41st year - Nº 111 Tuesday, 21 April 2026

BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)
41st year - Nº 111 Tuesday, 21 April 2026

21 April / Today's 35 Events:

---

(-) 327 years ago Tuesday 21st of April 1699 Dramatist Jean Baptiste Racine dies of liver cancer at the age of 60 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

---

(+) 210 years ago Sunday 21st of April 1816 Poet and writer Charlotte Brontë aka Currer Bell known for Jane Eyre is born in Thornton, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

---

(-) 195 years ago Thursday 21st of April 1831 Serial poisoner Gesche Margarethe Gottfried, originally Margarethe Timm aka Der Engel von Bremen is executed by beheading at the age of 46 in Domshof, Bremen, Freie Hansestadt Bremen, Germany. Gottfried killed at least 15 relatives including her parents and three children and friends with arsenic. Gottfried was the last person to be publicly executed (for a crowd of 35.000) in Bremen.

---

(-) 177 years ago Saturday 21st of April 1849 Double murderer James Bloomfield Rush aka The Killer in the Fog known for the Murders at Stanfield Hall is executed by hanging at the age of 49 in Norwich Castle, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom.

---

(x) 127 years ago Friday 21st of April 1899 36-year-old Serial killer and cannibal Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann aka Die Bestie vom Schlesischen Bahnhof assaults 10-year-old Maria Gottwald and 4-year-old Babette Burkel in Bayreuth, Bayern, Germany. Großmann was found nearby with blood on his hands and trousers. When taken into custody a doctor also found traces of his victim's blood on his still aroused penis. Burkel died later of her injuries.

---

(+) 118 years ago Tuesday 21st of April 1908 Victim of Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf Hermann Speichert is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

---

(-) 116 years ago Thursday 21st of April 1910 Writer Mark Twain, originally Samuel Langhorne Clemens known the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn dies of a heart attack at the age of 75 in Redding, Connecticut, United States.

---

(+) 111 years ago Wednesday 21st of April 1915 Actor Anthony Quinn, originally Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca is born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico.

---

(-) 110 years ago He Was 83 or 68 Friday 21st of April 1916 Murderer Joe Lee is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 83 in Virginia State Penitentiary, Richmond, Virginia, United States. Lee claimed to be 83 years old but the court had reason to believe he was more realistically 68 years old. Nevertheless Lee is still the oldest person executed in Virginia's electric chair.

---

(-) 108 years ago War Er Kaputt Sunday 21st of April 1918 Fighter pilot and flying ace Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen aka The Red Baron is fatally shot in his Fokker Dr.I 425/17 by Canadian Captain Arthur 'Roy' Brown at the age of 26 in Route de Bray, Vaux-sur-Somme, Hauts de France, France. von Richthofen died from an extremely serious and inevitably fatal chest wound from a single .303 bullet penetrating from the right armpit and resurfacing next to the left nipple. von Richthofen's last word was "kaputt".

---

(+) 100 years ago Wednesday 21st of April 1926 Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II, originally Elizabeth Alexandra Mary is born in 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

---

(x) 96 years ago Monday 21st of April 1930 332 die in prison fire in Ohio State Penitentiary, Columbus, Ohio, United States.

---

(+) 96 years ago Monday 21st of April 1930 Artist Dieter Roth is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

---

(+) 92 years ago He Was Born to Drill Saturday 21st of April 1934 Self-trepanation pioneer Bart Hugo Huges is born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

---

(-) 85 years ago Elle Était la Dernière Monday 21st of April 1941 Axe murderess Germaine Leloy-Godefroy is executed by the Guillotine by Jules-Henri Desfourneaux at the age of 24 in Angers, Pays de la Loire, France. Leloy-Godefroy was the last woman executed in France.

---

(+) 84 years ago Tuesday 21st of April 1942 Spree killer James Douglas Latham is born in Mauriceville, Texas, United States.

---

(+) 79 years ago Monday 21st of April 1947 Musician Iggy Pop, originally James Newell Osterberg is born in Muskegon, Michigan, United States.

---

(x) 79 years ago Monday 21st of April 1947 23-year-old Serial killer Rudolf Pleil aka Der Großten Todmacher is arrested in Zorge, Niedersachsen, Germany.

---

(-) 77 years ago Thursday 21st of April 1949 Murderer Harry Lewis is executed by hanging by Albert Pierrepoint at the age of 22 in HM Prison Pentonville, Caledonian Road, Islington, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

---

(+) 75 years ago Saturday 21st of April 1951 Serial killer Gustaaf Van Eyken aka De Vampier van Muizen is born in Mechelen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

---

(x) 59 years ago Friday 21st of April 1967 42-year-old Wiener Aktionist Otto Muehl performs 'Materialaktion nr. 37 / Zock – festival' in Gasthaus Grünes Tor, Lerchenfelder Straße 14, Wien, Wien, Austria.

---

(x) 59 years ago Friday 21st of April 1967 29-year-old Wiener Aktionist Hermann Nitsch performs his 23. Aktion im Rahmen des Zock-Festes in Gasthaus Grünes Tor, Lerchenfelder Straße 14, Wien, Wien, Austria.

---

(x) 57 years ago His Thumb Bled Monday 21st of April 1969 Sharon Wood is attacked by foot fetishist and serial killer Jerry Brudos aka The Lust Killer in Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, United States. Wood attempted to fend off Brudos' attack by biting his thumb until it bled. Brudos beat her unconscious but an oncoming car caused him to flee the scene of the crime.

---

(-) 55 years ago Wednesday 21st of April 1971 President of Haiti François Duvalier aka Papa Doc dies of heart disease and diabetes at the age of 64 in Port-au-Prince, Ouest, Haiti.

---

(-) 53 years ago He Threw Darts at Her Head Saturday 21st of April 1973 Clarnell Elizabeth Stage Strandberg-Kemper is bludgeoned to death and her throat slit by serial killer Edmund Kemper aka The Co-ed Killer in 609A Ord Street, Aptos, California, United States. Kemper then decapitated his mother and engaged in irrumatio with her severed head before using it as a dart board. He also cut out her tongue and larynx and put them in the garbage disposal. The garbage disposal could not break down Clarnell's tough vocal cords and ejected the tissue back into the sink. "That seemed appropriate," Kemper later said "as much as she'd bitched and screamed and yelled at me over so many years."

---

(-) 53 years ago He Spent the Night with Her Headless Body Saturday 21st of April 1973 Sara Taylor 'Sally' Hallett is strangled by serial killer Edmund Kemper aka The Co-ed Killer in 609A Ord Street, Aptos, California, United States. Kemper invited his mother's best friend Sally over to the house for dinner and a movie. When Hallett arrived Kemper strangled and decapitated her and spent the night with her body.

---

(-) 36 years ago Saturday 21st of April 1990 Double murderer Jerome Butler is executed by lethal injection at the age of 54 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

---

(-) 34 years ago He Danced with the Grim Reaper Tuesday 21st of April 1992 Double murderer Robert Alton Harris is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 39 in San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States. Harris' last meal request was for a 21-piece bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, two large Domino's pizzas, a bag of jelly beans, a six-pack of Pepsi, and a pack of Camel cigarettes. Harris' last words were "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the grim reaper."

---

(-) 29 years ago Monday 21st of April 1997 Double murderer Benjamin Herbert Boyle is executed by lethal injection at the age of 54 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

---

(-) 28 years ago Tuesday 21st of April 1998 Philosopher, sociologist and literary theorist Jean-François Lyotard dies of leukemia at the age of 74 in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

---

(-) 23 years ago Monday 21st of April 2003 Singer, songwriter, musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone, originally Eunice Kathleen Waymon aka The High Priestess of Soul dies of breast cancer at the age of 70 in Carry-le-Rouet, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

---

21 years ago The Eyes had it Thursday 21st of April 2005 Traffic below the window of Alexander Gorodny in Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia.

---

(x) 19 years ago Saturday 21st of April 2007 48-year-old Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV plays with Tim Vanhamel as Vel at the Nuit et Brouillard festival in CC Luchtbal, Columbiastraat 8A, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

---

(-) 10 years ago Thursday 21st of April 2016 Musician Prince, originally Prince Rogers Nelson dies after suffering from flu-like symptoms for over two weeks at the age of 58 in Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States.

---

9 years ago The Eyes had it Friday 21st of April 2017 An unfortunate chance encounter between my thumb and a woodsaw in Stuivenberg Ziekenhuis, Lange Beeldekensstraat 267, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

---