April 20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
April 20 is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 254 days remaining after April 20 until the end of the year.
[change] Events
- 1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump parliament.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Siege of Boston begins.
- 1810 – The Governor of Caracas (Venezuela), declares independence from Spain.
- 1889 – Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.
- 1902 – Marie Curie and Pierre Curie refine Radium.
- 1912 – Baseball: The Tiger Stadium (Detroit) and Fenway Park (Boston) open.
- 1947 – King Christian X of Denmark dies.
- 1964 – The British TV Channel BBC Two begins transmission, but a power cut occurs, due to a fire at Battersea Power Station.
- 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.
- 1976 – Korean Air Flight 902 is shot down by the Soviets.
- 1989 – Scientists announce that an Asteroid has narrowly missed hitting the Earth.
- 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.
- 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.
[change] Births
- 570 – Muhammad the Prophet, founder of Islam (d. 632)
- 1494 – Johannes Agricola, German religious reformer (d. 1566)
- 1633 – Go-Komyo, Emperor of Japan (d. 1654)
- 1808 – Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1873)
- 1851 – Young Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (d. 1875)
- 1855 – Inukai Tsuyoshi, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1932)
- 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)
- 1893 – Joan Miro, Spanish painter (d. 1983)
- 1893 – Edna Parker, oldest person in the world at the time of her death (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (d. 2007)
- 1920 – John Paul Stevens, American jurist
- 1924 – Leslie Phillips, British actor
- 1927 – Phil Hill, American racing driver (d. 2008)
- 1937 – George Takei, American actor
- 1938 – Peter Snow, British broadcaster
- 1939 – Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway
- 1942 – Arto Paasilinna, Finnish writer
- 1946 – Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, German politician
- 1949 – Massimo D'Alema, former Prime Minister of Italy
- 1949 – Jessica Lange, American actress
- 1950 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (d. 2002)
- 1951 – Luther Vandross, American singer (d. 2005)
- 1953 – Sebastian Faulks, British writer
- 1959 – Clint Howard, American actor
- 1961 – Nicholas Lyndhurst, British actor
- 1964 – Andy Serkis, British actor
- 1966 – David Chalmers, Australian philosopher
- 1967 – Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
- 1972 – Carmen Electra, American actress
- 1976 – Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer
- 1976 – Shay Given, Irish footballer
- 1979 – Ludovic Magnin, Swiss footballer
- 1980 – Jasmin Wagner, German singer
- 1980 – Lee Wilkie, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Miranda Kerr, Australian supermodel
- 1985 – Brent Seabrook, Canadian ice hockey player
- 2000 – Funny Cide, American racehorse
[change] Deaths
- 1521 – Zhengde Emperor of China (b. 1491)
- 1812 – George Clinton, US Vice President and Governor of New York (b. 1739)
- 1912 – Bram Stoker, Irish writer (b. 1847)
- 1918 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist (b. 1850)
- 1947 – King Christian X of Denmark (b. 1870)
- 1951 – Ivanoe Bonomi, Italian Prime Minister (b. 1873)
- 1991 – Don Siegel, American film director (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Christopher Robin Milne, son of the writer A. A. Milne (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Cassie Bernall, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
- 1999 – Rachel Joy Scott, victim of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
- 1999 – Eric Harris, perpetrator of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
- 1999 – Dylan Klebold, perpetrator of the Columbine High School massacre (b. 1981)
- 2003 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (b. 1976)
- 2003 – Bernard Katz, German biophysicist (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Dorothy Height, American Civil Rights activist (b. 1912)
