20 April
April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). There are 255 days remaining.
Events
- 1653 - Oliver Cromwell disbands Parliament.
- 1657 - Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City) granted freedom of religion
- 1689 - The former King James II of England, now deposed, lays siege to Derry
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: British troops begin siege of Boston, Massachusetts
- 1792 - France declares war on Austria
- 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
- 1902 - Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride (not fully purified to the isolated element). They thought they had isolated it.
- 1914 - Ludlow Massacre of striking Colorado coal miners.
- 1926 - Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film
- 1967 - A Swiss 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 - The Liberal Party of Canada led by Pierre Trudeau wins the Canadian Federal Election
- 1968 - English politician Enoch Powell makes controversial Rivers of Blood Speech
- 1972 - Apollo 16 lands on the Moon
- 1979 - President of the United States Of America, Jimmy Carter, is 'attacked' by a fluffy Rabbit
- 1992 - An all-star concert in memory of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is held at Wembley Stadium in London
- 1997 - The San Diego Padres face the St. Louis Cardinals in the first Major League Baseball game ever played in Hawaii
- 1998 - An Air France Boeing 727-200 crashes into mountain after takeoff from Bogotá, Colombia, killing 53
- 1999 - Columbine High School massacre
- 2001 - The anti-globalization movement holds a People's Summit and large protest marches, some of which are forcibly put down by police, against the FTAA summit in Quebec City, Quebec
Births
- 571 - Muhammad (Likely) (d. 634)
- 702 - Jafar Sadiq, Muslim scholar (d. 765)
- 1745 - Philippe Pinel, physician (d. 1826)
- 1808 - Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1873)
- 1818 - Heinrich Goebel, inventor (d. 1893)
- 1832 - Ernst von Leyden, physician (d. 1910)
- 1871 - Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian inventor, (d. 1922)
- 1879 - Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)
- 1889 - Albert Jean Amateau, businessman and social activist (d. 1996)
- 1889 - Adolf Hitler, German (Austrian-born) dictator, "Führer" and Reichskanzler (d. 1945)
- 1893 - Joan Miró, painter (d. 1983)
- 1893 - Harold Lloyd, actor (d. 1971)
- 1895 - Emile Christian, jazz musician (d. 1973)
- 1900 - Fred Raymond, composer (d. 1954)
- 1908 - Lionel Hampton, musician (d. 2002)
- 1915 - Joseph Wolpe, psychotherapist (d. 1997)
- 1920 - John Paul Stevens, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- 1923 - Rita Frances Rizzo, in Canton, Ohio. She became Mother Angelica, Foundress of Eternal Word Television Network
- 1925 - Tito Puente, musician (d. 2000)
- 1928 - Gerald S. Hawkins, astronomer (d. 2003)
- 1939 - Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway
- 1939 - Peter S. Beagle, author
- 1940 - George Takei, actor, Star Trek
- 1941 - Ryan O'Neal, actor
- 1943 - Edie Sedgwick, actress (d. 1971)
- 1949 - Jessica Lange, actress
- 1951 - Luther Vandross, singer
- 1956 - Pablo Emilio Tercero Montes Vergara, Electronic Engineer
- 1961 - Don Mattingly, baseball player
- 1964 - Crispin Glover, actor
- 1964 - Rosalynn Sumners, figure skater
- 1964 - Andy Serkis, actor
- 1972 - Hank The Angry Drunken Dwarf, radio and television personality (d. 2001)
- 1976 - Joey Lawrence, actor
- 1982 - James Little, comedian
- 2000 - Funny Cide, winner of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes
Deaths
Holidays and observances
April 19 - April 21 - March 20 - May 20 -- listing of all days
