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Revision as of 19:53, 31 May 2008

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 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 Colorado coal-miner's strike.
• 1916 - Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings
• 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: 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.
• 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 kill 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.
• 2008 - Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
• 2008- Pope Benedict XVI has Papal Mass in Yankee Stadium in New York City

Births

• 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 - Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his death (d. 1945)
• 1889 - Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish-born businessman and social activist (d. 1996)
• 1890 - Maurice Duplessis, premier of Québec, known as "Le Chef" (d. 1959)
• 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)
• 1896 - Henry de Montherlant, French writer (d. 1972)
• 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
• 1959 - Clint Howard, American actor
• 1961 - Don Mattingly, American baseball player
• 1961 - Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor
• 1963 - Mauricio Gugelmin, Brazilian racing driver
• 1963 - Aubrey de Grey, British biomedical gerontologist
• 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
• 1966 - David Chalmers, Australian philosopher
• 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, American 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
• 1983 - Miranda Kerr, Australian supermodel
• 1984 - Tyson Griffin, American mixed martial 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 - Steve Marriott, British singer and songwriter (Humble Pie) (b. 1947)
• 1991 - Don Siegel, American film director (b. 1912)
• 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 and shooters 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).
• 2008 - VL Mike, American Rapper (b. 1976)

Holidays and observances

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

External links

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

• April