20 April is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (111th in Leap Year s). There are 255 days remaining.
- 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 - Jew s 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 .
- 1770 - Lieutenant James Cook 's expedition (first voyage) makes first sighting of eastern Australia n coastline, naming the spot Cape Hicks . His logbook recorded the date as April 19 , but the 20th was the actual calendar date.
- begins, which followed the first battles at Lexington And Concord .
- 1792 - France declares war on Austria , the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars .
- 1836 - U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory .
- 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 .
- 1876 - The April Uprising breaks out in Bulgaria .
- 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 Stadium s Tiger Stadium in Detroit , Michigan , and Fenway Park in Boston , Massachusetts .
- 1914 - Seventeen 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 - US troops capture Leipzig , Germany , only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union .
- 1953 - Project BLUEBIRD turns into Project MKULTRA .
- 1967 - A Swiss Britannia turboprop crashes at Toronto , Canada , killing 126.
- 1968 - A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes during takeoff at Windhoek , South-West Africa , killing 122.
- 1968 - Pierre Trudeau succeeds Lester B. Pearson as Prime Minister Of Canada .
- 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 .
- 1979 - President Jimmy Carter is attacked by a Swamp Rabbit while on vacation in Plains, Georgia .
- 1985 - ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, And The Arm Of The Lord compound in northern Arkansas .
- 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.
- 1998 - German terrorist group Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.
- 1999 - Eric Harris And Dylan Klebold kill 12 students and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves in the Columbine High School Massacre .
- 2002 - The body of Alice In Chains frontman Layne Staley is found in his Seattle apartment after dying from an apparent Speedball overdose on April 5 .
- 2004 - Severe Thunderstorm s strike Chicagoland , USA . An F3 Tornado touches down in Utica, Illinois , claiming eight lives.
- 2004 - In Iraq , 12 mortars are fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents, killing 22 detainees and wounding 92.
- 570 - Muhammad , Founder of Islam (d. 632 )
- 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 )
- 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 - Emperor Napoleon III Of France (d. 1873 )
- 1818 - Heinrich Göbel , German-born inventor (d. 1893 )
- 1850 - Daniel Chester French , American sculptor (d. 1931 )
- 1879 - Paul Poiret , French couturier (d. 1944 )
- 1882 - Holland Smith , U.S. General (d. 1967 )
- 1889 - Albert Jean Amateau , Turkish-born businessman and social activist (d. 1996 )
- 1889 - Adolf Hitler , Austrian-born German dictator (d. 1945 )
- 1891 - Caresse Crosby , American poet (d. 1970 )
- 1893 - Harold Lloyd , American actor (d. 1971 )
- 1893 - Joan Miró , 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 , American naval officer, author (d. 2002 )
- 1918 - Kai Siegbahn , Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1920 - John Paul Stevens , U.S. Supreme Court Justice
- 1923 - Mother Angelica , American nun and broadcaster
- 1923 - Tito Puente , American musician (d. 2000 )
- 1925 - Ernie Stautner , German-born American football player (d. 2006 )
- 1927 - Karl Alexander Müller , Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1928 - Gerald S. Hawkins , English astronomer (d. 2003 )
- 1939 - Peter S. Beagle , American author
- 1939 - Gro Harlem Brundtland , Prime Minister Of Norway
- 1940 - George Takei , American actor
- 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
- 1947 - Björn Skifs , Swedish singer ( Blue Swede )
- 1948 - Craig Frost , American musician ( Grand Funk & Bob Seger )
- 1949 - Massimo D'Alema , Prime Minister Of Italy
- 1949 - Toller Cranston , Canadian figure skater and artist
- 1949 - Jessica Lange , American actress
- 1950 - Veronica Cartwright , American actress
- 1950 - Aleksandr Lebed , Russian general, politician (d. 2002 )
- 1951 - Luther Vandross , American singer (d. 2005 )
- 1957 - Geraint Wyn Davies , American actor
- 1961 - Don Mattingly , baseball player
- 1964 - Crispin Glover , American actor
- 1964 - Andy Serkis , English actor
- 1964 - Rosalynn Sumners , American figure skater
- 1967 - Raymond Van Barneveld , Dutch darts player
- 1967 - Mike Portnoy , American drummer ( Dream Theater )
- 1971 - Carla Geurts , Dutch swimmer
- 1972 - Carmen Electra , American actress
- 1976 - Joey Lawrence , American actor
- 1976 - Shay Given , Irish footballer
- 1980 - Jasmin Wagner , German singer
- 2000 - Funny Cide , dual classic winner racehorse
- 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 )
- 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 )
- 1947 - King Christian X Of Denmark (b. 1870 )
- 1951 - Ivanoe Bonomi , Prime Minister Of Italy (b. 1873 )
- 1982 - Archibald MacLeish , American poet and Librarian Of Congress (b. 1892 )
- 1984 - Hristo Prodanov , Bulgarian mountaineer (b. 1943 )
- 1991 - Steve Marriott , British musician and actor (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 )
- 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 - Bernard Katz , German-born biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize In Physiology Or Medicine (b. 1911 )
- 2005 - Fumio Niwa , Japanese novelist (b. 1904 )
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Due to the Columbine High School Massacre , many American students who plan to assault their school often choose April 20 as their day to attack. However, no shootings have happened on April 20 since 1999 , due to shooting plots being foiled, or would-be perpetrators being arrested beforehand.
April 19 - April 21 - March 20 - May 20 – Listing Of All Days
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