Title: April 20 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === * 1303 - University of Rome La Sapienza is founded by Pope Boniface VIII. * 1453 – Last naval battle in Byzantine history, as three Genoese galleys escorting a Byzantine transport fight their way through the huge Ottoman blockade fleet into the Golden Horn. * 1534 – Jacques Cartier sets sail from France on an expedition that will take him to present-day Canada, including Labrador. * 1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump parliament. * 1657 – Freedom of religion is granted to Jews in New Amsterdam, present-day New York City. * 1689 - James II of England/James VII of Scotland lays siege to Derry in present-day Northern Ireland. * 1770 - Irekle II, King of Georgia, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins against Ottoman Empire forces at Aspindza. * 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Siege of Boston begins. * 1792 – France declares war on Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor. * 1810 – The Governor of Caracas (Venezuela), declares independence from Spain. * 1828 – René Caillié becomes the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu. * 1836 - United States Congress passes the act creating the Wisconsin territory. * 1862 – Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization process. * 1876 - The April Uprising begins in Bulgaria. * 1887 – The first car race is held in France, on a course running from Paris to Versailles. * 1889 – Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria. === 1901 2000 === * 1902 – Marie Curie and Pierre Curie refine Radium. * 1912 – Baseball: The Tiger Stadium (Detroit) and Fenway Park (Boston) open. * 1914 - 19 people die in the Ludlow massacre in Colorado during a coal miners strike. * 1916 - In baseball, the Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park, now called Wrigley Field, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6. * 1920 – The 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp begin. * 1922 - The Soviet government creates the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. * 1939 - Billie Holiday records the first civil rights song Strange Fruit. * 1944 - Dutch freighter Voorbode explodes in the harbor of Bergen, Norway, killing 150 people. * 1945 – World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, which is later handed to Soviet forces. * 1945 – World War II: At the Führerbunker, Adolf Hitler makes his last outside appearance, handing Iron Cross medals to members of the Hitler Youth on his 56th birthday. * 1946 - The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its powers to the United Nations. * 1947 – King Christian X of Denmark dies. King Frederick IX of Denmark succeeds him. * 1951 - Dan Gavriliu performs the first surgical replacement of a human organ. * 1964 – The British TV Channel BBC Two begins transmission, but a power cut occurs, due to a fire at Battersea Power Station in London. * 1967 - A Globe Air plane crashes against a mountain near Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126 people. * 1968 - A South African Airways plane crashes shortly after take-off from Windhoek, Namibia, killing 129 people. * 1968 - Pierre Trudeau becomes Prime Minister of Canada. * 1968 – British politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech, in which he calls for tighter immigration controls. * 1972 – Apollo 16 lands on the Moon. * 1978 – Korean Air Flight 902 is shot down by the Soviets. * 1986 – Vladimir Horowitz performs in Russia for the first time in 61 years. * 1986 - Chicago Bulls basketball star Michael Jordan scores a playoff record 63 points in a single game, against the Boston Celtics. * 1989 – Scientists announce that an Asteroid has narrowly missed hitting the Earth. * 1992 - Surviving members of the band Queen hold a tribute concert to Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium. * 1998 – The Red Army Faction announces an end to its operations. * 1999 – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two teenagers, go on a shooting spree at Columbine High School, near Littleton, Colorado. === From 2001 === * 2005 – In Ecuador, President Lucio Gutiérrez is removed by Parliament and replaced by Alfredo Palacio. * 2007 - Johnson Space Center shooting: A man with a handgun barricades himself in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and kills a male hostage before killing himself. * 2008 – Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first woman to win an Indy car race. * 2010 – Deepwater Horizon oil spill: An explosion occurs on the Deepwater Horizon Oil rig, near Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people, and causing the worst Oil spill in US history. * 2011 – Photojournalist Tim Hetherington and journalist Chris Hondros are killed in Libya during the 2011 Libyan civil war. * 2012 - A Bhoja Air plane crashes near Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 127 people. * 2013 - At least 160 people are killed after an earthquake of over magnitude 6 strikes Sichuan province in China. * 2013 - Giorgio Napolitano is elected to a second term as President of Italy. It is the first time that an Italian President has been elected to a second term in office. * 2017 - In Paris, shooting toward police officers killed one officer and the attacker. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 570 – Muhammad the Prophet, founder of Islam (d. 632) * 1492 - Pietro Aretino, Italian writer and poet (d. 1556) * 1494 – Johannes Agricola, German religious reformer (d. 1566) * 1586 – Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617) * 1633 – Emperor Go-Komyo, Emperor of Japan (d. 1654) * 1723 - Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer and statesman (d. 1781) * 1745 - Philippe Pinel, French physician (d. 1826) * 1748 – Georg Michael Telemann, German composer (d. 1839) * 1808 – Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1873) * 1809 - James David Forbes, Scottish physicist and glaciologist (d. 1868) * 1818 - Albrecht von Stosch, German general and admiral (d. 1896) * 1839 – King Carol I of Romania (d. 1914) * 1842 - John Murphy Farley, Irish-American cardinal (d. 1918) * 1850 - Daniel Chester French, American sculptor (d. 1931) * 1851 – Torakusu Yamaha, Japanese entrepreneur (d. 1916) * 1851 – Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1875) * 1851 - Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer and politician (d. 1921) * 1852 - John Murphy Farley, Archbishop of New York and cardinal (d. 1918) * 1855 – Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1932) * 1859 - Vincenzo Cerulli, Italian astronomer (d. 1927) * 1860 - Pieter Jelles Troelstra, Dutch-Frisian poet and politician (d. 1930) * 1871 - Sydney Chapman, British economist (d. 1951) * 1871 - Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer and inventor (d. 1972) * 1875 - Vladimir Vidric, Croatian poet (d. 1989) * 1879 - Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (d. 1944) * 1884 – Daniel Varujan, Armenian poet (d. 1915) * 1884 – Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1966) * 1889 – Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader (d. 1945) * 1890 – Adolf Schaerf, President of Austria (d. 1965) * 1890 – Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec (d. 1959) * 1893 – Joan Miró, Spanish painter (d. 1983) * 1893 – Edna Parker, American supercentenarian, oldest person in the world at the time of her death (d. 2008) * 1893 – Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971) * 1895 - Emile Christian, American jazz musician (d. 1973) * 1896 - Wop May, Canadian pilot and captain (d. 1952) === 1901 1950 === * 1904 – Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972) * 1904 - George Stibitz, American scientist (d. 1995) * 1908 - Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician, bandleader and actor (d. 2002) * 1910 – Robert F. Wagner, Jr., Mayor of New York City (d. 1991) * 1911 – Kukrit Pramoj, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 1995) * 1913 - Roger Rochard, French long-distance runner (d. 1993) * 1914 - Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999) * 1918 – Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (d. 2007) * 1920 – John Paul Stevens, American jurist (d. 2019) * 1923 - Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster (d. 2016) * 1923 - Tito Puente, American jazz musician and producer (d. 2000) * 1923 - Jorge Romo, Mexican footballer (d. 2014) * 1924 – Leslie Phillips, British actor * 1924 - Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (d. 2008) * 1925 - Elena Verdugo, American actress (d. 2017) * 1927 – Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist * 1927 – Phil Hill, American racing driver (d. 2008) * 1928 - Robert Byrne, American chess player (d. 2013) * 1928 - Arvo Kruusement, Estonian movie director * 1930 - Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (d. 2014) * 1935 - Mario Camus, Spanish screenwriter and movie director * 1936 – Pat Roberts, United States Senator * 1936 - Pauli Ellefsen, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2012) * 1937 – Jiri Dienstbier, Czech politician and journalist (d. 2011) * 1937 – George Takei, American actor * 1938 - Betty Cuthbert, Australian athlete (d. 2017) * 1938 - Igor Sergeyev, Marshal of the Russian Federation (d. 2006) * 1938 – Peter Snow, British broadcaster * 1939 - Peter S. Beagle, American writer * 1939 – Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway * 1939 - Wayson Choy, Canadian writer (d. 2019) * 1940 - James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010) * 1941 - Ryan O'Neal, American actor * 1942 – Arto Paasilinna, Finnish writer (d. 2018) * 1943 – Alan Beith, British politician, former MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed * 1943 - John Eliot Gardiner, British conductor * 1943 – Edie Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1971) * 1945 - Michael Brandon, American actor * 1945 - Gregory Olsen, American entrepreneur * 1945 - Gerry Steinberg, English politician (d. 2015) * 1945 - Thein Sein, President of Burma * 1946 – Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, German politician * 1947 - David Leland, British director, actor and screenwriter * 1947 - Björn Skifs, Swedish singer-songwriter, actor and screenwriter * 1949 – Massimo D'Alema, former Prime Minister of Italy * 1949 – Aleksandr Maltsev, Russian ice hockey player * 1949 – Jessica Lange, American actress * 1949 – Toller Cranston, Canadian figure skater (d. 2015) * 1949 - Paul Heiney, English journalist * 1950 - N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh * 1950 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002) * 1950 - Ibrahim Yusri, Egyptian actor (d. 2015) === 1951 1975 === * 1951 – Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005) * 1952 - Eric Pickles, British politician * 1953 – Sebastian Faulks, British writer * 1956 – Kevin Judge, American Internet Security Expert * 1958 - Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player * 1959 – Clint Howard, American actor * 1960 - Miguel Diaz- Canel, President of Cuba * 1961 – Nicholas Lyndhurst, British actor * 1961 - Paul Usher, British actor * 1962 - Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland * 1963 - Rachel Whiteread, British artist and sculptor * 1964 – Andy Serkis, British actor * 1964 - Crispin Glover, American actor * 1964 - Rosalynn Summers, American figure skater * 1965 - Susan Cookson, British actress * 1965 - April March, American singer-songwriter * 1965 - Bernardo Fernando da Silva, Brazilian footballer * 1966 – David Chalmers, Australian philosopher * 1966 - David Filo, American businessman and co- founder of Google * 1967 - Mike Portnoy, American musician * 1967 – Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player * 1968 - Julia Morris, Australian actress and television presenter * 1969 - Felix Baumgartner, Austrian skydiver * 1970 - Shemar Moore, American actor * 1972 – Carmen Electra, American actress, singer and model * 1972 – Marko Kon, Serbian composer, singer and actor * 1972 - Stephen Marley, Jamaican musician === From 1976 === * 1976 – Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer * 1976 – Shay Given, Irish footballer * 1976 - Joey Lawrence, American actor * 1976 - Chris Mason, Canadian ice hockey player * 1979 - Gregor Tait, Scottish swimmer * 1979 – Ludovic Magnin, Swiss footballer * 1980 - Vibeke Skofterud, Norwegian cross-country skier (d. 2018) * 1980 – Jasmin Wagner, German singer * 1980 – Lee Wilkie, Scottish footballer * 1981 - Mike Blair, Scottish rugby union player and coach * 1983 – Miranda Kerr, Australian supermodel * 1983 - Danny Granger, American actor, producer and musician * 1984 - Nelson Evora, Portuguese athlete * 1984 - Edixon Perea, Colombian footballer * 1985 – Brent Seabrook, Canadian ice hockey player * 1985 - Curt Hawkins, American professional wrestler * 1987 - John Patrick Amedori, American actor * 1987 - Anna Rossinelli, Swiss singer * 1991 - Thomas Curtis, American actor * 1991 - Ondrej Krajak, Czech footballer * 1992 - Ashton Moio, American actor, stuntman and martial artist * 1997 - Alexander Zverev, German tennis player * 1999 - Carly Rose Sonenclar, American actress * 2000 – Funny Cide, American racehorse == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 689 - Caedwalla, King of Wessex * 1176 - Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English military leader (b. 1130) * 1314 – Pope Clement V (b. 1264) * 1517 - Bogdan III the One-Eyed, Romanian son of Stephen of Moldavia (b. 1470) * 1521 – Zhengde Emperor of China (b. 1491) * 1526 – Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi * 1534 - Elizabeth Barton, English nun and saint (b. 1506) * 1558 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German priest and theologian (b. 1485) * 1769 – Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa (b. 1720) * 1786 – John Goodricke, English astronomer (b. 1746) * 1812 – George Clinton, US Vice President and Governor of New York (b. 1739) * 1831 - John Abernethy, English surgeon (b. 1864) * 1869 - Carl Loewe, German composer (b. 1796) * 1873 - William Tite, English architect (b. 1798) * 1874 - Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (b. 1817) * 1887 – Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Egyptian statesman (b. 1826) * 1899 – Joseph Wolf, German artist (b. 1820) === 1901 2000 === * 1902 - Joaquim de Sousa Andrade, Brazilian poet (b. 1833) * 1912 – Bram Stoker, Irish writer (b. 1847) * 1912 - Pedro Lira, Chilean painter (b. 1845) * 1914 - Ivar Wickman, Swedish physician (b. 1872) * 1918 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist (b. 1850) * 1927 - Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter (b. 1866) * 1929 - Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia (b. 1862) * 1932 - Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858) * 1935 - John Cameron, Scottish footballer (b. 1872) * 1937 - James Gillett, 22nd Governor of California (b. 1860) * 1947 – King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870) * 1951 – Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873) * 1967 - Leo- Paul Desrosiers, French-Canadian journalist and novelist (b. 1896) * 1982 - Archibald MacLeish, American poet and writer (b. 1892) * 1990 - Horst Sindermann, German politician (b. 1915) * 1991 – Don Siegel, American movie director (b. 1912) * 1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian and actor (b. 1924) * 1993 - Cantinflas, Mexican comedian and actor (b. 1911) * 1994 - Jean Carmet, French actor (b. 1920) * 1996 - Tran Van Tra, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1918) * 1996 – Christopher Robin Milne, son of the writer A. A. Milne (b. 1920) * 1999 - Deaths in the Columbine High School massacre: **Cassie Bernall, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981) **Rachel Joy Scott, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981) **Eric Harris, perpetrator of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981) **Dylan Klebold, perpetrator of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981) === From 2001 === * 2001 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946) * 2002 - Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925) * 2002 - Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer-songwriter (b. 1948) * 2003 - Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908) * 2003 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976) * 2003 – Bernard Katz, German biophysicist (b. 1911) * 2005 - Zygfryd Blaut, Polish footballer (b. 1943) * 2010 – Dorothy Height, American Civil Rights activist (b. 1912) * 2011 - Journalists killed in Libya: **Tim Hetherington, British photojournalist (b. 1970) **Chris Hondros, American photographer (b. 1970) * 2014 - Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, American boxer (b. 1937) * 2014 - Neville Wran, Australian politician, former Premier of New South Wales (b. 1926) * 2014 - Benedikt Sarnov, Russian literary critic and writer (b. 1927) * 2014 - Alistair MacLeod, Canadian author and academic (b. 1936) * 2015 - Frederic Morton, Austrian-American writer (b. 1924) * 2015 - Aharon Lichtenstein, French-born American-Israeli rabbi (b. 1933) * 2015 - Richard Anthony, Egyptian-born French singer (b. 1938) * 2015 - Bob St. Clair, American football player (b. 1931) * 2015 - Ibrahim Yusri, Egyptian actor (b. 1950) * 2015 - Peter Howell, English actor (b. 1929) * 2016 - Victoria Wood, English comedienne, actress and writer (b. 1953) * 2016 - Guy Hamilton, English film director (b. 1922) * 2016 - Avril Henry, English academic (b. 1934) * 2016 - Leonie Kramer, Australian academic (b. 1924) * 2016 - Harry Perkowski, American baseball player (b. 1922) * 2017 - Germaine Mason, Jamaican-born British high jumper (b. 1983) * 2017 - Jay Dickey, American politician (b. 1939) * 2017 - Roberto Ferreiro, Argentine footballer (b. 1935) * 2017 - Cuba Gooding, Sr., American singer (b. 1944) * 2017 - Lawrence Hogan, American politician (b. 1928) * 2017 - Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish sculptor (b. 1930) * 2018 - Avicii, Swedish DJ, musician and music producer (b. 1989) * 2018 - Roy Bentley, English footballer (b. 1924) * 2018 - Pedro Erquicia, Spanish journalist and television producer (b. 1943) * 2018 - Rajinder Sachar, Pakistan-Indian political activist and judge (b. 1923) * 2018 - Al Swift, American broadcaster and politician (b. 1935) * 2018 - Shane Yarran, Australian rules footballer (b. 1989) * 2018 - Charles Zwick, American civil servant (b. 1926) * 2019 - Joe Armstrong, British computer scientist (b. 1950) * 2019 - Reggie Cobb, American football player (b. 1968) * 2019 - Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Iranian artist (b. 1922) * 2019 - Karl Grob, Swiss footballer (b. 1946) * 2019 - Braulio Lara, Dominican baseball player (b. 1988) * 2019 - David V. Picker, American film executive and producer (b. 1931) == Observances == * 4/20 - Cannabis culture * UN Chinese language Day * Ridvan begins (Baha'i faith) Category:Days of the year