On this day — April 20

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 04:00:58 +0000

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Date

April 20 is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 255 days remain until the end of the year.

1303 The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.^[1]
1453 Three Genoese galleys and a Byzantine blockade runner fight their way through an Ottoman blockading fleet a few weeks before the fall of Constantinople.
1534 Jacques Cartier begins his first voyage to what is today the east coast of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador.^[2]
1535 The sun dog phenomenon is observed over Stockholm,^[3] as later depicted in the famous painting Vädersolstavlan.
1653 Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.
1657 Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet under heavy fire at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
1657 Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
1689 Deposed monarch James II of England lays siege to Derry.
1752 Start of KonbaungHanthawaddy War, a new phase in the Burmese Civil War (174057).
1770 The Georgian king, Erekle II, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins a victory over Ottoman forces at Aspindza.
1775 American Revolutionary War: The Siege of Boston begins, following the battles at Lexington and Concord.
1789 George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration.
1792 France declares war against the “King of Hungary and Bohemia“, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.
1800 The Septinsular Republic is established.
1809 Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory.
1818 The case of Ashford v Thornton ends, with Abraham Thornton allowed to go free rather than face a retrial for murder, after his demand for trial by battle is upheld.
1828 René Caillié becomes the second non-Muslim to enter (and the first to return from) Timbuktu, following Major Gordon Laing.
1836 U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.
1861 American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.^[4]
1862 Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.
1865 Astronomer Angelo Secchi demonstrates the Secchi disk, which measures water clarity, aboard Pope Pius IX‘s yacht, the L’Immaculata Concezion.
1876 The April Uprising begins. Its suppression shocks European opinion, and Bulgarian independence becomes a condition for ending the Russo-Turkish War.
1884 Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus, condemning Freemasonry.
1898 U.S. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the SpanishAmerican War.^[5]
1902 Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.
1908 Opening day of competition in the New South Wales Rugby League.
1912 Opening day for baseball‘s Tiger Stadium in Detroit, and Fenway Park in Boston.
1914 Nineteen men, women, and children participating in a strike are killed in the Ludlow Massacre during the Colorado Coalfield War.^[6]
1916 The Chicago Cubs play their first game at Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 76 in 11 innings.
1918 Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a. The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.
1922 The Soviet government creates South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within Georgian SSR.
1939 Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday‘s celebrations in Germany
1945 World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
1945 World War II: Führerbunker: On his 56th birthday Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth.
1945 Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school.
1946 The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.
1961 Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.
1968 English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial “Rivers of Blood” speech.
1972 Apollo program: Apollo 16 lunar module, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the moon.
1998 Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.^[7]
1999 Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.
2007 Johnson Space Center shooting: William Phillips with a handgun barricades himself in NASA‘s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before killing a male hostage and himself.
2008 Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
2010 The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.
2012 One hundred twenty-seven people are killed when a plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.
2013 A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Lushan County, Ya’an, in China’s Sichuan province, killing more than 150 people and injuring thousands.
2015 Ten people are killed in a bomb attack on a convoy carrying food supplies to a United Nations compound in Garowe in the Somali region of Puntland.

1494 Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)^[8]
1544 Renata of Lorraine, Duchess consort of Bavaria (d. 1602)
1586 Rose of Lima, Peruvian mystic and saint (d. 1617)
1633 Emperor Go-Kōmyō of Japan (d. 1654)
1646 Charles Plumier, French botanist and author (d. 1704)
1650 William Bedloe, English spy (d. 1680)
1718 David Brainerd, American missionary (d. 1747)
1723 Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (d. 1781)^[9]
1727 Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-Austrian minister and diplomat (d. 1794)
1745 Philippe Pinel, French physician and psychiatrist (d. 1826)
1748 Georg Michael Telemann, German composer and theologian (d. 1831)
1772 William Lawless, Irish revolutionary and French general (d. 1824)
1808 Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (d. 1873)
1816 Bogoslav ulek, Croatian philologist, historian, and lexicographer (d. 1895)
1818 Heinrich Göbel, German-American mechanic and engineer (d. 1893)
1826 Dinah Craik, English author and poet (d. 1887)
1836 Eli Whitney Blake, Jr., American scientist and academic (d. 1895)
1839 Carol I of Romania, King of Romania (d. 1914)
1840 Odilon Redon, French painter and illustrator (d. 1916)
1850 Daniel Chester French, American sculptor, designed the Lincoln statue (d. 1931)
1851 Alexander Dianin, Russian chemist (d. 1918)
1851 Siegmund Lubin, Polish-American businessman, founded the Lubin Manufacturing Company (d. 1923)
1860 Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (d. 1933)
1871 Sydney Chapman, English economist and civil servant (d. 1951)
1873 James Harcourt, English character actor (d. 1951)
1875 Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet and lawyer (d. 1909)
1879 Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (d. 1944)
1882 Holland Smith, American general (d. 1967)
1884 Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1966)
1884 Oliver Kirk, American boxer (d. 1960)
1884 Daniel Varoujan, Armenian poet and educator (d. 1915)
1889 Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish rabbi, lawyer, and activist (d. 1996)
1889 Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland (d. 1918)
1889 Marie-Antoinette de Geuser, French mystic (d. 1918)
1889 Adolf Hitler, Austrian born German politician, Führer of Nazi Germany (d. 1945)
1889 Tonny Kessler, Dutch footballer (d. 1960)
1890 Maurice Duplessis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Premier of Quebec (d. 1959)
1890 Adolf Schärf, Austrian soldier and politician, 6th President of Austria (d. 1965)
1891 Dave Bancroft, American baseball player and manager (d. 1972)
1893 Harold Lloyd, American actor, comedian, and producer (d. 1971)
1893 Joan Miró, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1983)
1895 Emile Christian, American trombonist and composer (d. 1973)
1895 Henry de Montherlant, French essayist, novelist, and dramatist (d. 1972)
1896 Wop May, Canadian captain and pilot (d. 1952)
1899 Alan Arnett McLeod, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
1904 Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)
1907 Miran Bux, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1991)
1907 Augoustinos Kantiotes, Greek bishop (d. 2010)
1908 Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player, pianist, bandleader, and actor (d. 2002)
1910 Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Turkish diplomat and politician (d. 1961)
1913 Mimis Fotopoulos, Greek actor and poet (d. 1986)
1913 Willi Hennig, German biologist and entomologist (d. 1976)
1913 Roger Rochard, French runner (d. 1993)
1914 Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)
1915 Joseph Wolpe, South African psychotherapist and physician (d. 1997)
1916 Nasiba Zeynalova, Azerbaijani actress (d. 2004)
1918 Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1919 Richard Hillary, Australian lieutenant and pilot (d. 1943)
1920 Frances Ames, South African neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist (d. 2002)
1920 Clement Isong, Nigerian banker and politician, Governor of Cross River State (d. 2000)
1920 John Paul Stevens, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2019)
1923 Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster, founded Eternal Word Television Network (d. 2016)^[10]
1923 Irene Lieblich, Polish-American painter and illustrator (d. 2008)
1923 Tito Puente, American drummer and producer (d. 2000)^[11]
1924 Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (d. 2008)^[12]
1924 Leslie Phillips, English actor and producer
1924 Guy Rocher, Canadian sociologist and academic
1925 Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (d. 2006)
1925 Elena Verdugo, American actress (d. 2017)
1927 Bud Cullen, Canadian judge and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Employment and Immigration (d. 2005)
1927 Phil Hill, American race car driver (d. 2008)
1927 K. Alex Müller, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1928 Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (d. 2013)
1928 Johnny Gavin, Irish international footballer (d. 2007)^[13]
1929 Harry Agganis, American baseball and football player (d. 1955)
1929 Bobby Hollander, American film director, actor, and magazine publisher (d. 2002)
1930 Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (d. 2014)
1930 Antony Jay, English director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1931 Michael Allenby, 3rd Viscount Allenby, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
1931 John Eccles, 2nd Viscount Eccles, English businessman and politician
1932 Myriam Bru, French actress
1933 Kristaq Dhamo, Albanian actor and film director
1936 Lisa Davis, English and American former child and adult actress
1936 Pauli Ellefsen, Faroese technician, surveyor, and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2012)
1936 Pat Roberts, American captain, journalist, and politician
1936 Christopher Robinson, English organist and conductor
1937 Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2011)
1937 Antonios Kounadis, Greek discus thrower
1937 Harvey Quaytman, American painter and educator (d. 2002)
1937 George Takei, American actor
1938 Betty Cuthbert, Australian sprinter
1938 Manfred Kinder, German runner
1938 Peter Snow, British historian and journalist
1938 Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress (d. 1991)
1939 Elspeth Ballantyne, Australian actress
1939 Peter S. Beagle, American author and screenwriter
1939 Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian physician and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Norway
1939 Johnny Tillotson, American singer-songwriter
1940 James Gammon, American actor (d. 2010)
1941 Ryan O’Neal, American actor
1942 Giles Henderson, English lawyer and academic
1942 Arto Paasilinna, Finnish journalist and author
1943 Alan Beith, English academic and politician
1943 John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor and director
1943 Edie Sedgwick, American model and actress (d. 1971)
1944 Toivo Aare, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1999)
1945 Michael Brandon, American actor and director
1945 Olga Karlatos, Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer
1945 Thein Sein, Burmese general and politician, 8th President of Burma
1945 Naftali Temu, Kenyan runner (d. 2003)
1945 Steve Spurrier, American football player and head coach, 1966 Heisman Trophy winner^[14]
1946 Sandro Chia, Italian painter and sculptor
1946 Julien Poulin, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1946 Gordon Smiley, American race car driver (d. 1982)
1947 Rita Dionne-Marsolais, Canadian economist and politician
1947 David Leland, English actor, director, and screenwriter
1947 Viktor Suvorov, Russian intelligence officer, historian, and author
1948 Gregory Itzin, American actor
1948 Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (d. 2015)
1949 Veronica Cartwright, English-American actress
1949 Toller Cranston, Canadian-Mexican figure skater and painter (d. 2015)
1949 Massimo D’Alema, Italian journalist and politician, 76th Prime Minister of Italy
1949 Jessica Lange, American actress
1950 Steve Erickson, American author and critic
1950 Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002)
1950 N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
1951 Louise Jameson, English actress
1951 Luther Vandross, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2005)
1952 Louka Katseli, Greek economist and politician
1952 Boidar Maljković, Serbian basketball player and coach
1952 Eric Pickles, English politician, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
1953 Sebastian Faulks, English journalist and author
1955 Donald Pettit, American engineer and astronaut
1956 Beatrice Ask, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister for Justice
1956 Peter Chelsom, English film director, writer, and actor
1956 Kakha Bendukidze, Georgian economist and politician
1956 Georgie Glen, Scottish actress
1958 Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player and coach
1959 Perry Haddock, Australian rugby league player
1960 Debbie Flintoff-King, Australian hurdler and coach
1961 Don Mattingly, American baseball player, coach, and manager
1961 Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor
1961 Nicholas Lyndhurst, English actor
1961 Paul Usher, English actor
1963 Maurício Gugelmin, Brazilian race car driver
1963 Rachel Whiteread, English sculptor
1964 Crispin Glover, American actor
1964 Andy Serkis, English actor and director
1964 Rosalynn Sumners, American figure skater
1965 Kostis Chatzidakis, Greek politician, Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism
1965 Léa Fazer, Swiss film director, screenwriter and actress
1965 Adrián Fernández, Mexican race car driver
1965 Rebecca Lacey, English actress
1966 David Chalmers, Australian philosopher and academic
1966 David Filo, American businessman, co-founded Yahoo!
1966 Vincent Riendeau, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 Mike Portnoy, American drummer and songwriter
1967 Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
1968 Julia Morris, Australian entertainer
1968 Yelena Välbe, Russian skier and manager
1968 Roman Virastyuk, Ukrainian shot putter
1969 Felix Baumgartner, Austrian skydiver and BASE jumper
1969 Will Hodgman, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Tasmania
1970 Sarantuya, Mongolian soprano
1970 Avishai Cohen, Israeli singer-songwriter and bassist
1970 Shemar Moore, American actor
1971 Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer, physiologist, and academic
1971 Allan Houston, American basketball player and manager
1971 Nikos Kyzeridis, Greek footballer
1972 Lê Huỳnh Đức, Vietnamese footballer, coach, and manager
1972 Carmen Electra, American model and actress
1972 eljko Joksimović, Serbian singer-songwriter and producer
1972 Stephen Marley, American singer, guitarist, and producer
1972 Julia Peng, Taiwanese singer
1973 Isabel dos Santos,^[15] Angolan businesswoman and first African woman billionaire
1973 Lamond Murray, American basketball player
1974 Adrian Ilie, Romanian footballer
1974 Julie Fernandez, English actress and model
1974 Urmas Paet, Estonian journalist and politician, 26th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1975 Killer Mike, American rapper and activist
1976 Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer
1976 Shay Given, Irish footballer and manager
1976 Chris Mason, Canadian ice hockey player
1976 Ismail Rasheed, Maldivian actor
1976 Georgina Rylance, English actress
1979 Stian Barsnes-Simonsen, Norwegian actor and television host
1979 Ludovic Magnin, Swiss footballer and coach
1979 Nate Marquardt, American mixed martial artist
1980 Gunta Bako, Latvian basketball player
1980 Sunaina Sunaina, Indian weightlifter^[16]
1980 Jasmin Wagner, German singer and actress
1982 Jacqueline Govaert, Dutch singer-songwriter and pianist
1982 Dario Kneević, Croatian footballer
1983 Danny Granger, American basketball player
1983 Miranda Kerr, Australian model
1984 Nelson Évora, Ivorian-Portuguese triple jumper
1984 Bárbara Lennie, Spanish actress
1984 Edixon Perea, Colombian footballer
1984 Jenna Shoemaker, American triathlete^[17]
1985 Brent Seabrook, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 Chun Woo-hee, South Korean actress
1988 Brandon Belt, American baseball player
1988 Alyssa Naeher, American soccer player^[18]
1989 Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014
1989 Carlos Valdes, Colombian-American actor and singer
1990 Luhan, Chinese singer and actor
1992 Marko Meerits, Estonian footballer
1995 Jean Marie Dongou, Cameroonian footballer
1997 Alexander “Sascha” Zverev, German tennis player ^[19]
1998 Zachary Claman DeMelo, Canadian racing driver^[20]

689 Cædwalla, king of Wessex (b. 659)^[21]
767 Taichō, Japanese monk (b. 682)
888 Xi Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 862)
1099 Peter Bartholomew (b. 1061)^[22]
1164 Antipope Victor IV
1176 Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English-Irish politician, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (b. 1130)
1248 Güyük Khan, Mongol ruler, 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (b. 1206)
1284 Hōjō Tokimune, regent of Japan (b. 1251)
1314 Pope Clement V (b. 1264)
1322 Simon Rinalducci, Italian Augustinian friar
1521 Zhengde, Chinese emperor (b. 1491)
1534 Elizabeth Barton, English nun and martyr (b. 1506)
1558 Johannes Bugenhagen, German priest and theologian (b. 1485)
1643 Christoph Demantius, German composer and poet (b. 1567)
1703 Lancelot Addison, English clergyman and educator (b. 1632)
1769 Chief Pontiac, American tribal leader (b. 1720)
1831 John Abernethy, English surgeon and anatomist (b. 1764)
1873 William Tite, English architect, designed the Royal Exchange (b. 1798)
1874 Alexander H. Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1817)
1881 William Burges, English architect and designer (b. 1827)
1886 Charles-François-Frédéric, marquis de Montholon-Sémonville, French general and diplomat, French ambassador to the United States (b. 1814)
1887 Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Greek-Egyptian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1826)
1899 Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (b. 1820)
1902 Joaquim de Sousa Andrade, Brazilian poet and educator (b. 1833)
1912 Bram Stoker, Anglo-Irish novelist and critic, created Count Dracula (b. 1847)
1918 Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)
1927 Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and educator (b. 1866)
1929 Prince Henry of Prussia (b. 1862)
1931 Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon, 5th Baronet, Scottish-English fencer and businessman (b. 1862)
1932 Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1858)
1935 John Cameron, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1872)
1935 Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, English fashion designer (b. 1863)
1942 Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, 6th State Elder of Estonia (b. 1870)
1944 Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and pilot (b. 1917)
1945 Erwin Bumke, Polish-German jurist and politician (b. 1874)
1946 Mae Busch, Australian actress (b. 1891)
1947 Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
1951 Ivanoe Bonomi, Italian politician, 25th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)
1961 Ado Vabbe, Estonian painter (b. 1892)
1967 Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1896)
1968 Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (b. 1877)
1969 Vjekoslav Luburić, Croatian Ustae official and concentration camp administrator (b. 1914)
1980 M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1924)
1982 Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (b. 1892)
1986 Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (b. 1916)
1991 Steve Marriott, English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
1991 Don Siegel, American director and producer (b. 1912)
1992 Marjorie Gestring, American springboard diver (b. 1922)
1992 Benny Hill, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
1993 Cantinflas, Mexican actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
1995 Milovan Đilas, Yugoslav communist, politician, theorist and author (b. 1911)
1996 Trần Văn Trà, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1918)
1999 Casualties of the Columbine High School massacre:
1999 Rick Rude, American wrestler (b. 1958)
2001 Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
2002 Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925)
2003 Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)
2003 Bernard Katz, German-English biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
2004 Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter (b. 1956)
2005 Fumio Niwa, Japanese journalist and author (b. 1904)
2007 Andrew Hill, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1931)
2007 Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (b. 1931)
2008 Monica Lovinescu, Romanian journalist and author (b. 1923)
2010 Dorothy Height, American educator and activist (b. 1912)
2011 Tim Hetherington, English photographer and journalist (b. 1970)
2012 Bert Weedon, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1920)^[23]
2014 Mithat Bayrak, Turkish wrestler and trainer (b. 1929)
2014 Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (b. 1937)
2014 Neville Wran, Australian lawyer and politician, 35th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1926)
2016 Victoria Wood, British comedian, actress and writer (b. 1953)
2017 Cuba Gooding Sr., American singer and actor (b. 1944)
2018 Avicii, Swedish DJ and musician (b. 1989)
2018 John Waller, English historical European martial arts (HEMA) revival pioneer and fight director (b. 1940)^[24]
2019 Jacqueline Saburido, Venezuelan activist (b. 1978)^[25]

April on Le Magasin

On this day — April 20

Holidays and observances[edit]