/year

April 20 in history

221 sourced entries recorded on April 20, from 46 BCE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 46 BCECicero, in Rome, writes to Varro "If our voices are no longer heard in the Senate and in the Forum, let us follow the example of the ancient sages and serve our country through our writings, concentrating on questions of ethics and constitutional law."source
  • 44 BCEApril 18–April 21 – Octavian engages in a charm offensive with consular Cicero who is fulminating against Mark Antony.source
  • 363The planet Venus occults the planet Jupiter.source
  • 624Heraclius invades the Sassanid Empire (now Iran).source
  • 1042Zoë is proclaimed as empress at an assembly in Hagia Sophia, along with her sister Theodora, as co-ruler. Michael V flees to the monastery of Stoudios, but is arrested, blinded and castrated.source
  • 1105Battle of Artah: The Crusaders under Tancred, Norman prince and regent of Antioch, defeat a Seljuk army (some 7,000 men) at Artah (modern-day Reyhanlı). Tancred threatens Aleppo, capital of Sultan Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan, and expands his conquest by conquering more territory east of the Orontes River with minor opposition.source
  • 1129Gao Zong regains the throne (with the support of the imperial army led by General Han Shizhong). Zhao Fu is forced to abdicate with Meng having ruled for 25 days.source
  • 1138Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos, having led an expeditionary force into Syria, arrives before the walls of Aleppo. The city proves too strong to attack, but the fortresses of Biza'a, Athareb, Ma'arrat Nu'man and Kafartab are taken by assault. While the Byzantines besiege the city of Shaizar, the Crusader allies Prince Raymond of Poitiers of Antioch and Count Joscelin II of Edessa remain in their camp playing dice.source
  • 1191King Philip II (Augustus) arrives with a Genoese flotilla (six ships) filled with French nobles and his cousin Conrad of Montferrat at Acre. He begins the construction of seven immense stone-throwers – which are used to bombard the city, on May 30. One of the siege-machines is called by the French soldiers the "Evil Neighbour" and "God's Own Sling", and a grappling ladder is known as the "Cat". Meanwhile, the walls of Acre are pounded relentlessly. The Crusaders built earthworks, ramparts, and ditches to protect themselves against Muslim attacks.source
  • 1203The Crusader army evacuates Zara (modern Zadar) and sets sail to Corfu; Boniface of Montferrat and Doge Enrico Dandolo stay behind to await Prince Alexios Angelos. After a brief pause at Durrës (modern Albania), the fleet reaches Corfu. Meanwhile, news of its approach (through spies) has reached Emperor Alexios III Angelos at Constantinople. He gives order to strengthen the city walls and the fortifications.source
  • 1298Rintfleisch massacres: The Jews of Röttingen are burned en masse. "Lord Boels von Rindtfleisch" (also referred to as a carnifex, i.e. butcher or executioner) goes from town to town and kills all the Jews that fall under his control. He destroys the Jewish communities at Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Würzburg, Bamberg, Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen and Forchheim. In the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, the Jews seek refuge in the Nuremberg Castle, assisted by Christian citizens, but Rintfleisch overcomes the defenders and massacres the Jews on August 1. Spreading from Franconia to Bavaria and Austria, Rintfleisch and his followers destroy 146 communities, and between 20,000 and 100,000 Jews are killed.source
  • 1303Pope Boniface VIII founds the University of Rome with the papal bull In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis, as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies under his control, making it the first pontifical university.source
  • 1313The Duchy of Masovia in Poland is divided among the three sons of Boleslaw II upon his death, with Siemowit II creating the Duchy of Rawa (with a capital at Rawa Mazowiecka), Trojden receiving Czersk and Wenceslaus receiving Płock.source
  • 1324Boleslaw III, Duke of Wroclaw, declares his Polish duchy to be a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire as part of a defense agreement made with Louis IV, King of the Romans.source
  • 1325Elizabeth de Comyn, daughter of the late Guardian of Scotland, John Comyn III of Badenoch, is forced to sign away her title to her properties in England at Painswick and at Goodrich Castle to Hugh Despenser the Elder after being kidnapped in 1324 and imprisoned in England at Pirbright.source
  • 1344custody of the lands of the late Earl of Ormond is granted to the Earl of Desmond.source
  • 1397At Kalaburagi in the Bahmani Kingdom (now in India's state of Karnataka) Ghiyath-ad-din Shah becomes the new Shah upon the death of his father, Mohammed Shah II.source
  • 1441The Council of Florence, led by Pope Eugene IV, declares that the members of the Council of Basel are heretics and votes to excommunicate them, as well as affirming the superiority of the Pope over the Councils in the bull Etsi non dubitemus. In 1440, the Council of Basel had declared Eugene IV to be a heretic, deposed him as Pope, and excommunicated him.source
  • 1447Abdal-Latif Mirza, son of the recently-crowned Timurid Emperor Ulugh Beg, is defeated in battle at Nishapur by his cousin Ala al-Dawla Mirza, another claimant to the Timurid throne, shortly after Abdal-Latif had captured the city of Damghan and al-Dawla had conquered Mashad.source
  • 1458Isidore of Kiev is installed as the Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople, leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, with the approval of the Muslim Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II.source
  • 1499The Swiss Confederacy defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire in the Battle of Frastanz, with more than 2,000 Imperial troops killed.source
  • 1534French explorer Jacques Cartier embarked on a voyage seeking to find a passage to the East Indies.source
  • 1535While King Gustav Vasa of Sweden is out of the country, an unusual atmospheric phenomenon, the Vädersol, appears in the sky over the Swedish capital of Stockholm, and last for two hours. Because of uncertainty about whether the vädersol is a sign of God showing favor or disapproval of the Protestant reformation and of King Gustav himself, the Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop Olaus Petri commissions Urban Larsson to document the event in a painting, the Vädersolstavlan.source
  • 1535The appearance of Sun dogs leads to the painting of the Vädersolstavlan.source
  • 1537Spanish conquest of the Muisca: Bacatá, the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation, is conquered by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, effectively ending the Confederation in the Colombian Eastern Andes.source
  • 1546The Siege of Diu begins as the Gujarat Sultanate, led by Mahmud Shah III attacks the Portuguese colonial fortress at Diu. Reinforcements arrive on July 19 and Governor Castro arrives with 3,000 soldiers on November 7. The keeper of the King's Ports and Galley siege lasts until November 10 and ends with a Portuguese victorysource
  • 154620 April 1546 – 11 November 1546 – Second Siege of Diu occurs.source
  • 1564French explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière and a group of 300 Huguenot Protestants depart from Le Havre on three ships (L'Élisabeth, Le Faucon and Le Breton) to colonize what is now the U.S. state of Florida.source
  • 1567The Ainslie Tavern Bond is signed by a group of Scottish clerics and nobles, recommending Bothwell as an appropriate husband for Queen Mary and approving his acquittal after trial for the murder of her previous husband.source
  • 1567Ainslie Tavern Bond signed in support of the Earl of Bothwell.source
  • 1587April 20 (14th waxing of Kason 949 ME) – Burmese–Siamese War (1584–1593): Burma's siege of Ayutthaya (now in Thailand), capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, fails after six months as the troops of Burma's King Nanda Bayin begin their withdrawal.source
  • 1592King Henry IV of France ends the siege of Rouen, the Spanish-held capital of Normandy, five months after its November 11 commencement, as the Spanish Navy arrives to relieve the city.source
  • 1602The Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly is established.source
  • 1608Old Bushmills Distillery is first licensed to distil whiskey at Bushmills, County Antrim, Ireland by King James I.source
  • 1608Old Bushmills Distillery is first licensed to distil whiskey at Bushmills, County Antrim, by King James I.source
  • 1610William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedie of Macbeth, is given its first performance, staged at the Globe Theatre in London.source
  • 1620Mian Shahul Mouhammed Kalhoro begins his reign at Karachi as the king of Sindh, in modern-day Pakistan, and rules until 1657.source
  • 1630Officials of the County of Flanders mandated to conserve and repair the coastal dunes, prohibiting hunting or the grazing of livestock in them.source
  • 1650Governor General Leopold William lays the foundation stone of the new pilgrimage church in Jezus-Eiksource
  • 1653Oliver Cromwell expels the Rump Parliament in England.source
  • 1653Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament.source
  • 1657The Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City) are granted freedom of religion, as full citizens.source
  • 1657Anglo-Spanish War – Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife: English Admiral Robert Blake attempts to seize a Spanish treasure fleet.source
  • 1657Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish treasure fleet under heavy fire at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.source
  • 1663The Danish seizure of Fort Christiansborg and Carlsborg (Cape Castle) completes the annexation of the Swedish Gold Coast settlements, the beginning of the Danish Gold Coast.source
  • 1666In colonial British North America, "Articles of Peace and Amity" are signed between the governments of the Province of Maryland and 12 Eastern Algonquian tribes — the Piscataways, Anacostancks, Doegs, Mattawomans, Portobackes, Chopticos, Mikikiwomans, Manasquesends, Chingwawateicks, Hangemaicks, Sacayos, and Panyayos.source
  • 1675An uprising by the Chahars in the Chinese Empire region of Inner Mongolia, led by brothers Abunai Khan and Lubuzung Khan with 3,000 followers, is harshly put down by Imperial troops of the Manchu dynasty. Survivors of the battle, part of the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, are put to death.source
  • 1686April 20–April 24 – three Roman Catholic judges are appointed to Ireland (but Charles Ingleby refuses to travel there).source
  • 1702Comet C/1702 H1 is discovered and passes within 0.0435 AU (a little more than four million miles or 6.5 million km) of the Earth.source
  • 1735religious conversion of Howell Harris at Talgarth church, marking a beginning of the Welsh Methodist revival.source
  • 1735Religious conversion of Howell Harris at Talgarth, marking a beginning of the Welsh Methodist revival.source
  • 1744Arthur Price is translated from Meath to become Church of Ireland Archbishop of Cashel (letters patent 7 May).source
  • 1751A month after the death of his father, 12-year old Prince George William Frederick is formally invested as the new Prince of Wales. Nine years later, Prince George becomes King George III upon the death of his grandfather, King George II.source
  • 1751George, eldest son of the late Frederick, Prince of Wales, is made Prince of Wales.source
  • 1758Marathas attacked Lahore and occupied it.source
  • 1760France's Marshal François Gaston de Lévis departs from Montreal up the St. Lawrence River with 7,000 troops on a plan to retake Quebec City from the British.source
  • 1770Battle of Aspindza: Georgian king Erekle II defeats the Ottoman forces, despite being abandoned by an ally, Russian General Totleben.source
  • 1774Life Assurance Act stipulates that people taking out life assurance must have an interest in the life of the insured person, with the intention of eliminating the use of policies as a form of gambling.source
  • 1789first boat passes through the Thames and Severn Canal's Sapperton Tunnel near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. At 3,817 yd it is the longest tunnel of any kind in England at this date.source
  • 1792France declares war against Austria, beginning the French Revolutionary Wars and the War of the First Coalition.source
  • 1801The Royal Admiral, Captain William Wilson, arrives at Hauraki to collect timber before taking several London Missionary Society Brothers to the mission in Tahiti. They encounter Māori who help with provisioning and inform them of a ship further up river. They send a boat several days later which soon finds the El Plumier. Captain Wilson later encounters Thomas Taylor who had been staying with local Māori for 2 years. Captain Wilson and the LMS Brothers record some details of Māori life given to them by Taylor.source
  • 1809Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria: Napoleon defeats Austria.source
  • 1828French explorer René Caillié becomes the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu and later return alive.source
  • 1836The Wisconsin Territory is created; the first capital is Belmont.source
  • 1841Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is published in Graham's Magazine (Philadelphia) (of which he became editor in February). The story will be recognized as the first significant work of detective fiction.source
  • 1845Ramón Castilla becomes president of Peru.source
  • 1851December 31 - 1851 Chilean Revolution (also known as Revolution of 1851)source
  • 1851Ramón Castilla loses power in Peru.source
  • 1857James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin appointed plenipotentiary to China.source
  • 1863The Augustus of Prima Porta, one of the most significant sculptures of classical antiquity, is found in excavations in the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, near Rome.source
  • 1870A second state flag of New South Wales is adopted, similar to the current flag of Victoria: a crown above the Southern Cross.source
  • 1871U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Civil Rights Act of 1871.source
  • 1876Leopold I's mortal remains transferred to the crypt of the Church of Our Lady of Laekensource
  • 1878The Stawell Gift sprint is run for the first time in Australia.source
  • 1879Spanish general election, 1879source
  • 1884Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus, denouncing Freemasonry and certain liberal beliefs which he considers to be associated with it.source
  • 1887April 20−30 – Schnaebele incident: A French/German border incident nearly leads to war between the two countries.source
  • 1887Occidental College is founded in Los Angeles, California.source
  • 1889Birth of Adolf Hitler at Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary, the son of customs official Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara.source
  • 1892Victoria holds a general election.source
  • 1899Catulle Mendès' controversial ballet Le Cygne premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, but is considered by critics to be too sexually explicit.source
  • 1901Japan Women's University is established.source
  • 1903April 19–21 (April 6–8 O.S.) – The first Kishinev pogrom, beginning on Easter Day, takes place in Kishinev, capital of the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire. At least 47 Jews are killed during mob rioting encouraged by blood libel articles in the press and led by priests.source
  • 1905The largest ocean liner in the world at this time, the German SS Amerika is launched.source
  • 1907Brazil annexed land in the East from Colombia through the Vásquez Cobo–Martins treaty.source
  • 1908Sunshine rail disaster: A rear-end collision of two trains in Melbourne, Australia kills 44 people and injures more than 400.source
  • 1909Russian intervention in Persia beginssource
  • 1912Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts opens.source
  • 1914Colorado Coalfield War: Ludlow Massacre – The Colorado National Guard attacks a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado, killing 21 people.source
  • 1919The French Army blows up the bridge over the Dniester at Bender, Moldova, to protect the city from the Bolsheviks.source
  • 1920April 19–26 – San Remo conference: Representatives of Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan meet to determine the League of Nations mandates for administration of territories, following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1920José de las Fuentes Rodríguez, lawyer and politician (PRI); Governor of Coahuila 1981–1987 (died 2011)source
  • 1920April 19–26 – San Remo conference held at Castle Devachan in Sanremo, Italy. Representatives of Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Japan meet to determine the League of Nations mandates for administration of territories following partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The conference was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain (David Lloyd George), France (Alexandre Millerand), Italy (Francesco Nitti) and by Japan's Ambassador Keishirō Matsui.source
  • 1920Opening ceremony of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, at which Brazil competes for the first time. Sport shooter Guilherme Paraense is the first Brazilian to win a gold medal.source
  • 1921Ferenc Molnár's play Liliom is first produced in English on Broadway. The play would later be adapted as the musical Carousel.source
  • 1923Julius Streicher's antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer begins publication.source
  • 1925Iranian forces of Reza Shah occupy Ahvaz and arrest Sheikh Khazʽal Ibn Jabir.source
  • 1927Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō is forced to resign during the Shōwa financial crisis and is succeeded by Tanaka Giichi who manages to control the situation with a three-week bank holiday and the issuance of emergency loans.source
  • 1937A fire in an elementary school in Kilingi-Nõmme, Estonia, kills 17 students and injures 50.source
  • 1941Åshild Hauan, politiciansource
  • 1942WWII: Operation Calendar: The American aircraft carrier USS Wasp, escorted by the British battlecruiser HMS Renown, two cruisers and six destroyers, brings 47 planes (Spitfires) to Malta. They are successfully delivered – but 30 of them are immediately destroyed on the ground by German bombers and within 48 hours all are destroyed.source
  • 1942Helga Estby, noted for her walk across the United States during 1896 (born 1860)source
  • 1942The Manitoba Junior Hockey League's Portage la Prairie Terriers win their only Memorial Cup by defeating the Ontario Hockey Association's Oshawa Generals 3 games to 1. The deciding Game 4 was played at Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipegsource
  • 1944Members of the Slovene Home Guard swear an oath to Hitler on his birthday at Bežigrad Stadium.source
  • 1947King Frederik IX succeeds his father, Christian X, on the throne of Denmark.source
  • 1949Royal Navy frigate HMS Amethyst goes up the Yangtze River, to evacuate British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of Mao's Communist forces. Under heavy fire, she grounds off Rose Island. After an abortive rescue attempt on April 26, she anchors 10 mi upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks, during which time the ship's cat Simon raises the crew's morale.source
  • 1952Sigurd Maseng, diplomat (born 1894)source
  • 1955April 18–24 – The Asian-African Conference is held in Bandung, Indonesia.source
  • 1958The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey, after defeating the Boston Bruins in 6 games.source
  • 1962OAS leader Raoul Salan is arrested in Algiers.source
  • 1963In Quebec, Canada, members of the terrorist group Front de libération du Québec bomb a Canadian Army recruitment center, killing night watchman Wilfred V. O'Neill.source
  • 1964Nelson Mandela makes his "I Am Prepared to Die" speech at the opening of the Rivonia Trial, a key event for the anti-apartheid movement.source
  • 1964In the UK, BBC Two television starts broadcasting for the first time.source
  • 1964British businessman Greville Wynne, imprisoned in Moscow since 1963 for spying, is exchanged for Soviet spy Gordon Lonsdale.source
  • 1967The Surveyor 3 probe lands on the Moon.source
  • 1967A Globe Air Bristol Britannia turboprop crashes at Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126 people.source
  • 1967A Bristol Britannia of the Swiss airline Globe Air flew into the ground 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) south of Nicosia Airport, killing all 126 passengers and crew on board.source
  • 1968Pierre Elliott Trudeau becomes the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.source
  • 1968Conservative British politician Enoch Powell makes a controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech in Birmingham deploring the effects of immigration; he is dismissed from the Shadow Cabinet the following day.source
  • 1968South African Airways Flight 228 a Boeing 707 crashed shortly after take-off killing 123 people on board.source
  • 1968A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes after take-off from Windhoek, killing 122 of the 129 on board.source
  • 1970Avishai Cohen (bassist), Israeli jazz double bassist, composer, singer, and arranger.source
  • 1971National Public Radio (NPR) airs its first broadcast.source
  • 1971Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.source
  • 1973Anik A2 is launched.source
  • 1975Cantonal elections in Ticino. Benito Bernasconi (SPS), Ugo Sadis (FDP), Argante Righetti (FDP), Flavio Cotti (CVP), and Fabio Vassalli (CVP) are elected to the Council of States in the first round of votingsource
  • 1975Taman Mini Indonesia Indah opens to the public in Jakarta, Indonesia.source
  • 1978April 18– 30 – The Khmer Rouge massacres 3,157 civilians in Ba Chúc, Vietnam.source
  • 1978A Soviet air defense plane shoots down Korean Air Lines Flight 902; the plane makes an emergency landing on a frozen lake.source
  • 1978Korean Air Lines Flight 902 is shot down by Soviet Interceptor fighter jets near Murmansk after entering Soviet airspace during a flight en route from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage.source
  • 1978The Soviet Air Force shoots down Korean Air Lines Flight 902, a civilian airliner that flew into Soviet airspace.source
  • 198220 April-9 May – 1982 Vuelta a España cycle racesource
  • 1987The Palestine National Council begins a week-long meeting in Algiers to try and reconcile the schisms between the different PLO factions.source
  • 1988The world's longest skyjacking comes to an end when the remaining passengers of Kuwait Airways Flight 422 are released by their captors.source
  • 19911991 Categoría Primera B season.source
  • 1992Seville Expo '92, a six-month universal exhibition, opens in Seville.source
  • 1992The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held at Wembley Stadium, London, is televised live to over one billion people and raises millions of dollars for AIDS research.source
  • 1993The Council for National Academic Awards, the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom, is officially dissolved.source
  • 1994South Africa adopts a new national flag, replacing the "Oranje, Blanje, Blou" flag adopted in 1928 that was used during apartheid.source
  • 199420 April to 24 April - The International Junior Championships of Hong Kong were held in the territory, with Jeong-min lee, along with Hae-sung chung, winning the Boys Singles' and Doubles', and Ludmilla Varmuza, along with Fransesca La'o winning the Girls Singles' and Doubles' respectively.source
  • 1996Robert Dunlop, after an accident in 1994, returns to race in the Cookstown 100, taking ninth place in the 125cc race won by brother, Joey Dunlop.source
  • 1998The alleged date the German Red Army Faction (created 1970) is dissolved.source
  • 1999Uganda downplays an agreement in Libya to end the Second Congo War.source
  • 1999Columbine High School massacre: Two Littleton, Colorado teenagers open fire on their teachers and classmates, killing 12 students and one teacher, and then themselves. It would be the deadliest shooting at a high school in U.S. history at the time. The shooting sparks debate on school bullying, gun control and violence in the media.source
  • 2003The North Korean ship Pong Su is seized by the Royal Australian Navy for smuggling heroin into the country.source
  • 2003Tropical Storm Ana becomes the first recorded North Atlantic tropical storm to occur in April.source
  • 2004The National Alliance announced the merger of the alliance with the unified Pakistan Muslim League.source
  • 2006Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; nine days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de facto termination of the deal.source
  • 2006SES Astra launches its Astra 1KR satellite.source
  • 2007April 15–22 – Three major marathon races were won by Kenyan men: Rotterdam Marathon was won by Joshua Chelanga, Boston Marathon by Robert Cheruiyot and London Marathon by Martin Lel.source
  • 2010The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers. The resulting Horizon oil spill, one of the largest in history, spreads for several months, damaging the waters and the United States coastline, and prompting international debate and doubt about the practice and procedures of offshore drilling.source
  • 2012Bhoja Air Flight 213 crashes near Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killing all 127 people on board.source
  • 2013Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare has posted the fifth best women's 200m time of 22.31 in 2013 (wind +1.3m/sec) at the Mount SAC Relays on Saturday in Los Angeles, California.source
  • 20132013 Lushan earthquake: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake jolts Sichuan, China, leaving 193 people dead and more than 11,000 injured.source
  • 2018The death toll for protests that began two days ago reaches 10 by government figures.source
  • 2018The 2018 Bhutanese National Council election is held to elect 20 out of 25 members of the National Council of Bhutan, the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Bhutan.source
  • 2020Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White Alliance leader Benny Gantz agree on a deal to form a unity government, thus ending more than a year of political deadlock. As part of the deal, Netanyahu will hold onto his position for 18 more months, with Gantz replacing him afterwards.source
  • 2020Oil prices reach a record low, with West Texas Intermediate falling into negative values.source
  • 2020The Industrial Bank of Korea agrees to pay US$86 million and will enter a two-year deferred prosecution agreement to settle lawsuits with the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of New York over a 2011 scheme to help transfer US$1 billion to Iran.source
  • 2022A European Southern Observatory team announce the discovery of micronovae, a new type of exploding star.source
  • 2022A small plane crashes into a street in Port-au-Prince, killing six people.source
  • 2023SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time in a test flight from Texas. It explodes four minutes after launch.source

Births

  • 1418Earl David of Rookwoodsource
  • 1492Pietro Aretino, Italian author (died 1556)source
  • 1494Johannes Agricola, German Protestant reformer (died 1566)source
  • 1544Renata of Lorraine, duchess consort of Bavaria (died 1602)source
  • 1546Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Spanish Catholic cardinal (died 1618)source
  • 1586Saint Rose of Lima, Spanish colonist in Lima (died 1617)source
  • 1589John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg, married into Swedish royalty (died 1652)source
  • 1633Emperor Go-Kōmyō of Japan (died 1654)source
  • 1702Zenón de Somodevilla, 1st Marqués de la Ensenada, Secretary of State 1748-1754 (born 1781)source
  • 1718David Brainerd, American missionary (died 1747)source
  • 1745Philippe Pinel, French physician (died 1826)source
  • 1764Rudolph Ackermann, German-born English entrepreneur (died 1834)source
  • 1798Frederick Crowder, English cricketer (died 1894)source
  • 1808Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (died 1873)source
  • 1828Josephine Butler, British social reformer (died 1906)source
  • 1889Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born dictator of Nazi Germany (suicide 1945)source
  • 1890Maurice Duplessis, premier of Quebec (died 1959)source
  • 1967Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts playersource

Deaths

  • 374Marcellinus of Gaul (or Marcellin), Christian bishopsource
  • 624(27th day of the 3rd month of the 6th year of the Wu'de era) Du Fuwei, a Chinese prince who rebelled against Sui dynasty China and then was rewarded with the title "Prince of Wu" by Emperor Gaozu of Tang, dies suddenly of poisoning, under suspicion that he has been ordered killed by the Emperor.source
  • 689Cædwalla, abdicated king of Wessexsource
  • 767Taichō, Japanese Buddhist monk (born 682)source
  • 888Xi Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (born 862)source
  • 888Emperor Xi Zong (Li Xuan) dies of illness at Chang'an, after a 14-year reign. He is succeeded by his 21-year-old brother Zhao Zong, as ruler of the Tang Dynasty.source
  • 1089April 20 (possible date) – Demetrius Zvonimir, king of Croatia, dies after a 12-year reign, and is succeeded by Stephen II. Zvonimir's widow, Helena of Hungary, Queen of Croatia, plots the inheritance of the Croatian crown for her brother, King Ladislaus I of Hungary.source
  • 1089April 20 (possible date) – Demetrius Zvonimir, king of Croatia and Dalmatiasource
  • 1099Peter Bartholomew, French soldier and mysticsource
  • 1164Antipope Victor IV dies at Rome and is succeeded by Paschal III, who has gained election through the influence of Archchancellor Rainald of Dassel.source
  • 1164Victor IV, antipope of Rome (born 1095)source
  • 1176Richard de Clare, English nobleman (born 1130)source
  • 1194Odon of Poznań, duke of Greater Polandsource
  • 1248Güyük Khan (or Kuyuk), Mongol emperor (born 1206)source
  • 1263John I, Count of Holstein-Kiel, German nobleman (House of Schauenburg)source
  • 1284Hōjō Tokimune, Japanese nobleman (born 1251)source
  • 1286Buluqhan Khatun (or Bulugan), Mongol princesssource
  • 1313Bolesław II, Polish nobleman, prince and co-ruler (House of Piast)source
  • 1314Pope Clement V dies after an 9-year pontificate at Roquemaure. During his reign, he has reorganized and centralized the administration of the Catholic Church.source
  • 1314Clement V, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1264)source
  • 1317Agnes of Montepulciano, Italian prioress and saint (born 1268)source
  • 1434Alexandra of Lithuania, Duchess of Masoviasource
  • 1452Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (born 1412)source
  • 1467Dorotea Gonzaga, Italian noble (born 1449)source
  • 1502Mary of Looz-Heinsberg, Dutch noble (born 1424)source
  • 1521Zhengde Emperor of China (born 1491)source
  • 1529Silvio Passerini, Italian cardinal and lord of Florence (born 1469)source
  • 1534Elizabeth Barton, English prophet and nun (executed) (born 1506)source
  • 1558Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (born 1485)source
  • 1663Kjeld Stub, priest (born 1607).source
  • 1676John Clarke, English-born Baptist minister, deputy governor of Rhode Island and physician (born 1609)source
  • 1708Damaris Cudworth Masham, English philosopher (born 1659)source
  • 1765Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (born 1681)source
  • 1769Chief Pontiac, Ottawa chief (murdered) (born c. 1719)source
  • 1769Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa is killed by a Kaskaskia Indian in Illinois.source
  • 1812George Clinton, 4th Vice President of the United States (born 1739)source
  • 1812George Clinton, Vice President of the United States, dies in office.source
  • 1821Franz Karl Achard, German chemist, physicist and biologist (born 1753)source
  • 1822Allegra Byron, illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron (born 1817)source
  • 1999Columbine High School massacre: 14 people, including 13 students and one teacher, are killed in a mass shooting and attempted bombing at a high school in Columbine, Colorado; 23 others are injured by the two student perpetrators, who then kill themselves.source
  • 1999Eric Harris, 18, perpetrator.source