April 20

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.
• 1453 – The last naval battle in Byzantine history occurs, as three Genoese galleys escorting a Byzantine transport fight their way through the huge Ottoman blockade fleet and into the Golden Horn.
• 1534 – Jacques Cartier begins the voyage during which he discovers 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, following the battles at Lexington and Concord.
• 1792 – France declares war on Austria, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.
• 1809 – Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four day campaign which ended in a French victory.
• 1810 – The Governor of Caracas declares independence from Spain.
• 1828 – René Caillié becomes the 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 – Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization tests.
• 1871 – The Civil Rights Act of 1871 becomes law.
• 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 – The Chicago Cubs play 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.
• 1939 – Billie Holiday records the first Civil Rights song "Strange Fruit".
• 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-backed troops against Cuba.
• 1964 – BBC Two launches with the power cut because of the fire at Battersea Power Station.
• 1968 – English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood speech.
• 1972 – Apollo 16 landed on the moon commanded by John Young.
• 1978 – Korean Air Flight 902 is 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 performs 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 – German terrorist group Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.
• 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 Jefferson County, Colorado.
• 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.

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 Continental Congress delegate (d. 1781)
• 1727 – Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-born Austrian diplomat (d. 1794)
• 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, Pakistani scholar (d. 1961)
• 1871 – Sydney Chapman, British economist and civil servant (d. 1951)
• 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 activist (d. 1996)
• 1889 – Adolf Hitler, German Fascist dictator (d. 1945)
• 1890 – Maurice Duplessis, premier of Québec (d. 1959)
• 1893 – Harold Lloyd, American actor (d. 1971)
• 1893 – Edna Parker, American supercentenarian (d. 2008)
• 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 pilot and author (d. 1943)
• 1920 – John Paul Stevens, American jurist
• 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
• 1924 – Nina Foch, Dutch-born American actress (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Phil Hill, American race car driver (d. 2008)
• 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
• 1942 – Arto Paasilinna, Finnish writer
• 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 – Ken Scott, English record producer and recording engineer
• 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 – Gregory Itzin, American actor
• 1948 – Rémy Trudel, French Canadian politician
• 1949 – Massimo D'Alema, 76th 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
• 1954 – Gilles Lupien, French-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1955 – Don Pettit, American Astronaut and Inventor
• 1956 – Beatrice Ask, Swedish politician
• 1957 – Geraint Wyn Davies, Welsh-born 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
• 1961 – Barry Smolin, American radio host, writer, and musician
• 1962 – Henry Joseph Nasiff Jr. (AKA: Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf), American radio personality (d. 2001)
• 1963 – Maurício 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, American radio personality
• 1965 – Kostas Hatzidakis, Greek politician
• 1965 – Adrian Fernández, Mexican racing driver
• 1965 – April March, American musician
• 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
• 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 – Chris Mason, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
• 1976 – Shay Given, Irish footballer
• 1977 – Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli, professional wrestler
• 1978 – Mirei Kuroda, Japanese gravure idol
• 1980 – Jasmin Wagner, German singer
• 1980 – Chris Duffy, American baseball player
• 1981 – Matus Valent, male fitness model
• 1983 – Terrence J, American television host
• 1983 – Joanne King, Irish/English Actress
• 1983 – Miranda Kerr, Australian supermodel
• 1985 – Greg Lutzka, American Skateboarder
• 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)
• 1929 – Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia (b. 1862)
• 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, American 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 – Rick Rude, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
• 1999 – Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist and comedian (b. 1896)
• 1999 – Cassie Bernall, Columbine High School Massacre victim
• 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)
• 2008 – Monica Lovinescu, Romanian essayist, literary critic and journalist (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Ridván begins at sunset (Bahá'í Faith).
• Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
• Saint Theotimus (d. 407)
• Blessed Oda (d. 1158)
• 4/20 (Cannabis holiday)

External links

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

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