April 20

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 1303 &ndash; University of Rome La Sapienza is founded by Pope Boniface VIII.
* 1453 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Jacques Cartier sets sail from France on an expedition that will take him to present-day Canada, including Labrador.
* 1653 &ndash; Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump parliament.
* 1657 &ndash; Freedom of religion is granted to Jews in New Amsterdam, present-day New York City.
* 1689 &ndash; James II of England/James VII of Scotland lays siege to Derry in present-day Northern Ireland.
* 1770 &ndash; Irekle II, King of Georgia, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins against Ottoman Empire forces at Aspindza.
* 1775 &ndash; American Revolutionary War: The Siege of Boston begins.
* 1792 &ndash; France declares war on Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor.
* 1810 &ndash; The Governor of Caracas (Venezuela), declares independence from Spain.
* 1828 &ndash; René Caillié becomes the first non–Muslim to enter Timbuktu.
* 1836 &ndash; United States Congress passes the act creating the Wisconsin territory.
* 1862 &ndash; Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization process.
* 1876 &ndash; The April Uprising begins in Bulgaria.
* 1887 &ndash; The first car race is held in France, on a course running from Paris to Versailles.
* 1889 &ndash; Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1902 &ndash; Marie Curie and Pierre Curie refine Radium.
* 1912 &ndash; Baseball: The Tiger Stadium (Detroit) and Fenway Park (Boston) open.
* 1914 &ndash; 19 people die in the Ludlow massacre in Colorado during a coal miners strike.
* 1916 &ndash; In baseball, the Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park, now called Wrigley Field, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7–6.
* 1920 &ndash; The 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp begin.
* 1922 &ndash; The Soviet government creates the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
* 1939 &ndash; Billie Holiday records the first civil rights song Strange Fruit.
* 1944 &ndash; Dutch freighter *Voorbode* explodes in the harbor of Bergen, Norway, killing 150 people.
* 1945 &ndash; World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, which is later handed to Soviet forces.
* 1945 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its powers to the United Nations.
* 1947 &ndash; King Christian X of Denmark dies. King Frederick IX of Denmark succeeds him.
* 1951 &ndash; Dan Gavriliu performs the first surgical replacement of a human organ.
* 1964 &ndash; The British TV Channel BBC Two begins transmission, but a power cut occurs, due to a fire at Battersea Power Station in London.
* 1967 &ndash; A Globe Air plane crashes against a mountain near Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126 people.
* 1968 &ndash; A South African Airways plane crashes shortly after take-off from Windhoek, Namibia, killing 129 people.
* 1968 &ndash; Pierre Trudeau becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
* 1968 &ndash; British politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech, in which he calls for tighter immigration controls.
* 1972 &ndash; Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.
* 1978 &ndash; Korean Air Flight 902 is shot down by the Soviets.
* 1986 &ndash; Vladimir Horowitz performs in Russia for the first time in 61 years.
* 1986 &ndash; Chicago Bulls basketball star Michael Jordan scores a playoff record 63 points in a single game, against the Boston Celtics.
* 1989 &ndash; Scientists announce that an Asteroid has narrowly missed hitting the Earth.
* 1992 &ndash; Surviving members of the band Queen hold a tribute concert to Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium.
* 1998 &ndash; The Red Army Faction announces an end to its operations.
* 1999 &ndash; Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, two teenagers, go on a shooting spree at Columbine High School, near Littleton, Colorado.

### From 2001 
* 2005 &ndash; In Ecuador, President Lucio Gutiérrez is removed by Parliament and replaced by Alfredo Palacio.
* 2007 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first woman to win an Indy car race.
* 2010 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Photojournalist Tim Hetherington and journalist Chris Hondros are killed in Libya during the 2011 Libyan civil war.
* 2012 &ndash; A Bhoja Air plane crashes near Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 127 people.
* 2013 &ndash; At least 160 people are killed after an earthquake of over magnitude 6 strikes Sichuan province in China.
* 2013 &ndash; 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 &ndash; In Paris, shooting toward police officers killed one officer and the attacker.

## Births 
### Up to 1900 
* 570 &ndash; Muhammad the Prophet, founder of Islam (d. 632)
* 1492 &ndash; Pietro Aretino, Italian writer and poet (d. 1556)
* 1494 &ndash; Johannes Agricola, German religious reformer (d. 1566)
* 1586 &ndash; Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617)
* 1633 &ndash; Emperor Go-Komyo, Emperor of Japan (d. 1654)
* 1723 &ndash; Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer and statesman (d. 1781)
* 1745 &ndash; Philippe Pinel, French physician (d. 1826)
* 1748 &ndash; Georg Michael Telemann, German composer (d. 1839)
* 1808 &ndash; Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1873)
* 1809 &ndash; James David Forbes, Scottish physicist and glaciologist (d. 1868)
* 1818 &ndash; Albrecht von Stosch, German general and admiral (d. 1896)
* 1839 &ndash; King Carol I of Romania (d. 1914)
* 1842 &ndash; John Murphy Farley, Irish-American cardinal (d. 1918)
* 1850 &ndash; Daniel Chester French, American sculptor (d. 1931)
* 1851 &ndash; Torakusu Yamaha, Japanese entrepreneur (d. 1916)
* 1851 &ndash; Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1875)
* 1851 &ndash; Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer and politician (d. 1921)
* 1852 &ndash; John Murphy Farley, Archbishop of New York and cardinal (d. 1918)
* 1855 &ndash; Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1932)
* 1859 &ndash; Vincenzo Cerulli, Italian astronomer (d. 1927)
* 1860 &ndash; Pieter Jelles Troelstra, Dutch–Frisian poet and politician (d. 1930)
* 1871 &ndash; Sydney Chapman, British economist (d. 1951)
* 1871 &ndash; Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian engineer and inventor (d. 1972)
* 1875 &ndash; Vladimir Vidric, Croatian poet (d. 1989)
* 1879 &ndash; Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (d. 1944)
* 1884 &ndash; Daniel Varujan, Armenian poet (d. 1915)
* 1884 &ndash; Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1966)
* 1889 &ndash; Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader (d. 1945)
* 1890 &ndash; Adolf Schaerf, President of Austria (d. 1965)
* 1890 &ndash; Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec (d. 1959)
* 1893 &ndash; Joan Miró, Spanish painter (d. 1983)
* 1893 &ndash; Edna Parker, American supercentenarian, oldest person in the world at the time of her death (d. 2008)
* 1893 &ndash; Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971)
* 1895 &ndash; Emile Christian, American jazz musician (d. 1973)
* 1896 &ndash; Wop May, Canadian pilot and captain (d. 1952)

### 1901 &ndash; 1950 
* 1904 &ndash; Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)
* 1904 &ndash; George Stibitz, American scientist (d. 1995)
* 1908 &ndash; Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician, bandleader and actor (d. 2002)
* 1910 &ndash; Robert F. Wagner, Jr., Mayor of New York City (d. 1991)
* 1911 &ndash; Kukrit Pramoj, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 1995)
* 1913 &ndash; Roger Rochard, French long-distance runner (d. 1993)
* 1914 &ndash; Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)
* 1918 &ndash; Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (d. 2007)
* 1920 &ndash; John Paul Stevens, American jurist (d. 2019)
* 1923 &ndash; Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster (d. 2016)
* 1923 &ndash; Tito Puente, American jazz musician and producer (d. 2000)
* 1923 &ndash; Jorge Romo, Mexican footballer (d. 2014)
* 1924 &ndash; Leslie Phillips, British actor
* 1924 &ndash; Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (d. 2008)
* 1925 &ndash; Elena Verdugo, American actress (d. 2017)
* 1927 &ndash; Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist
* 1927 &ndash; Phil Hill, American racing driver (d. 2008)
* 1928 &ndash; Robert Byrne, American chess player (d. 2013)
* 1928 &ndash; Arvo Kruusement, Estonian movie director
* 1930 &ndash; Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (d. 2014)
* 1935 &ndash; Mario Camus, Spanish screenwriter and movie director
* 1936 &ndash; Pat Roberts, United States Senator
* 1936 &ndash; Pauli Ellefsen, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2012)
* 1937 &ndash; Jiri Dienstbier, Czech politician and journalist (d. 2011)
* 1937 &ndash; George Takei, American actor
* 1938 &ndash; Betty Cuthbert, Australian athlete (d. 2017)
* 1938 &ndash; Igor Sergeyev, Marshal of the Russian Federation (d. 2006)
* 1938 &ndash; Peter Snow, British broadcaster
* 1939 &ndash; Peter S. Beagle, American writer
* 1939 &ndash; Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway
* 1939 &ndash; Wayson Choy, Canadian writer (d. 2019)
* 1940 &ndash; James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
* 1941 &ndash; Ryan O'Neal, American actor
* 1942 &ndash; Arto Paasilinna, Finnish writer (d. 2018)
* 1943 &ndash; Alan Beith, British politician, former MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed
* 1943 &ndash; John Eliot Gardiner, British conductor
* 1943 &ndash; Edie Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1971)
* 1945 &ndash; Michael Brandon, American actor
* 1945 &ndash; Gregory Olsen, American entrepreneur
* 1945 &ndash; Gerry Steinberg, English politician (d. 2015)
* 1945 &ndash; Thein Sein, President of Burma
* 1946 &ndash; Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, German politician
* 1947 &ndash; David Leland, British director, actor and screenwriter
* 1947 &ndash; Björn Skifs, Swedish singer-songwriter, actor and screenwriter
* 1949 &ndash; Massimo D'Alema, former Prime Minister of Italy
* 1949 &ndash; Aleksandr Maltsev, Russian ice hockey player
* 1949 &ndash; Jessica Lange, American actress
* 1949 &ndash; Toller Cranston, Canadian figure skater (d. 2015)
* 1949 &ndash; Paul Heiney, English journalist
* 1950 &ndash; N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
* 1950 &ndash; Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002)
* 1950 &ndash; Ibrahim Yusri, Egyptian actor (d. 2015)

### 1951 &ndash; 1975 
* 1951 &ndash; Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005)
* 1952 &ndash; Eric Pickles, British politician
* 1953 &ndash; Sebastian Faulks, British writer
* 1956 &ndash; Kevin Judge, American Internet Security Expert
* 1958 &ndash; Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player
* 1959 &ndash; Clint Howard, American actor
* 1960 &ndash; Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of Cuba
* 1961 &ndash; Nicholas Lyndhurst, British actor
* 1961 &ndash; Paul Usher, British actor
* 1962 &ndash; Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland
* 1963 &ndash; Rachel Whiteread, British artist and sculptor
* 1964 &ndash; Andy Serkis, British actor
* 1964 &ndash; Crispin Glover, American actor
* 1964 &ndash; Rosalynn Summers, American figure skater
* 1965 &ndash; Susan Cookson, British actress
* 1965 &ndash; April March, American singer-songwriter
* 1965 &ndash; Bernardo Fernando da Silva, Brazilian footballer
* 1966 &ndash; David Chalmers, Australian philosopher
* 1966 &ndash; David Filo, American businessman and co-founder of Google
* 1967 &ndash; Mike Portnoy, American musician
* 1967 &ndash; Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
* 1968 &ndash; Julia Morris, Australian actress and television presenter
* 1969 &ndash; Felix Baumgartner, Austrian skydiver
* 1970 &ndash; Shemar Moore, American actor
* 1972 &ndash; Carmen Electra, American actress, singer and model
* 1972 &ndash; Marko Kon, Serbian composer, singer and actor 
* 1972 &ndash; Stephen Marley, Jamaican musician

### From 1976 
* 1976 &ndash; Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer
* 1976 &ndash; Shay Given, Irish footballer
* 1976 &ndash; Joey Lawrence, American actor
* 1976 &ndash; Chris Mason, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1979 &ndash; Gregor Tait, Scottish swimmer
* 1979 &ndash; Ludovic Magnin, Swiss footballer
* 1980 &ndash; Vibeke Skofterud, Norwegian cross-country skier (d. 2018)
* 1980 &ndash; Jasmin Wagner, German singer
* 1980 &ndash; Lee Wilkie, Scottish footballer
* 1981 &ndash; Mike Blair, Scottish rugby union player and coach
* 1983 &ndash; Miranda Kerr, Australian supermodel
* 1983 &ndash; Danny Granger, American actor, producer and musician
* 1984 &ndash; Nelson Evora, Portuguese athlete
* 1984 &ndash; Edixon Perea, Colombian footballer
* 1985 &ndash; Brent Seabrook, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1985 &ndash; Curt Hawkins, American professional wrestler
* 1987 &ndash; John Patrick Amedori, American actor
* 1987 &ndash; Anna Rossinelli, Swiss singer
* 1991 &ndash; Thomas Curtis, American actor
* 1991 &ndash; Ondrej Krajak, Czech footballer
* 1992 &ndash; Ashton Moio, American actor, stuntman and martial artist
* 1997 &ndash; Alexander Zverev, German tennis player
* 1999 &ndash; Carly Rose Sonenclar, American actress
* 2000 &ndash; Funny Cide, American racehorse

## Deaths 
### Up to 1900 
* 689 &ndash; Caedwalla, King of Wessex
* 1176 &ndash; Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English military leader (b. 1130)
* 1314 &ndash; Pope Clement V (b. 1264)
* 1517 &ndash; Bogdan III the One-Eyed, Romanian son of Stephen of Moldavia (b. 1470)
* 1521 &ndash; Zhengde Emperor of China (b. 1491)
* 1526 &ndash; Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi
* 1534 &ndash; Elizabeth Barton, English nun and saint (b. 1506)
* 1558 &ndash; Johannes Bugenhagen, German priest and theologian (b. 1485)
* 1769 &ndash; Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa (b. 1720)
* 1786 &ndash; John Goodricke, English astronomer (b. 1746)
* 1812 &ndash; George Clinton, US Vice President and Governor of New York (b. 1739)
* 1831 &ndash; John Abernethy, English surgeon (b. 1864)
* 1869 &ndash; Carl Loewe, German composer (b. 1796)
* 1873 &ndash; William Tite, English architect (b. 1798)
* 1874 &ndash; Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (b. 1817)
* 1887 &ndash; Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Egyptian statesman (b. 1826)
* 1899 &ndash; Joseph Wolf, German artist (b. 1820)

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1902 &ndash; Joaquim de Sousa Andrade, Brazilian poet (b. 1833)
* 1912 &ndash; Bram Stoker, Irish writer (b. 1847)
* 1912 &ndash; Pedro Lira, Chilean painter (b. 1845)
* 1914 &ndash; Ivar Wickman, Swedish physician (b. 1872)
* 1918 &ndash; Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist (b. 1850)
* 1927 &ndash; Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter (b. 1866)
* 1929 &ndash; Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia (b. 1862)
* 1932 &ndash; Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)
* 1935 &ndash; John Cameron, Scottish footballer (b. 1872)
* 1937 &ndash; James Gillett, 22nd Governor of California (b. 1860)
* 1947 &ndash; King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
* 1951 &ndash; Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)
* 1967 &ndash; Leo-Paul Desrosiers, French-Canadian journalist and novelist (b. 1896)
* 1982 &ndash; Archibald MacLeish, American poet and writer (b. 1892)
* 1990 &ndash; Horst Sindermann, German politician (b. 1915)
* 1991 &ndash; Don Siegel, American movie director (b. 1912)
* 1992 &ndash; Benny Hill, British comedian and actor (b. 1924)
* 1993 &ndash; Cantinflas, Mexican comedian and actor (b. 1911)
* 1994 &ndash; Jean Carmet, French actor (b. 1920)
* 1996 &ndash; Tran Van Tra, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1918)
* 1996 &ndash; Christopher Robin Milne, son of the writer A. A. Milne (b. 1920)
* 1999 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
* 2002 &ndash; Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925)
* 2002 &ndash; Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
* 2003 &ndash; Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908)
* 2003 &ndash; Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)
* 2003 &ndash; Bernard Katz, German biophysicist (b. 1911)
* 2005 &ndash; Zygfryd Blaut, Polish footballer (b. 1943)
* 2010 &ndash; Dorothy Height, American Civil Rights activist (b. 1912)
* 2011 &ndash; Journalists killed in Libya:
**Tim Hetherington, British photojournalist (b. 1970)
**Chris Hondros, American photographer (b. 1970)
* 2014 &ndash; Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, American boxer (b. 1937)
* 2014 &ndash; Neville Wran, Australian politician, former Premier of New South Wales (b. 1926)
* 2014 &ndash; Benedikt Sarnov, Russian literary critic and writer (b. 1927)
* 2014 &ndash; Alistair MacLeod, Canadian writer and academic (b. 1936)
* 2015 &ndash; Frederic Morton, Austrian-American writer (b. 1924)
* 2015 &ndash; Aharon Lichtenstein, French-born American-Israeli rabbi (b. 1933)
* 2015 &ndash; Richard Anthony, Egyptian-born French singer (b. 1938)
* 2015 &ndash; Bob St. Clair, American football player (b. 1931)
* 2015 &ndash; Ibrahim Yusri, Egyptian actor (b. 1950)
* 2015 &ndash; Peter Howell, English actor (b. 1929)
* 2016 &ndash; Victoria Wood, English comedienne, actress and writer (b. 1953)
* 2016 &ndash; Guy Hamilton, English film director (b. 1922)
* 2016 &ndash; Avril Henry, English academic (b. 1934)
* 2016 &ndash; Leonie Kramer, Australian academic (b. 1924)
* 2016 &ndash; Harry Perkowski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
* 2017 &ndash; Germaine Mason, Jamaican-born British high jumper (b. 1983)
* 2017 &ndash; Jay Dickey, American politician (b. 1939)
* 2017 &ndash; Roberto Ferreiro, Argentine footballer (b. 1935)
* 2017 &ndash; Cuba Gooding, Sr., American singer (b. 1944)
* 2017 &ndash; Lawrence Hogan, American politician (b. 1928)
* 2017 &ndash; Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish sculptor (b. 1930)
* 2018 &ndash; Avicii, Swedish DJ, musician and music producer (b. 1989)
* 2018 &ndash; Roy Bentley, English footballer (b. 1924)
* 2018 &ndash; Pedro Erquicia, Spanish journalist and television producer (b. 1943)
* 2018 &ndash; Rajinder Sachar, Pakistan-Indian political activist and judge (b. 1923)
* 2018 &ndash; Al Swift, American broadcaster and politician (b. 1935)
* 2018 &ndash; Shane Yarran, Australian rules footballer (b. 1989)
* 2018 &ndash; Charles Zwick, American civil servant (b. 1926)
* 2019 &ndash; Joe Armstrong, British computer scientist (b. 1950)
* 2019 &ndash; Reggie Cobb, American football player (b. 1968)
* 2019 &ndash; Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Iranian artist (b. 1922)
* 2019 &ndash; Karl Grob, Swiss footballer (b. 1946)
* 2019 &ndash; Braulio Lara, Dominican baseball player (b. 1988)
* 2019 &ndash; David V. Picker, American film executive and producer (b. 1931)

## Observances 
* 4/20 – Cannabis culture
* UN Chinese language Day
* Ridvan begins (Baha'i faith)