April 1
1621 – Cristofano Allori, Italian painter (b. 1577)
1765 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver (d. 1810)
1865 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (b. 1797)
1866 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1924)
1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian football coach
1954 – Jeff Porcaro, American drummer (d. 1992) Italian descent
April 2
1618 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
1725 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer and writer (d. 1798)
1917 – Lou Monte, American singer (d. 1989) Italian descent
1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer (Italian descent)
1964 – Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player (Italian descent)
April 3
1881 – Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1954)
1895 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (d. 1968)
1954 – Elisabetta Brusa, Italian composer
2004 – Gabriella Ferri, Italian singer (b. 1942)
2005 – Tony Croatto, Italian singer (b. 1940)
April 4
186 – Caracalla, Roman emperor (d. 217)
1973 – Loris Capirossi, Italian motorcycle racer
April 5
1472 – Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)
1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician (d. 1703)
1909 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer (d. 1996)
1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
April 6
1483 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520)
1725 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican patriot and military leader (d. 1807)
1901 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian Catholic (d. 1925)
1926 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-born singer and actor (d. 1990)
1957 – Paolo Nespoli, Italian astronaut
2007 – Luigi Comencini, Italian film director (b. 1916)
April 7
1919 – Edoardo Mangiarotti, Italian fencer
1939 – Francis Ford Coppola, American film director
1941 – James Di Pasquale, American composer
April 8
217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus
1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated
1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (d. 1604)
1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician (d. 1593)
1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (d. 1770)
1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against Austrian Empire
1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (d. 2003)
1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian (d. 1996)
April 9
1492 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian statesmen (b. 1449)
1965 – Mark Pellegrino, American actor (Italian descent)
April 10
948 – King Hugh of Italy
1389 – Cosimo de’ Medici, ruler of Florence (d. 1464)
1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French
1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer (b. 1578)
1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (d. 1834)
1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (d. 1661)
1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Nino Rota, Italian composer (b. 1911)
1991 – Italian ferry Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140
April 11
1798 – Macedonio Melloni, Italian physicist (d. 1854)
1889 – Nick LaRocca, American musician (d. 1961) Sicilian
1903 – Gemma Galgani, Catholic Saint and Mystic (b. 1878)
1948 – Marcello Lippi, Italian football coach
1962 – Vincent Gallo, American actor (Sicilian)
1973 – Jennifer Esposito, American television actor (Italian descent)
1987 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (b. 1919)
April 12
45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, the Younger, Roman general (dies)
65 – Seneca the Younger, Roman philosopher, statesman and dramatist (dies)
238 – Gordian I, Roman Emperor (suicide)
238 – Gordian II, heir to the Roman Empire (killed in battle)
352 – St. Julius I, 35th Pope (dies)
1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (d. 1546)
1722 – Pietro Nardini, Italian composer (d. 1793)
1782 – Metastasio, Italian poet and librettist (b. 1698)
1788 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-born composer (b. 1719) (Italian descent)
April 13
1519 – Catherine de’ Medici, wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)
1808 – Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (d. 1896)
1920 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
1976 – Valentina Cervi, Italian actress
2000 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian writer dies (b. 1916)
April 14
1341 – Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V of Saluzzo
1967 – Nicola Berti, Italian International footballer April 15
April 15
1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (b. 1377)
1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance polymath (d. 1519)
1552 – Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1626)
1641 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (b. 1581)
1754 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (b. 1676)
1788 – Giuseppe Bonno, Austrian composer (b. 1711) (Italian origin)
1974 – Giovanni D’Anzi, Italian songwriter (b. 1906)
1974 – Danny Pino, American actor (Italian origin)
April 16
69 – Otho, Roman Emperor (b. 32)
924 – Berengar of Friuli, King of Italy
1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, wife of Roger II of Sicily
1071 – Bari falls to Robert Guiscard, ending Byzantine rule in Italy
1912 – Catherine Scorsese, Italian-American actress (d. 1997)
1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976) Italian origin
1986 – Paul di Resta, British racing driver (Italian origin)
April 17
1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor
1555 – After 18 months of siege, Siena surrenders to the Florentine-Imperial army. The Republic of Siena is incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
1598 – Giovanni Riccioli, Italian astronomer (d. 1671)
1954 – Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
1972 – Tony Boselli, American football player
2008 – Danny Federici, organ player for E-Street Band (b. 1950)
April 18
1480 – Lucrezia Borgia, Florentine ruler and daughter of Pope Alexander VI (d. 1519)
1506 – The cornerstone of the current St. Peter’s Basilica is laid
1556 – Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet dies (b. 1495)
1605 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (d. 1674)
1897 – Ardito Desio, Italian topographer (d. 2001)
1902 – Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1981)
1918 – Tony Mottola, American guitarist (d. 2004) Italian origin
1936 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer dies (b. 1879)
1967 – Maria Bello, American actress (Italian origin)
April 19
1588 – Paolo Veronese, Italian painter (b. 1528)
1629 – Sigismondo d’India, Italian composer
1768 – Canaletto, Italian artist (b. 1697)
April 20
1303 – The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII
1453 – The last naval battle in Byzantine history occurs, as three Genoese galleys escorting a Byzantine transport fight their way through the huge Ottoman blockade fleet and into the Golden Horn
1932 – Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)
1949 – Massimo D’Alema, Prime Minister of Italy
1951 – Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)
2001 – Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
April 21
753 BC – Romulus and Remus founded Rome (traditional date)
43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after
1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter (d. 1619)
1930 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)
1963 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (d. 2004) Italian origin
1574 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)
1922 – Alessandro Moreschi, Italian castrato (b. 1858)
1924 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
April 22
296 – Pope Caius dies
455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman Emperor dies
536 – Pope Agapetus I dies
1592 – Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect dies (b. 1511)
1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (d. 1709)
1891 – Nicola Sacco, American anarchist (d. 1927) Italian origin
1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, Nobel laureate
1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
1970 – Andrea Giani, Italian volleyball player
April 23
215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene
1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian philosopher (d. 1558)
1857 – Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
2005 – Romano Scarpa, Italian-born comic artist (b. 1927)
April 24
1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d. 1780)
2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI
April 25
1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian artist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
1595 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (b. 1544)
1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1937)
1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian composer (d. 2005)
2001 – Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
April 26
121 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (d. 180)
1336 – Francesco Petrarca’s (aka Petrarch) ascent of Mt. Ventoux
1467 – The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy
1476 – Simonetta Vespucci, inspiration of Botticelli (b. 1453)
1478 – Giuliano di Piero de’ Medici, ruler of Florence (assassinated) (b. 1453)
1478 – The Pazzi attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill his brother Giuliano during High Mass in the Duomo of Florence
1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (d. 1600)
1940 – Giorgio Moroder, Italian composer
April 27
1509 – Pope Julius II places the Italian state of Venice under interdict
1530 – Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (b. 1458)
1806 – Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, queen of Spain – birth (d. 1878)
1920 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
1932 – Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-born mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
1937 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist writer and politician (b. 1891)
1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier
April 28
The Floralia, also known as the “Florifertum,” was an ancient Roman festival dedicated to the goddess Flora. It was held on April 27 to May 3 and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers.
1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer – birth (d. 1993)
1943 – German-Italian counter offensive in North-Africa
1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are executed by a firing squad consisting of members of the Italian resistance movement.
1945 – Roberto Farinacci, Italian fascist dies (b. 1892)
1960 – John Cerutti, American baseball player and announcer (d. 2004) Italian origin
1960 – Walter Zenga, Italian footballer
1992 – Italian President Francesco Cossiga formally resigns
1993 – Carlo Ciampi forms Italian government with ex-communists
April 29
1380 – Catherine of Siena, Italian saint dies (b. 1347)
1945 – The Italian commune of Fornovo di Taro is liberated from German forces by Brazilian forces
April 30
313 – Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule
1876 – Orso Mario Corbino, Italian physicist (d. 1937)
1921 – Pope Benedict XV encyclical “On Dante”
1987 – Lou Lamoriello is named New Jersey Devils President
1989 – Sergio Leone, Italian filmmaker dies (b. 1929)
1989 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Victoire Rasoamanarivo of Madagascar
1904 – Ice cream cone makes its debut
1996 – Dutch/Italian Beppo-SAX launches from Cape Canaveral