On this day in history

April 3

9 births · 4 deaths · 1 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

2017 Saint Petersburg Metro attack

9 years ago

Born this day

1894

Nikita Khrushchev

Would be 132

Oldest record

554th

Leon Battista Alberti

death anniversary

Famous births9

1660 · 366 yrs

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe ( c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, journalist, merchant and spy. He is famous for his novels Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722) and Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724).

LiteratureWould be 366

Photo: Unknown Unknown , style of Sir Godfrey Kneller · Public domain

1783 · 243 yrs

Washington Irving

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century.

LiteratureWould be 243

Photo: Attributed to Charles Robert Leslie · Public domain

1894 · 132 yrs

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (15 April 1894 – 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964.

PoliticsWould be 132

Photo: TASS / distributed by Associated Press · Public domain

1922 · 104 yrs

Doris Day

Doris Day (born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer.

MusicWould be 104

Photo: Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0

1924 · 102 yrs

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor.

FilmWould be 102

Photo: None visible/Paramount Pictures · Public domain

1930 · 96 yrs

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998 and oversaw the end of the Cold War, German reunification, and the creation of the European Union (EU).

PoliticsWould be 96

Photo: Christian Lambiotte · CC BY 4.0

1934 · 92 yrs

Jane Goodall

Dame Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall ( GUUD-awl; 3 April 1934 – 1 October 2025) was an English primatologist and anthropologist.

ActivismWould be 92

Photo: U.S. Department of State from United States · Public domain

1958 · 68 yrs

Alec Baldwin

Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama.

FilmAge 68

Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0

1961 · 65 yrs

Eddie Murphy

Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential Black artists in the entertainment industry, and one of the greatest comedians of all time.

FilmAge 65

Photo: David Shankbone · Public domain

Famous deaths4

1472 · 554 yrs

Leon Battista Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti (Italian:; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths.

ArtWould be 622

Photo: Leon Battista Alberti · CC BY 2.5

1682 · 344 yrs

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( mure-IL-oh, m(y)uu-REE-oh, Spanish:; late December 1617, baptised 1 January 1618 – 3 April 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children.

ArtWould be 408

Photo: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo · Public domain

1897 · 129 yrs

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (German:; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. His music features expressive counterpoint, freer dissonance, rhythmic vitality, and traditional forms.

MusicWould be 193

Photo: C. Brasch , Berlin ( biography ) · Public domain

1991 · 35 yrs

Graham Greene

Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.

LiteratureWould be 122

Photo: FOTO:Fortepan — ID 84697 : Adományozó/Donor: Magyar Hírek folyóirat. archive copy at the Wayback Machine · CC BY-SA 3.0

Events1

2017 · 9 yrs

2017 Saint Petersburg Metro attack

On 3 April 2017, a terrorist attack using an explosive device took place on the Saint Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. Eleven people (including the perpetrator) were initially reported to have died, and five more died later from their injuries, bringing the total to 15.

Tragedy

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