[edit]

• 1457 BC – Likely date of the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
• 73 – Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Great Jewish Revolt.
• 1346 – Dušan the Mighty is proclaimed Emperor, with the Serbian Empire occupying much of the Balkans.
• 1520 – The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
• 1521 – Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther's first appearance before the Diet of Worms to be examined by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the other estates of the empire.
• 1582 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
• 1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
• 1780 – The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded.
• 1799 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
• 1818 – The United States Senate ratifies the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada.
• 1847 – The accidental shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand land wars.
• 1853 – The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.
• 1858 – The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• 1881 – In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
• 1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
• 1910 – The oldest existing indoor ice hockey arena still used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
• 1912 – Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
• 1917 – Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia from exile in Switzerland.
• 1919 – Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
• 1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
• 1922 – The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
• 1925 – During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
• 1941 – World War II: The Italian convoy Duisburg, directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
• 1941 – World War II: The Ustaše, a Croatian far-right organization is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis Powers after the Axis Operation 25 invasion.
• 1941 – Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians throws the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1–0.
• 1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
• 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
• 1945 – The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
• 1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
• 1947 – Texas City Disaster: An explosion on board a freighter in port causes the city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost 600.
• 1947 – Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• 1953 – Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia.
• 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
• 1962 – Walter Cronkite takes over as the lead news anchor of the CBS Evening News, during which time he would become "the most trusted man in America".
• 1963 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
• 1972 – Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1990 – The "Doctor of Death", Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
• 1992 – The Katina P runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
• 1995 – George W. Bush names April 16 as Selena Day in Texas, after she was killed two weeks earlier.
• 2001 – India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
• 2003 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
• 2007 – Virginia Tech massacre: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.
• 2012 – The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
• 2012 – The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, it was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
• 2013 – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.
• 2014 – The MV Sewol ferry carrying more than 450 people capsizes near Jindo Island off South Korea, leaving 295 passengers and crew dead and 9 more missing.

Births[edit]

• 1319 – John II of France (d. 1364)
• 1488 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
• 1495 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1557)
• 1516 – Tabinshwehti, Burmese king (d. 1550)
• 1635 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter (d. 1681)
• 1646 – Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect, designed the Château de Dampierre and Grand Trianon (d. 1708)
• 1660 – Hans Sloane, Irish-English physician (d. 1753)
• 1661 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and politician, First Lord of the Treasury (d. 1715)
• 1682 – John Hadley, English mathematician, invented the octant (d. 1744)
• 1693 – Anne Sophie Reventlow, Danish wife of Frederick IV of Denmark (d. 1743)
• 1697 – Johann Gottlieb Görner, German organist and composer (d. 1778)
• 1728 – Joseph Black, French-Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1799)
• 1730 – Henry Clinton, English general and politician (d. 1795)
• 1755 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (d. 1842)
• 1786 – John Franklin, English admiral and politician, 4th Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (d. 1847)
• 1800 – George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, English field marshal (d. 1888)
• 1808 – Caleb Blood Smith, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 6th U.S. Secretary of the Interior (d. 1864)
• 1821 – Ford Madox Brown, French-English painter (d. 1893)
• 1823 – Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852)
• 1827 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian poet (d. 1879)
• 1839 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, Italian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908)
• 1834 – Charles Lennox Richardson, English-Chinese merchant (d. 1862)
• 1844 – Anatole France, French journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
• 1847 – Hans Auer, Swiss-Austrian architect, designed the Federal Palace of Switzerland (d. 1906)
• 1848 – Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Indian author and activist (d. 1919)
• 1851 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (d. 1930)
• 1865 – Harry Chauvel, Australian general (d. 1945)
• 1866 – José de Diego, Puerto Rican journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1918)
• 1867 – Wilbur Wright, American pilot, engineer, and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (d. 1912)
• 1871 – John Millington Synge, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1909)
• 1878 – R. E. Foster, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1914)
• 1882 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (d. 1972)
• 1885 – Leo Weiner, Hungarian composer and educator (d. 1960)
• 1886 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek athlete (d. 1957)
• 1886 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (d. 1944)
• 1886 – Margaret Woodrow Wilson, American daughter of Woodrow Wilson (d. 1944)
• 1888 – Billy Minter, English footballer and manager (d. 1940)
• 1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 1977)
• 1890 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek javelin thrower (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Fred Root, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1954)
• 1890 – Gertrude Chandler Warner, American author (d. 1979)
• 1891 – Dorothy P. Lathrop, American author and illustrator (d. 1980)
• 1892 – Howard Mumford Jones, American author, critic, and academic (d. 1980)
• 1893 – Germaine Guèvremont, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1968)
• 1893 – John Norton, American hurdler (d. 1979)
• 1894 – Ernst Ziegler, German actor (d. 1974)
• 1895 – Ove Arup, English-Danish engineer and businessman, founded Arup (d. 1988)
• 1896 – Robert Henry Best, American journalist (d. 1952)
• 1896 – Pat Clayton, English soldier and surveyor (d. 1962)
• 1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet and critic (d. 1963)
• 1899 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist and educator (d. 1988)
• 1903 – Paul Waner, American baseball player (d. 1965)
• 1904 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian-American actress (d. 1983)
• 1905 – Frits Philips, Dutch businessman (d. 2005)
• 1907 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier, Canadian inventor and businessman (d. 1964)
• 1907 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (d. 1947)
• 1908 – Ellis Marsalis, Sr., American businessman and activist (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Ray Ventura, French pianist and bandleader (d. 1979)
• 1910 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Guy Burgess, English-Russian spy (d. 1963)
• 1912 – Gordon Dunn, American discus thrower (d. 1964)
• 1912 – David Langton, Scottish-English actor (d. 1994)
• 1912 – Catherine Scorsese, American actress (d. 1997)
• 1912 – Garth Williams, American illustrator (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Les Tremayne, English-American actor (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Joan Alexander, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Gerard McLarnon, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Ted Mann, American businessman (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet and translator (d. 1979)
• 1917 – Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba, 18th Duchess of Medinaceli (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Barry Nelson, American actor (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Dick Gibson, English race car driver (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk (d. 1995)
• 1918 – Juozas Kazickas, Lithuanian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2014)
• 1918 – Spike Milligan, Irish actor, singer, screenwriter, and author (d. 2002)
• 1919 – Merce Cunningham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (d. 2011)
• 1919 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Thomas Willmore, English geometer and academic (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Ananda Dassanayake, Sri Lankan politician (d. 2012)
• 1920 – Alan Pegler, English businessman (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Wolfgang Leonhard, German historian and author (d. 2014)
• 1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1922 – Kingsley Amis, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1995)
• 1922 – John Christopher, English author (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Lawrence N. Guarino, American colonel (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Pat Peppler, American football player and coach
• 1922 – Leo Tindemans, Belgian politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Warren Barker, American composer (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Arch A. Moore, Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 28th Governor of West Virginia (d. 2015)
• 1924 – John Harvey-Jones, English academic and businessman (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (d. 1994)
• 1924 – Rudy Pompilli, American saxophonist (Bill Haley & His Comets) (d. 1976)
• 1924 – Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Edie Adams, American actress and singer (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Pope Benedict XVI
• 1927 – John Chamberlain, American sculptor (d. 2011)
• 1927 – Dick Lane, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Peter Mark Richman, American actor
• 1927 – Rolf Schult, German actor (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Nader Jahanbani, Iranian general and pilot (d. 1979)
• 1929 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (d. 1969)
• 1929 – Ralph Slatyer, Australian biologist and ecologist (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Ed Townsend, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
• 1930 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Fyodor Bogdanovsky, Russian weightlifter (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Herbie Mann, American flute player (d. 2003)
• 1931 – Herman van Ham, Dutch chef (d. 2012)
• 1932 – Maury Meyers, American politician (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Marcos Alonso Imaz, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist
• 1933 – Erol Günaydın, Turkish actor (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Ike Pappas, American journalist (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Vicar, Chilean cartoonist (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Richard Kershaw, English journalist (b. 2014)
• 1934 – Geoffrey Owen, English journalist, academic, and businessman
• 1934 – Robert Stigwood, Australian film producer
• 1935 – Marcel Carrière, Canadian director and screenwriter
• 1935 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Lennart Risberg, Swedish boxer (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Steffi Sidney, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1935 – Dominique Venner, French journalist and historian (d. 2013)
• 1935 – Bobby Vinton, American singer and actor
• 1936 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
• 1936 – Tom Lodge, English radio host (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Vince Hill, English singer-songwriter, producer, and playwright
• 1937 – Gert Potgieter, South African athlete
• 1937 – George Steele, American wrestler and actor
• 1938 – Gordon Wilson, Scottish lawyer and politician
• 1938 – Rich Rollins, American baseball player
• 1939 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (d. 2012)
• 1939 – John Delafose, American accordion player (d. 1994)
• 1939 – Boris Dvornik, Croatian actor (d. 2008)
• 1939 – Dusty Springfield, English singer and producer (The Lana Sisters and The Springfields) (d. 1999)
• 1940 – Benoît Bouchard, Canadian politician
• 1940 – Margaret Maden, English academic
• 1940 – Margrethe II of Denmark
• 1940 – Joan Snyder, American painter
• 1940 – Thomas Stonor, 7th Baron Camoys, English banker and politician
• 1941 – Allan Segal, American director and producer (d. 2012)
• 1942 – Jim Lonborg, American baseball player
• 1942 – Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team
• 1943 – Ruth Madoc, English-Welsh actress and singer
• 1943 – Dave Peverett, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Foghat and Savoy Brown) (d. 2000)
• 1943 – Morris Stevenson, Scottish footballer (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Petro Tyschtschenko, German businessman
• 1944 – Sue Clifford, English environmentalist and academic, co-founded Common Ground
• 1945 – Tom Allen, American lawyer and politician
• 1945 – Sebastian Barker, English poet (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Margot Adler, American journalist and author (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Ernst Bakker, Dutch politician (d. 2014)
• 1946 – Johnnie Lewis, Liberian lawyer and politician, 18th Chief Justice of Liberia (d. 2015)
• 1946 – R. Carlos Nakai, American flute player
• 1947 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player and coach
• 1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) (d. 2011)
• 1947 – Erol Evgin, Turkish pop singer, composer, and film actor
• 1948 – Reg Alcock, Canadian politician (d. 2011)
• 1948 – Ammar El Sherei, Egyptian accordion player, composer, and academic (d. 2012)
• 1948 – Lynne Franks, English businesswoman
• 1948 – Kazuyuki Sogabe, Japanese voice actor (d. 2006)
• 1949 – Melody Patterson, American actress
• 1949 – Pirkko Saisio, Finnish actress and director
• 1950 – Robert Dutil, Canadian politician
• 1950 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1951 – Ioan Mihai Cochinescu, Romanian author and photographer
• 1951 – Mordechai Ben David, American singer-songwriter
• 1951 – Björgvin Halldórsson, Icelandic singer
• 1951 – M. S. Narayana, Indian actor and director (d. 2015)
• 1951 – David Nutt, English psychiatrist and academic
• 1952 – Bill Belichick, American football player and coach
• 1952 – Michel Blanc, French actor and director
• 1952 – Esther Roth-Shahamorov, Israeli sprinter and hurdler
• 1952 – Billy West, American voice actor and singer
• 1952 – Nick Young, English lawyer and activist
• 1953 – Douglas M. Fraser, American general
• 1953 – Peter Garrett, Australian singer-songwriter and politician (Midnight Oil)
• 1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor
• 1953 – J. Neil Schulman, American author, actor, director, and producer
• 1954 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
• 1954 – John Bowe, Australian race car driver
• 1954 – Mike Zuke, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1955 – Bruce Bochy, American baseball player and manager
• 1955 – Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
• 1956 – David M. Brown, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1956 – T Lavitz, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (Dixie Dregs, Jazz Is Dead, and Widespread Panic) (d. 2010)
• 1956 – Lise-Marie Morerod, Swiss skier
• 1957 – Patricia De Martelaere, Flemish author (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Tim Flach, English photographer, artist and director
• 1959 – Robert Casilla, American illustrator
• 1959 – Scott McKinsey, American director and producer
• 1959 – Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
• 1960 – Wahab Akbar, Filipino politician (d. 2007)
• 1960 – Rafael Benítez, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1960 – Pierre Littbarski, German footballer and manager
• 1961 – Doris Dragović, Croatian singer-songwriter
• 1961 – Jarbom Gamlin, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh (d. 2014)
• 1962 – Anna Dello Russo, Italian journalist
• 1962 – Ian MacKaye, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1963 – Nick Berry, English actor and singer
• 1963 – Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer
• 1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer and actor (The Osmonds)
• 1964 – David Kohan, American screenwriter and producer
• 1964 – Dave Pirner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Soul Asylum)
• 1964 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) (d. 2008)
• 1965 – Yves-François Blanchet, Canadian politician
• 1965 – Jon Cryer, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Michael Wong, American-Hong Kong actor and director
• 1968 – Vickie Guerrero, American wrestler and manager
• 1968 – Rüdiger Stenzel, German runner
• 1969 – Stacy Francis, American singer and actress (Ex Girlfriend)
• 1969 – Patrik Järbyn, Swedish skier
• 1969 – Fernando Viña, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1970 – Dero Goi, German singer-songwriter and drummer (Oomph!)
• 1970 – Walt Williams, American basketball player
• 1971 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (Selena y Los Dinos) (d. 1995)
• 1971 – Max Beesley, English actor and singer
• 1971 – Peter Billingsley, American actor, director, and producer
• 1971 – Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor
• 1971 – Belinda Stewart-Wilson, English actress
• 1971 – Seigo Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
• 1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Russian tennis player
• 1972 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish-American tennis player
• 1972 – Tracy K. Smith, American poet and educator
• 1972 – John McGuinness, English motorcycle racer
• 1973 – Akon, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1973 – Gary Delaney, English comedian
• 1973 – Hirofumi Nojima, Japanese voice actor
• 1973 – Bonnie Pink, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1973 – Oksana Yermakova, Estonian-Russian fencer
• 1974 – Mat Devine, American singer-songwriter and actor (Kill Hannah)
• 1974 – Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress and director
• 1974 – Valarie Rae Miller, American actress
• 1974 – Fabián Robles, Mexican actor
• 1974 – Thomas Tevana, American actor
• 1975 – Keon Clark, American basketball player
• 1975 – Sean Maher, American actor
• 1975 – Nick Pickard, English actor
• 1975 – Karl Yune, American actor
• 1976 – Phil Baroni, American mixed martial artist
• 1976 – Robert Dahlqvist, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Hellacopters, Dundertåget, and Thunder Express)
• 1976 – Lukas Haas, American actor
• 1976 – Dan Kellner, American fencer
• 1976 – David Lyons, Australian actor
• 1976 – Kelli O'Hara, American actress and singer
• 1976 – Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress
• 1977 – Tameka Empson, English actress
• 1977 – Florentijn Hofman, Dutch sculptor
• 1977 – Fredrik Ljungberg, Swedish footballer
• 1977 – Hayes MacArthur, American actor
• 1977 – Alek Wek, Sudanese-English model
• 1978 – Lara Dutta, Indian model and actress, Miss Universe 2000
• 1978 – Jody Marie Gnant, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1978 – Nikki Griffin, American actress
• 1978 – Matthew Lloyd, Australian footballer
• 1978 – John Buffalo Mailer, American actor, playwright, and producer
• 1978 – Kristin Proctor, American-Norwegian actress
• 1978 – Igor Tudor, Croatian footballer and manager
• 1978 – Ivan Urgant, Russian television host
• 1978 – Christos Vasilopoulos, Greek actor
• 1979 – Christijan Albers, Dutch race car driver
• 1979 – Lars Börgeling, German pole vaulter
• 1979 – Daniel Browne, New Zealand rugby player
• 1979 – Sean Costello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
• 1979 – Sixto Peralta, Argentinian-English footballer
• 1980 – Jake Andrews, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1980 – Jens Hartwig, German actor
• 1980 – Paul London, American wrestler
• 1980 – Juliette Marquis, Ukrainian actress, model, and ballerina
• 1980 – Adriana Sage, Mexican-American porn actress and model
• 1981 – Anestis Agritis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Maya Dunietz, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1981 – Russell Harvard, American actor
• 1981 – Matthieu Proulx, Canadian football player
• 1981 – Jake Scott, American football player
• 1981 – Vico Thai, Australian actor
• 1982 – Gina Carano, American mixed martial artist, actress, and model
• 1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player
• 1982 – Michael Ratajczak, German footballer
• 1982 – Jonathan Vilma, American football player
• 1983 – Marié Digby, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
• 1983 – Manuela Martelli, Chilean actress
• 1983 – Cat Osterman, American softball player
• 1983 – George Patis, Greek badminton player
• 1984 – Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, American author
• 1984 – Natalie Blair, Australian actress
• 1984 – Teddy Blass, American composer and producer
• 1984 – Dane Brookes, English actor
• 1984 – Noah Fleiss, American actor
• 1984 – Claire Foy, English actress
• 1984 – Tucker Fredricks, American speed skater
• 1984 – Paweł Kieszek, Polish footballer
• 1984 – Kerron Stewart, Jamaican sprinter
• 1985 – Mark Baker, Welsh author
• 1985 – Luol Deng, Sudanese-English basketball player
• 1985 – Nate Diaz, American mixed martial artist
• 1985 – Rhiana Griffith, Australian model and actress
• 1985 – Brendon Leonard, New Zealand rugby player
• 1985 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentinian singer-songwriter and actor (Erreway)
• 1985 – Taye Taiwo, Nigerian footballer
• 1985 – JC Tiuseco, Filipino model, actor, and basketball player
• 1986 – Paul di Resta, Scottish race car driver
• 1986 – Laura Langman, New Zealand netball player
• 1986 – Shinji Okazaki, Japanese footballer
• 1986 – Andres Olvik, Estonian swimmer
• 1986 – Peter Regin, Danish ice hockey player
• 1986 – Epke Zonderland, Dutch gymnast
• 1987 – Neil Haskell, American dancer
• 1987 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer
• 1987 – Kyley Statham, Canadian actress
• 1987 – Aleksander Vinter, Norwegian DJ and producer
• 1987 – Cenk Akyol, Turkish professional basketball player
• 1988 – Jullie, Brazilian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1988 – Alisa Durbrow, Japanese model, actress, and singer
• 1990 – Jérémy Kapone, French actor and singer
• 1990 – Lily Loveless, English actress
• 1990 – Vangelis Mantzaris, Greek basketball player
• 1990 – Tony McQuay, American sprinter
• 1990 – Lorraine Nicholson, American actress
• 1990 – Nia Ramadhani, Indonesian actress
• 1990 – Jules Sitruk, French actor
• 1991 – Kim Kyung-Jung, South Korean footballer
• 1991 – Nolan Arenado, American baseball player
• 1992 – Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg
• 1993 – Mirai Nagasu, American figure skater
• 1993 – Chance The Rapper, American rapper
• 1994 – Liliana Mumy, American actress
• 2008 – Princess Eléonore of Belgium

Deaths[edit]

• 69 – Otho, Roman emperor (b. 32)
• 665 – Fructuosus of Braga, French archbishop and saint
• 1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev (b. 1050)
• 1118 – Adelaide del Vasto, Italian wife of Roger II of Sicily (b. 1075)
• 1198 – Frederick I, Duke of Austria (b. 1175)
• 1640 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (b. 1579)
• 1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish soldier, viol player, and composer (b. 1569)
• 1687 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English poet and politician (b. 1628)
• 1689 – Aphra Behn, English author and playwright (b. 1640)
• 1742 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet (b. 1672)
• 1756 – Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (b. 1677)
• 1783 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer and educator (b. 1719)
• 1788 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (b. 1707)
• 1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
• 1846 – Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (b. 1763)
• 1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
• 1859 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1805)
• 1879 – Bernadette Soubirous, French nun and saint (b. 1844)
• 1888 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist and chemist (b. 1845)
• 1899 – Emilio Jacinto, Filipino journalist and activist (b. 1875)
• 1904 – Maximilian Kronberger, German poet (b. 1888)
• 1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish author (b. 1812)
• 1914 – George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (b. 1838)
• 1915 – Nelson W. Aldrich, American politician (b. 1841)
• 1925 – Stefan Nerezov, Bulgarian general (b. 1867)
• 1928 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Henry Birks and Sons (b. 1840)
• 1928 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (b. 1900)
• 1930 – José Carlos Mariátegui, Peruvian journalist, philosopher, and activist (b. 1894)
• 1938 – Steve Bloomer, English footballer and manager (b. 1874)
• 1941 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (b. 1880)
• 1942 – Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1878)
• 1942 – Denis St. George Daly, Irish polo player (b. 1862)
• 1946 – Arthur Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver (b. 1884)
• 1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
• 1950 – Eduard Oja, Estonian composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1905)
• 1950 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (b. 1867)
• 1955 – David Kirkwood, Scottish politician (b. 1872)
• 1957 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mobster (b. 1882)
• 1958 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist and academic (b. 1920)
• 1959 – Charles Halton, American actor (b. 1876)
• 1961 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist (b. 1912)
• 1966 – Eric Lambert, Australian author (b. 1918)
• 1968 – Fay Bainter, American actress (b. 1893)
• 1968 – Edna Ferber, American author and playwright (b. 1885)
• 1969 – Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Richard Neutra, Austrian-American architect, designed the Los Angeles County Hall of Records (b. 1892)
• 1970 – Péter Veres, Hungarian politician, Minister of Defence for Hungary (b. 1897)
• 1972 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1972 – Frank O'Connor, Australian public servant (b. 1894)
• 1973 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor (b. 1929)
• 1973 – Nino Bravo, Spanish singer (b. 1944)
• 1978 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (b. 1897)
• 1980 – Morris Stoloff, American composer (b. 1898)
• 1985 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1988 – Khalil al-Wazir, Palestinian commander, founded Fatah (b. 1935)
• 1988 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist (b. 1954)
• 1989 – Jocko Conlan, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1899)
• 1989 – Kaoru Ishikawa Japanese author and educator (b. 1915)
• 1989 – Miles Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1940)
• 1989 – Hakkı Yeten, Turkish football player (b. 1910)
• 1991 – David Lean, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• 1992 – Neville Brand, American actor (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy and activist (b. 1915)
• 1992 – Andy Russell, American singer (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Ralph Ellison, American author and critic (b. 1913)
• 1995 – Arthur English, English actor (b. 1919)
• 1995 – Iqbal Masih, Pakistani activist (b. 1982)
• 1996 – Lucille Bremer, American actress and dancer (b. 1927)
• 1996 – Stavros Niarchos, Greek businessman (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Doris Angleton, American murder victim (b. 1951)
• 1997 – Roland Topor, French actor, director, and painter (b. 1938)
• 1998 – Alberto Calderón, Argentinian-American mathematician (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (b. 1913)
• 1998 – Marie-Louise Meilleur, Canadian super-centenarian (b. 1880)
• 1999 – Skip Spence, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape) (b. 1946)
• 2000 – Putra of Perlis (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Michael Ritchie, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
• 2001 – Alec Stock, English footballer and manager (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager (b. 1952)
• 2002 – Ruth Fertel, American businesswoman, founded Ruth's Chris Steak House (b. 1927)
• 2002 – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (b. 1946)
• 2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian-American actor (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Graham Stuart Thomas, English horticulturalist and author (b. 1909)
• 2005 – Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Marla Ruzicka, American activist, founded Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (b. 1976)
• 2005 – Kay Walsh, English actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Francisco Adam, Portuguese actor (b. 1983)
• 2007 – People of the Virginia Tech massacre:
  • – Jamie Bishop, American instructor of the German language (b. 1971)
  • – Seung-Hui Cho, American student and murderer (b. 1984)
  • – Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, Canadian-American instructor of the French language (b. 1958)
  • – Kevin Granata, American engineer and academic (b. 1961)
  • – Liviu Librescu, Romanian-American academic and holocaust survivor (b. 1930)
  • – G. V. Loganathan, Indian-American academic (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Frank Bateson, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1909)
• 2007 – Gaétan Duchesne, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1962)
• 2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Chandrabose Suthaharan, Sri Lankan journalist
• 2008 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Joseph Solman, American painter (b. 1909)
• 2010 – Rasim Delić, Bosnian general (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Daryl Gates, American police officer, created the D.A.R.E. Program (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Sári Barabás, Hungarian soprano (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Marian Biskup, Polish author and academic (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Ray Davey, Irish minister, founded the Corrymeela Community (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Alan Hacker, English clarinet player (b. 1938)
• 2012 – George Kunda, Zambian lawyer and politician, 11th Vice-President of Zambia (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (b. 1913)
• 2012 – Carlo Petrini, Italian footballer and coach (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Charles Bruzon, Gibraltarian politician (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Jack Daniels, American baseball player (b. 1927)
• 2013 – George Horse-Capture, American anthropologist and author (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Ali Kafi, Algerian colonel and politician (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Francis Leo Lawrence, American academic and scholar (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Siegfried Ludwig, Austrian politician, 18th Governor of Lower Austria (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Pentti Lund, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (b. 1944)
• 2013 – George Beverly Shea, Canadian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1909)
• 2013 – Edwin Shirley, English businessman (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Pat Summerall, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Mexican architect, designed the Tijuana Cultural Center and Museo Nacional de Antropología (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Gyude Bryant, Liberian businessman and politician (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Stan Kelly-Bootle, English author and songwriter (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Frank Kopel, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Basil Paterson, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Aulis Rytkönen, Finnish footballer and manager (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Ernst Florian Winter, Austrian-American historian and political scientist (b. 1923)

Digital music matches physical sales for the first time

Digital music revenues matched physical sales for the first time in 2014, thanks to strong growth in the streaming market.

The digital market rose 6.9% to $6.9 billion (£4.6 billion), representing 46% of all global music sales, reported the music industry body IFPI.

CDs, vinyl and other physical formats also accounted for 46% of the market, with rights for performances, films and advertisements making up the rest.

But overall revenue slipped by 0.4%.

Pharrell Williams's Happy was the most-downloaded single globally in 2014, with Taylor Swift the most popular artist, the IFPI said.

The London-based body also noted that vinyl sales had increased by 54.7%, and now account for 2% of global revenues.

UK sales drop

The global recorded music industry was worth $14.97 billion (£10.1 billion) last year, down from $15 billion (£10 billion) in 2013. 

Although the rate of decline has slowed since the mid-2000s, it is the second consecutive year of falling music sales.

A brief upturn in 2012, when global revenues rose 0.3%, now appears to be an aberration.

But the picture varies from country to country. The US, the world's largest music market, saw an overall increase of 2.1%.

Japan, where falling CD sales have dragged down the global industry in recent years, saw an increase in digital revenue for the first time in five years, as streaming services gained a firmer foothold.

Other large markets saw declining sales - including France (down 3.4%) and the UK (down 2.8%).

And 37 countries - including Sweden, Mexico, Spain and South Korea - saw streaming revenue overtake download income.

Top-selling albums of 2014 - IFPI
Title	Artist	Sales
1) Frozen soundtrack	Various	10 million
2) 1989	Taylor Swift	6 million
3) x	Ed Sheeran	4 million
4) Ghost Stories	Coldplay	3.7 million
5) In The Lonely Hour	Sam Smith	3.5 million
6) Four	One Direction	3.2 million
7) Rock or Bust	AC/DC	2.7 million
8) Guardians of the Galaxy OST	Various	2.5 million
9) The Endless River	Pink Floyd	2.5 million
10) Pure Heroine	Lorde	2 million

Overall, last year saw a steep increase in subscriptions to streaming sites such as Deezer and Spotify, with revenues increasing by 39% to $1.57 billion (£1.06 billion).

That offset a decline in download sales, mostly derived from Apple's iTunes store, which fell by 8%.

Untapped potential

The IFPI estimated that, out of the 100 million people who use streaming services, just 41 million were paid-up subscribers, with the rest accessing free, ad-supported streams.

Its annual Digital Music Report said there was "substantial untapped potential for growth within the paid-for category".

The market is still expanding, with new players such as Tidal expected to be joined by an Apple-branded streaming service later this year.

Top-selling singles of 2014 - IFPI
Title	Artist	Sales
1) Happy	Pharrell Williams	13.9 million
2) Dark Horse	Katy Perry ft Juicy J	13.2 million
3) All of Me	John Legend	12.3 million
4) All About That Bass	Meghan Trainor	11 million
5) Let It Go	Idina Menzel	10.9 million
6) Timber	Pitbull ft Ke$ha	9.6 million
7) Fancy	Iggy Azalea ft Charli XCX	9.1 million
8) Problem	Ariana Grande ft Iggy Azalea	9 million
9) Rude	Magic!	8.6 million
10) Bailando	Enrique Iglesias ft Sean Paul	8 million

"I think we will be looking, in the next couple of years, at digital surpassing physical," said the IFPI chief executive, Frances Moore.

"We are seeing that streaming is really leading the digital market, and we can imagine a time when digital will be the majority of music sales."

Sony Music chief executive Edgar Berger added: "The industry has shifted from an ownership model to access. I've not met anyone who can see beyond streaming. So this looks like a final destination".

But the IFPI also called on European lawmakers to clamp down on sites like YouTube and Daily Motion, which claim exemption from liability when users upload videos containing copyrighted music.

Star Wars The Force Awakens trailer: Han Solo returns

The new trailer reintroduces fans to a certain scruffy smuggler and teases key details of what to expect in the movie.

The internet blew up like the Death Star when the second teaser for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens hit YouTube on 16 April. Fans of George Lucas’ space opera cheered the new footage of what is inarguably the most anticipated film of 2015 – especially since it featured the return of Harrison Ford as Han Solo, the roguish captain of the Millennium Falcon who in effect created the template for the modern Hollywood action hero.

The trailer boldly sets out the mission statement for The Force Awakens, which is scheduled to be released worldwide 18 December: to honour Star Wars’ rich storytelling legacy but not just recycle old tropes. Instead it’s about capturing a feeling of discovery, of new worlds, new characters and new ideas.

The biggest new idea to hit that galaxy far, far away? Diversity. The lead characters of The Force Awakens include the black British actor John Boyega, whose appearance in a stormtrooper uniform in the first Star Wars teaser elicited racist comments from certain corners of the internet last year, and Daisy Ridley, whose character some suggest may experience a similar “hero’s journey” to Mark Hamill’s seminal Luke Skywalker. Ridley joins a cast populated with far more women – Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie and a returning Carrie Fisher, among them – than previous Star Wars films could claim. It’s a big galaxy, and director JJ Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy are stating that it’s available for all to explore.

In a panel discussion held 16 April at the fan event Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California, Lucasfilm president Kennedy discussed how important it was to them that women receive greater representation in the film and how she wants her two daughters to extract worthy role models from it. She even acknowledged that if she wanted to dress up as a Star Wars character in the past, “I didn’t have many choices,” before adding, “but that’s going to change.”

Star-gazing

And yes, the new trailer does look back to Star Wars’ past glories – there’s a powerful sense of nostalgia in the new teaser, but selective nostalgia. Abrams and Kennedy have taken certain elements from the previous films that are beloved by the fans and have jettisoned the Gungans and Ewoks.

The clip opens on the desiccated wasteland of the desert planet Jakku – not Tatooine as many had predicted. It is strewn with wreckage, including a massive Imperial Star Destroyer beached in the background. Ridley’s character, named Rey, was revealed during the Star Wars Celebration discussion to be a scavenger who collects spare parts. Indeed, she’s a tinkerer much like Luke Skywalker and his father Anakin (the latter of course having gone on to become Darth Vader).

The trailer’s evident nostalgia for Star Wars’ cinematic history isn’t just narratively informed, but aesthetic as well. On that rubble-strewn landscape on Jakku, Abrams and Kennedy are bringing back the “used future” concept that George Lucas originally envisioned for his saga. Whereas most science fiction, even sci-fi as groundbreaking as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, traded in gleaming, scrubbed-clean surfaces and bright lighting to create their futuristic visions, Star Wars revelled in the shadows and grime: dirty cantinas, dusty homesteads and vehicles with peeling paint. When Luke Skywalker first sees the Millennium Falcon, he doesn’t admire it the way Star Trek’s Captain Kirk would beam up at the Starship Enterprise. Instead he says, “What a piece of junk.” The used-future aesthetic, originally brought to life in stunning concept art by Ralph McQuarrie, didn’t just create the feeling that the Star Wars galaxy was a lived-in place. The aesthetic was a philosophical statement: that future technological advancement may only accelerate decay, that entropy – and not a progress toward enlightenment and harmony à la Star Trek – was the natural state of the universe. That Abrams and Kennedy are embracing practical special effects, and keeping the glistening CGI to a minimum, should mark a return to the worn-and-battered aesthetic of the original trilogy, of a galaxy run amok.

First step into a larger world

The cast of The Force Awakens revealed cryptic details of the plot at Star Wars Celebration. Rey meets Finn on Jakku and together they discover something that sets them on a star-spanning adventure. But a big question is whether Finn, who is first glimpsed wearing the armour of the evil Empire, is truly a villain. Is he a stormtrooper, or just wearing the uniform as a disguise, as Luke and Han did in the first Star Wars movie?

The new trailer does depict him in civilian clothes and running from explosions alongside Rey, suggesting he is indeed one of the film’s heroes. Apparently, Finn and possibly Rey, then meet up with another new lead character in the film, X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac. (That Isaac and fellow Force Awakens cast member Adam Driver, who sang the folk song Please Mr Kennedy in 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis – in which the two implored President John F Kennedy not to send them into outer space – have indeed been sent into orbit by a Ms Kennedy is one of recent cinema’s great twists of cosmic fate.) Driver himself was still not glimpsed in any footage from the film, though it is suspected he plays the new villain, Kylo Ren, the wielder of the highly controversial ‘broadsaber’. Ren, hidden behind a mask that recalls both Vader and fan favourite character Darth Revan from the blockbuster videogame Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is seen wielding his crimson blade in battle in this teaser. That sword is representative of the new Star Wars aesthetic: slight tweaks to old designs to create a sense of both the familiar and the foreign.

But the moment everyone will be talking about from the trailer is the return of Harrison Ford as Han Solo. The 72-year-old actor hasn’t appeared on screen as the captain of the Millennium Falcon in 32 years. Everyone was wondering, “Will he still look the part?” His Indiana Jones always said that if he was worn down, the culprit “was not the years, but the mileage.” But would the years have taken their toll on Ford’s depiction of Solo? Reports from the set made him sound as active as ever – he even broke his leg filming a stunt sequence.

Any doubt, happily, has proven unfounded. In the trailer Ford looks as if he could make the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs. “Chewie,” Han says to his Wookiee copilot. “We’re home.”

That is precisely how millions of Star Wars fans feel.

Οι Ισπανοί για τα 10 ομορφότερα μέρη στην Ελλάδα για να ζήσεις για πάντα 

«Λευκά, πεντακάθαρα, σκαρφαλωμένα πάνω σε βράχια, με θέα 

τη θάλασσα, με μπλε θόλους, μεσαιωνικά, ιστορικά, με στενά

 δρομάκια στολισμένα με μπουκαμβίλιες. Η καλύτερη σύνοψη

 της Μεσογείου».

Αυτοί είναι οι χαρακτηρισμοί για τα 10 χωριά και συνοικισμούς στην Ελλάδα που

 αξίζει να περάσει κανείς ολόκληρη τη ζωή του, κατά το ευρείας κυκλοφορίας

 ισπανικό περιοδικό «Hola».

Πρωταθλήτρια στις επιλογές των Ισπανών αναδεικνύεται η Σαντορίνη, με τρία 

χωριά στο Τop 10, η οποία χαρακτηρίζεται «μαγική», με «ρομαντικά χωριουδάκια που

 είναι διάσπαρτα στις παρυφές των γκρεμών που σχηματίστηκαν από το ηφαίστειο».

1. Οία

«Στην άκρη του γκρεμού, η Οία στη Σαντορίνη είναι ένα χωριό για καρτ ποστάλ. 

Πρόκειται για ένα από τα πιο όμορφα σε ολόκληρη τη Μεσόγειο, ξακουστό χάρη

 στα εκπληκτικά του ηλιοβασιλέματα», γράφει το Hola.

2. Χώρα Μυκόνου

«Δεν υπάρχει άλλο νησί πιο κοσμοπολίτικο από τη Μύκονο» γράφει το ισπανικό

 περιοδικό και συνεχίζει: «Η πρωτεύουσα της Μυκόνου είναι η Χώρα, μια 

παραθαλάσσια πόλη που αποτελείται από τετράγωνα κτίρια που έχουν επίπεδες στέγες.

 Πρόκειται για έναν λαβύρινθο από λιθόστρωτα δρομάκια στολισμένα με 

μπουκαμβίλιες και διώροφα σπιτάκια με ξύλινα πολύχρωμα μπαλκόνια, πολλές

 εκκλησίες και ξωκλήσια με μπλε και κόκκινους τρούλους».

3. Ρέθυμνο

«Εκτείνεται μπροστά από έναν μεγάλο κόλπο με μια όμορφη παραλία στο κέντρο

 και ένα πολύβουο λιμάνι. Είναι η τρίτη μεγαλύτερη πόλη στο νησί της Κρήτης, που

 πρέπει να “ευγνωμονεί” τους Ενετούς για τη μεσαιωνική αρχιτεκτονική του και

 τους Τούρκους για τα ίχνη της οθωμανικής αρχιτεκτονικής» είναι η περιγραφή του Hola.

4. Υδρα

«Στον κόλπο του Αργοσαρωνικού, η ομώνυμη πρωτεύουσα του νησιού είναι στην 

πραγματικότητα ένα λιμάνι σε σχήμα μισοφέγγαρου που το διασχίζουν απότομα

 πέτρινα δρομάκια στα οποία στέκονται αρχοντικά χτισμένα από Γενοβέζους και

 Ενετούς αρχιτέκτονες. Στο κέντρο της πόλης και πολύ κοντά στη θάλασσα είναι 

το Μοναστήρι της Κοίμησης της Θεοτόκου και Μητρόπολη του νησιού, ενώ ο ναός 

του Προφήτη Ηλία προσφέρει εκπληκτική θέα» αναφέρει για το νησάκι του

 Αργοσαρωνικού το ισπανικό περιοδικό.

5. Πάργα

«Γραφική και κοσμοπολίτικη, στην περιφέρεια της Πρέβεζας και απέναντι από τα

 νησιά Παξοί και Αντίπαξοι, η Πάργα είναι μια πόλη με παραδοσιακή αρχιτεκτονική, 

αμφιθεατρική με στενά δρομάκια που οδηγούν στην παραλία του φυσικού κόλπου.

 Τυγχάνει να είναι ένας από τους πιο δημοφιλείς καλοκαιρινούς προορισμούς στην

 Ελλάδα» σχολιάζει το Hola.

6. Φηρά

«Εκτείνεται στην άκρη του γκρεμού, η Θήρα ή τα Φηρά είναι η πρωτεύουσα της

 Σαντορίνης. Είναι χτισμένη πάνω σε μια κορυφή και δεν είναι τίποτε άλλο από μια 

συλλογή από υπέροχα σοκάκια με ασβεστωμένα σπίτια, εκ των οποίων τα πολλά 

είναι σκαλισμένα πάνω στον ηφαιστειακό βράχο. Ενα αυθεντικό μεσογειακό χωριό,

 με πλούσια χρώματα και λουσμένο φως» είναι η περιγραφή των Ισπανών για τα Φηρά.

7. Ρόδος

«Το 227 π.Χ. ένας σεισμός κατέστρεψε τον Κολοσσό της Ρόδου, τον Κύκλωπα

 που στεκόταν στο λιμάνι του μεγαλύτερου νησιού των Δωδεκανήσων και 

εθεωρείτο προστάτης του. Από το έργο, που ήταν ένα από τα Επτά Θαύματα της 

Αρχαιότητας, δεν έχει απομείνει ίχνος, αλλά η αύρα του θρύλου και του μυστηρίου

 του παραμένει ανέπαφη στη Ρόδο χάρη στην πλούσια ιστορική, καλλιτεχνική και

 φυσική κληρονομιά του» γράφει το Hola.

8. Παροικιά

«Η πρωτεύουσα του νησιού της Πάρου είναι ένα κλασικό κυκλαδίτικο χωριό, με τα

 μικρά του εκκλησάκια-ερμητήρια στα στενά του δρομάκια και τους

 ανεμόμυλους στην είσοδο του λιμανιού του. Στον κύριο δρόμο του, κοντά

 στο λιμάνι, εκτυλίσσεται η καθημερινή ζωή των κατοίκων, εκεί όπου στέκεται

 το κυριότερο μνημείο (σ.σ.: της Πάρου), η Εκκλησία της Παναγίας της 

Εκατονταπυλιανής, μία από τις πρώτες παλαιοχριστιανικές βασιλικές που 

χτίστηκαν στην Ελλάδα» αναφέρουν οι Ισπανοί.

9. Σπέτσες

«Είτε μέρα είτε νύχτα, τα σπίτια στις Σπέτσες, σε ένα από τα πιο κοσμοπολίτικα 

νησιά του Αργοσαρωνικού, είναι χτισμένα κλιμακωτά και μοιάζουν σαν να

 μάχονται για το ποιο θα έχει την καλύτερη θέα στη θάλασσα. Πρόκειται για ένα 

από τα θέρετρα όπου περνά συνήθως τις διακοπές του η πρώην βασιλική 

οικογένεια και είναι το μέρος όπου επέλεξαν να παντρευτούν ο Νικόλαος και η 

Τατιάνα Μπλάτνικ» γράφει το ισπανικό περιοδικό.

10. Φηροστεφάνι

«Στα βόρεια των Φηρών, η θέα από αυτό το μέρος της Σαντορίνης που προσφέρουν

 οι μπλε θόλοι στο Φηροστεφάνι, κυρίως κατά τη διάρκεια του ηλιοβασιλέματος,

 είναι εκπληκτική, προσδίδοντας έτσι μια άλλη προοπτική στο ηφαίστειο του νησιού»

 αναφέρει το περιοδικό Hola για το τρίτο χωριό της Σαντορίνης που φιγουράρει 

στο Τop 10 του.

«ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΠΟΛΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΗ»: ΠΡΕΜΙΕΡΑ 25 ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ ΣΤΟΝ ALPHA