April 20

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

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 a 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, Austrian-born First World War veteran and 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 Catalan 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 - 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 - 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 - Boidar Maljkovi, 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 uc, 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
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).

Liturgical feasts :