April 20

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April 20 in recent years   2024 (Saturday)   2023 (Thursday)   2022 (Wednesday)   2021 (Tuesday)   2020 (Monday)   2019 (Saturday)   2018 (Friday)   2017 (Thursday)   2016 (Wednesday)   2015 (Monday)

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.

Events

• 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII.
• 1534 - Jacques Cartier begins his voyage, in which he will discover Canada and Labrador.
• 1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.
• 1657 - Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet under heavy fire at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
• 1657 - Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
• 1689 - The former King James II of England, now deposed, lays siege to Derry.
• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: the siege of Boston begins, which followed the first battles at Lexington and Concord.
• 1792 - France declares war on Austria, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.
• 1810 - The Governors of Caracas declares the national sovereignty from Spain.
• 1828 - René Caillié is first non-Muslim to enter in Timbouctou.
• 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.
• 1862 - The first pasteurization test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard.
• 1871 - Civil Rights Act of 1871
• 1884 - Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical, Humanum Genus.
• 1902 - Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.
• 1908 - Opening day of competition of the New South Wales Rugby League.
• 1912 - Opening day for baseball stadiums Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1914 - Forty-five men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a bitter Colorado coal-miner's strike.
• 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day.
• 1926 - Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
• 1945 - World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
• 1945 - World War II: U.S. B-29 bombers destroy the Musashi Aircraft plants, halting production of the Nakajima Ki-84 fighter planes.
• 1945 - Mayor of Leipzig, Germany, killed himself along with his wife and daughter
• 1945 - Fuehrerbunker: Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth.
• 1961 - Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US troops against Cuba.
• 1962 - First production of Bentlage brand cigars, Habana, Cuba.
• 1964 - BBC Two launches with the power cut because of the fire at Battersea Power Station.
• 1967 - A Globe Air Bristol Britannia turboprop crashes at Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126.
• 1968 - A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes during takeoff at Windhoek, South-West Africa, killing 122.
• 1968 - English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood speech.
• 1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.
• 1978 - Korean Air Flight 902 shot down by Soviets.
• 1980 - Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria as hundreds of Berber political activists are arrested.
• 1985 - ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas.
• 1986 - Pianist Vladimir Horowitz performed in his native Russia for the first time in 61 years.
• 1986 - Professional basketball player Michael Jordan sets all-time record for points in an NBA playoff game with 63 against the Boston Celtics.
• 1998 - TAME Boeing 727-200 chartered by Air France crashes into Cerro El Cable mountain after takeoff from Bogotá, Colombia, killing 53.
• 1998 - German terrorist group Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.
• 1999 - Columbine High School massacre: Two gunmen shoot dead 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School located in Jefferson County, Colorado.
• 2004 - In Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents, killing 22 detainees and wounding 92.
• 2007 - Johnson Space Center Shooting: A man with a handgun barricades himself in NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before killing a male hostage and himself.

Births

• 570 - Prophet Muhammed, founder of Islam (d. 632) (date disputed)
• 702 - Jafar Sadiq, Muslim scholar (d. 765)
• 1494 - Johannes Agricola, German Protestant reformer (d. 1566)
• 1586 - Saint Rose of Lima, Peruvian saint (d. 1617)
• 1633 - Emperor Go-Komyo of Japan (d. 1654)
• 1646 - Charles Plumier, French botanist (d. 1704)
• 1650 - William Bedloe, English informer (d. 1680)
• 1668 - Yuri Troubetzkoy, Governor of Belgorod (d. 1739)
• 1718 - David Brainerd, American missionary (d. 1747)
• 1723 - Cornelius Harnett, American delegate to the Continental Congress (d. 1781)
• 1745 - Philippe Pinel, French physician (d. 1826)
• 1808 - Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (d. 1873)
• 1818 - Heinrich Göbel, German-born inventor (d. 1893)
• 1826 - Dinah Craik, English author (d. 1887)
• 1850 - Daniel Chester French, American sculptor (d. 1931)
• 1851 - Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1875)
• 1870 - Maulvi Abdul Haq, Father of Urdu, Pakistani scholar (d.1961)
• 1879 - Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)
• 1882 - Holland Smith, U.S. General (d. 1967)
• 1884 - Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1966)
• 1889 - Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish-born businessman and social activist (d. 1996)
• 1889 - Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his death (d. 1945)
• 1890 - Maurice Duplessis, premier of Québec, known as "Le Chef" (d. 1959)
• 1891 - Caresse Crosby, American poet (d. 1970)
• 1893 - Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971)
• 1893 - Edna Parker, American supercentenarian
• 1893 - Joan Miró, Spanish painter (d. 1983)
• 1895 - Emile Christian, American musician (d. 1973)
• 1896 - Wop May, Canadian aviator (d. 1952)
• 1904 - Bruce Cabot, American actor (d. 1972)
• 1904 - George Stibitz, American scientist (d. 1995)
• 1908 - Lionel Hampton, American musician (d. 2002)
• 1914 - Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1915 - Joseph Wolpe, South African-born psychotherapist (d. 1997)
• 1918 - Edward L. Beach, Jr., American naval officer, author (d. 2002)
• 1918 - Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
• 1919 - Richard Hillary, Australian Spitfire pilot and author (d. 1943)
• 1920 - John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
• 1920 - Ronald Speirs, WWII Veteran (d. 2007)
• 1921 - Janine Sutto, French Canadian actress
• 1923 - Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster
• 1923 - Tito Puente, American musician (d. 2000)
• 1924 - Leslie Phillips, English actor
• 1925 - Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (d. 2006)
• 1927 - Phil Hill, American race car driver and one-time F1 world champion
• 1927 - Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1928 - Johnny Gavin, Irish footballer (d. 2007)
• 1928 - Gerald S. Hawkins, English astronomer (d. 2003)
• 1936 - Pat Roberts, American politician
• 1937 - George Takei, American actor
• 1939 - Peter S. Beagle, American author
• 1939 - Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway
• 1939 - Johnny Tillotson, American singer
• 1941 - Ryan O'Neal, American actor
• 1943 - John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor
• 1943 - Edie Sedgwick, American actress (d. 1971)
• 1945 - Michael Brandon, American actor
• 1945 - Steve Spurrier, American football player and coach
• 1946 - Julien Poulin, French Canadian actor
• 1946 - Gordon Smiley, American racecar driver (d. 1982)
• 1946 - Mel Winkler, American voice actor
• 1947 - Björn Skifs, Swedish singer (Blue Swede)
• 1947 - Andrew Tobias, American journalist and author
• 1947 - David Leland, British actor, director and screenwriter
• 1948 - Craig Frost, American musician (Grand Funk & Bob Seger)
• 1948 - Adolf Lu Hitler Marak, Indian politician
• 1948 - Gregory Itzin, American actor
• 1948 - Rémy Trudel, French Canadian politician
• 1949 - Massimo D'Alema, Prime Minister of Italy
• 1949 - Veronica Cartwright, American actress
• 1949 - Toller Cranston, Canadian figure skater and artist
• 1949 - Jessica Lange, American actress
• 1950 - Steve Erickson, American novelist
• 1950 - Aleksandr Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002)
• 1950 - Chandra Babu Naidu, Indian politician
• 1951 - Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005)
• 1952 - Božidar Maljković, Serbian basketball coach
• 1953 - Sebastian Faulks, British novelist
• 1953 - Michael Q. Schmidt, American actor and model
• 1954 - Gilles Lupien, French Canadian ice hockey player
• 1956 - Beatrice Ask, Swedish politician
• 1957 - Geraint Wyn Davies, Welsh-Canadian actor
• 1958 - Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1961 - Don Mattingly, American baseball player
• 1961 - Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor
• 1963 - Mauricio Gugelmin, Brazilian racing driver
• 1963 - Aubrey de Grey, English pro-life activist
• 1964 - Crispin Glover, American actor
• 1964 - Andy Serkis, English actor
• 1964 - Rosalynn Sumners, American figure skater
• 1965 - Ralph Cirella, stylist and friend of Howard Stern
• 1965 - Kostas Hatzidakis, Greek politician
• 1965 - Adrian Fernández, Mexican racing driver
• 1967 - Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
• 1967 - Mike Portnoy, American drummer (Dream Theater)
• 1967 - Lara Jill Miller, American actress
• 1968 - J.D. Roth, American game show host and television personality
• 1969 - Chris Jarvis, children's TV personality
• 1970 - Shemar Moore, American actor
• 1970 - Adriano Moraes, Brazilian rodeo performer
• 1971 - Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer
• 1971 - Allan Houston, basketball player
• 1971 - Tina Cousins, English singer
• 1972 - Carmen Electra, American actress
• 1972 - Le Huynh Đuc, Vietnamese footballer
• 1972 - Stephen Marley, Jamaican musician
• 1973 - Geoff Lloyd, British radio presenter
• 1976 - Joey Lawrence, American actor
• 1976 - Shay Given, Irish footballer
• 1977 - Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, professional wrestler
• 1978 - Mirei Kuroda, Japanese gravure idol
• 1980 - Jasmin Wagner, German singer
• 1981 - Matus Valent, male fitness model
• 1983 - Terrence J, American television host
• 1984 - Tyson Griffin, American Mixed Martioal Artist
• 1986 - Cameron Duncan, New Zealand director (d. 2003)
• 1987 - John Patrick Amedori, American Actor

Deaths

• 1176 - Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English soldier (b. 1130)
• 1314 - Pope Clement V (b. 1264)
• 1521 - Zhengde, Emperor of China (b. 1491)
• 1534 - Elizabeth Barton, English nun (executed)
• 1558 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (b. 1485)
• 1643 - Christoph Demantius, German composer (b. 1567)
• 1703 - Lancelot Addison, English royal chaplain (b. 1632)
• 1765 - Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (b. 1674)
• 1769 - Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa
• 1831 - John Abernethy, English surgeon (b. 1764)
• 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)
• 1912 - Bram Stoker, Irish author (b. 1847)
• 1918 - Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1850)
• 1932 - Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician (b. 1858)
• 1945 - Erwin Bumke, German jurist (b. 1874)
• 1947 - King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
• 1951 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1873)
• 1964 - Eddie Dyer, baseball player (b. 1899)
• 1977 - Sepp Herberger, German football coach (b. 1897)
• 1982 - Archibald MacLeish, American poet and Librarian of Congress (b. 1892)
• 1984 - Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer (b. 1943)
• 1986 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist and writer (b. 1916)
• 1989 - Doru Davidovici, Romanian writer and fighter pilot (b. 1945)
• 1991 - Don Siegel, American film director (b. 1912)
• 1992 - Benny Hill, British comedian (b. 1924)
• 1993 - Cantinflas, Mexican comedian and actor (b. 1911)
• 1994 - Jean Carmet, French actor (b. 1920)
• 1996 - Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A. Milne (b. 1920)
• 1999 - Victims of the Columbine High School massacre
• 1999 - Rick Rude, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
• 1999 - Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist and comedian (b. 1896)
• 2001 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1946)
• 2002 - Alan Dale, American singer (b. 1925)
• 2003 - Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908)
• 2003 - Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)
• 2003 - Bernard Katz, German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
• 2005 - Fumio Niwa, Japanese novelist (b. 1904)
• 2005 - Zygfryd Blaut, Polish football player (b. 1943)
• 2006 - Anna Svidersky (b. 1988)
• 2007 - Andrew Hill, American jazz composer and pianist (b. 1931)
• 2007 - Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Ridván begins at sunset (Bahá'í Faith).
• Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
• Saint Theotimus (d. 407)
• Blessed Oda (d. 1158)
• 420

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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