April 20



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)
 2013 - Deanna Durbin, Canadian-American actress and singer (b. 1921)
 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)

Days of the year