20 April
Notable Births
Tallyn Da Silva
b. 2005
Australian rugby league player
Alexander Zverev
b. 1997
German tennis player (born 1997)
Luke Kuechly
b. 1991
American football player (born 1991)
Kyle Higashioka
b. 1990
American baseball player (born 1990)
Jason Behrendorff
b. 1990
Australian cricketer (born 1990)
Brandon Belt
b. 1988
American baseball player (born 1988)
Jorge Pinto
b. 1987
Portuguese politician (born 1987)
Harris Wittels
b. 1984
American actor, comedian, writer, and musician (1984–2015)
Miranda Kerr
b. 1983
Australian model (born 1983)
Carl Greenidge
b. 1978
English cricketer
Killer Mike
b. 1975
American rapper and activist (born 1975)
Randy Fine
b. 1974
American politician (born 1974)
Julie Powell
b. 1973
American author (1973–2022)
Carmen Electra
b. 1972
American actress and model (born 1972)
Stephen Marley
b. 1972
American musician (born 1972)
Allan Houston
b. 1971
American basketball player (born 1971)
Shemar Moore
b. 1970
American actor (born 1970)
Felix Baumgartner
b. 1969
Austrian skydiver and extreme sportsman (1969–2025)
Will Hodgman
b. 1969
45th Premier of Tasmania, Australia
Don Mattingly
b. 1961
American baseball player and manager (born 1961)
Notable Deaths
Hugo Gatti
d. 2025
Argentine footballer (1944–2025)
Antonio Cantafora
d. 2024
Italian film and television actor (1944–2024)
Andrew Davis (conductor)
d. 2024
English conductor (1944–2024)
Roman Gabriel
d. 2024
American football player (1940–2024)
Lourdes Portillo
d. 2024
Mexican film director (1943–2024)
Gavin Millar
d. 2022
Scottish critic, film director, and television presenter (1938–2022)
Idriss Déby
d. 2021
Leader of Chad from 1990 to 2021
Monte Hellman
d. 2021
American film director, producer and editor (1929–2021)
Les McKeown
d. 2021
Scottish pop singer (1955–2021)
Avicii
d. 2018
Swedish DJ and music producer (1989–2018)
Victoria Wood
d. 2016
British comedian (1953–2016)
Neville Wran
d. 2014
Australian politician (1926–2014)
Bert Weedon
d. 2012
English guitarist (1920–2012)
Tim Hetherington
d. 2011
British photojournalist
Dorothy Height
d. 2010
American activist (1912–2010)
Monica Lovinescu
d. 2008
Romanian essayist
Andrew Hill (pianist)
d. 2007
American jazz pianist and composer (1931–2007)
Michael Fu Tieshan
d. 2007
Chinese Roman Catholic bishop
Fumio Niwa
d. 2005
Japanese writer (1904–2005)
Lizzy Mercier Descloux
d. 2004
French singer-songwriter (1956–2004)
On This Day in History
All 49 ›
2023
SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time. It explodes four minutes into flight.
SpaceX Starship
2021
State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin: Derek Chauvin is found guilty of all charges in the murder of George Floyd by the Fourth Judicial District Court of Minnesota.
Trial of Derek Chauvin
2020
For the first time in history, oil prices drop below zero, an effect of the 2020 Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war.
Price of oil
2015
Ten people are killed in a bomb attack on a convoy carrying food supplies to a United Nations compound in Garowe in the Somali region of Puntland.
Garowe attack
2013
A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Lushan County, Ya'an, in China's Sichuan province, killing at least 193 people and injuring thousands.
Moment magnitude scale
2012
One hundred twenty-seven people are killed when a plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.
Bhoja Air Flight 213
2010
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that lasted six months.
Deepwater Horizon
2008
Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
Danica Patrick
2007
Johnson Space Center shooting: William Phillips barricades himself with a handgun in NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, before killing a male hostage and himself.
Johnson Space Center shooting
2004
The Nicoll Highway in Singapore collapses, killing four workers.
Nicoll Highway
1999
Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 14 people and injure 23 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.
Columbine High School massacre
1998
Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.
Air France Flight 422
1985
University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid: Animal Liberation Front rescues 467 animals being tested in a lab at University of California, Riverside in Riverside, California, causing $700,000 in damages to the laboratory, in advocacy for animal rights.
University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid
1972
Apollo program: The Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the Moon.
Apollo program
1968
English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech.
Enoch Powell
1968
South African Airways Flight 228 crashes near J.G. Strijdom Airport in South West Africa (now Hosea Kutako International Airport in Namibia), killing 123 people.
South African Airways Flight 228
1961
Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.
Cold War
1949
Amethyst incident: The People's Liberation Army attacks HMS Amethyst (F116) travelling to the British embassy in Nanjing during the Chinese Civil War.
Amethyst incident
1946
The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.
League of Nations
1945
World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
World War II