phil Lamason, New Zealand pilot (b. 1918)
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