Today in History for 22nd April 2025

Historical Events

1164 – Raynald of Dassel names Guido di Crema as anti-pope Paschalis III
1745 – Austria and Bavaria sign Peace Treaty of Füssen, ending Bavaria’s participation (on the French side) in the War of the Austrian Succession
1906 – New rule puts umpire in sole charge of all game balls
1954 – US Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings begin
1978 – Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Earl Anthony

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Famous Birthdays

1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer, born in Sidcup, Kent (d. 1944)
1927 – (Lorenzo) “Laurel” Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of Caribbean pop and ska music, born in Havana, Cuba (d. 2005)
1962 – Carol Van Dijk, Dutch-Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Bettie Serveert – “Dust Bunny”), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
1970 – Regine Velasquez, Filipina pop singer and actress, born in Tondo, Philippines
1977 – Aaron Fink, American guitarist (Breaking Benjamin, 2002-11), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

835 – Kūkai, Japanese Buddhist monk and poet (founded Shingon school of Buddhism), dies at 60
1890 – Magnus Huss, Swedish physician who coined the word alcoholism and was the first to define it as a disease, dies at 82
1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (Beau Brumell, Champ), dies at 96
2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator, dies at 98
2008 – Paul Davis, American country-rock-pop singer-songwriter and piano player (“I Go Crazy”; “65 Love Affair”), dies of a heart attack at 60

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Famous Deaths for 21st April 2025

1142 – Peter Abélard, French scholar and lover of Heloise (b. 1079)
1792 – Tiradentes, Brazilian revolutionary and independence fighter (Inconfidência Mineira) considered a national hero, hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro at 45
1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathemattician (b. 1765)
1898 – Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
1982 – Joe Sawyer [Sauers], Canadian actor (Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – “Sgt. Biff O’Hara”), dies of liver cancer at 75
2004 – Mary McGrory, American journalist and columnist, dies at 85
2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish sports administrator (7th President International Olympic Committee 1980-2001), dies of cardio-respiratory failure at 89
2012 – Charles Colson, Nixon adviser (Watergate), dies from a brain hemorrhage at 80
2014 – U Win Tin, Burmese journalist, co-founder of the National League for Democracy and a political prisoner for 14 years, dies of multiorgan failure at 85
2021 – Håkon Brusveen, Norwegian cross-country skier (Olympic gold 15 km, silver 4 × 10 km relay 1960), dies at 93

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Historical Events for 21st April 2025

1863 – Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, enters the garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days he spends there.
1954 – USAF flies French battalion to Vietnam
1958 – 62nd Boston Marathon won by Franjo Mihalić of Yugoslavia in 2:25:54
1961 – French army revolts in Algeria
1962 – 9th National Film Awards (India): “Bhagini Nivedita” wins the Golden Lotus
1972 – John Young and Charles Duke explore the moon as part of NASA mission Apollo 16
1977 – Billy Martin pulls Yankee line-up out of a hat, beats Blue Jays 8-6
1984 – Centers for Disease Cont says virus discovered in France causes AIDS
1988 – Barbra Streisand records “You’ll Never Know”
1991 – Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Jack Nicklaus wins his 4th of 8 Champions Tour majors by 6 strokes from Bruce Crampton of Australia

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Today in History for 21st April 2025

Historical Events

1920 – John Galsworthy’s “Skin Game” premieres in London
1970 – The Principality of Hutt River (previously Hutt River Province) secedes from Australia – it remains unrecognised by Australia or other nations
1994 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan
2004 – Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, and Little Jimmy Scott
2012 – Two trains in Sloterdijk, Netherlands, injure 117 people in a head on collision

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Famous Birthdays

1930 – Don Tyson, American businessman, founder of Tyson Foods, born in Olathe, Kansas (d. 2011)
1936 – James Dobson, American evangelist and founder of Focus on the Family, born in Shreveport, Louisiana
1959 – Jerry Only [Gerald Caiafa Jr], American musician (Misfits), born in Lodi, New Jersey
1975 – Danyon Loader, New Zealand swimmer (Olympic gold 200/400m freestyle 1996), born in Dunedin, New Zealand
1978 – Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish heavy metal drummer (Nightwish, 1997-2014), born in Kitee, Finland

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Famous Deaths

1821 – Thursday October Christian, son of Fletcher Christian (leader of the historical mutiny on the Bounty), dies at 40
1836 – Samuel Slater, English-American industrialist who brought the textile industrial revolution to America, dies at 67
1939 – Herman Finck, British conductor (Palace Theatre (London), 1900-20), theater and light classical composer (In The Shadows), dies at 66
1958 – Manuel Infante, Spanish composer and conductor, dies at 74
2001 – David Hollestelle, Dutch baritone singer (Dutch Radio Chorus), dies at 84

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Famous Deaths for 20th April 2025

1176 – Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English soldier (b. 1130)
1534 – Elizabeth Barton [St Magd of Kent], English nun, prophet and only woman whose head was on a spike on London Bridge, hanged for treason
1632 – Nicolas Antoine, French Protestant theologian who attempted to convert to Judaism, burned at the stake for heresy aged about 30 in Geneva, Switzerland
1820 – James Morris III, American army officer in the American Revolutionary War (Siege of Yorktown), dies at 68
1964 – Eddie Dyer, American baseball player, dies at 64
1970 – Paul Celan [Antschell], German-Romanian poet (Collected Prose), drowns himself at 49
1977 – Wilmer Allison, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1935), dies at 72
1999 – Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist (his hand acts as a puppet) and comedian, dies at 103
2021 – Tempest Storm [Annie Blanche Banks], American burlesque and film performer, dies at 93
2021 – Leslie McKeown, Scottish pop vocalist (Bay City Rollers – “Saturday Night”), dies at 65

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Historical Events for 20th April 2025

1290 – Round Table tournament held near Winchester, England, in imitation of King Arthur, to commemorate betrothal of daughter of Edward I, and attended by the king
1884 – Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical “On Freemasonry”
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
1920 – Phillies manager Gravvy Cravath puts himself in as pinch hitter, his 3- run homer beats NY Giants 3-0
1935 – “Your Hit Parade” begins broadcasting (becomes #1 quickly)
1986 – Michael Jordan sets NBA playoff record with 63 points in a game
1993 – Mercury Nashville Records releases “Shania Twain”, the debut studio album by Shania Twain
1997 – Mark McGwire is 4th to HR on Detroit Tiger left field roof (others are Frank Howard, Harmon Killibrew, and Cecil Fielder)
2021 – Former police officer Derek Chauvin convicted of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, in a case that prompted huge nationwide racial justice protests
2023 – Colombian President Gustavo Petro meets with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington

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Today in History for 20th April 2025

Historical Events

1610 – Only recorded performance of William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth”, during the playwright’s lifetime, at the Globe theater, by astrologer Simon Foreman
1916 – Chicago Cubs play their 1st game at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field) and beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6
1950 – Baltimore, Maryland’s Memorial Stadium opens – Orioles of International League
1960 – “From A to Z” opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 21 performances
1997 – Cubs beat NY Mets, ending the NL’s worst opening losing streak of 14 straight games

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Famous Birthdays

1938 – Betty Cuthbert, Australian athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 200m, 4x100m 1956; 400m 1964), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2017)
1953 – Sebastian Faulks, British novelist (The Girl at the Lion d’Or), born in Donnington, Berkshire
1965 – Kostas Hatzidakis, Greek politician (New Democracy Party), born in Rethymno, Greece
1971 – Tina Cousins, English singer (Mysterious Times), born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England
1983 – Tan France, English fashion designer and TV personality (Queer Eye), born in Doncaster, England

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Famous Deaths

1935 – Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, English fashion designer, dies at 71
1962 – Jesse G. Vincent, American engineer (designed 1st V-12 engine, Packard automobiles) dies at 82
1995 – Milovan Djilas, Yugoslavian politician and writer (The New Class), dies at 83
2018 – Avicii [Tim Bergling], Swedish musician, DJ, remixer and record producer (“Levels”; “Wake Me Up”; “Sunshine”), commits suicide at 28
2021 – Idriss Déby, Chadian politician and military officer (President of Chad, 1990–2021), dies of injuries inflicted on a battlefield at 68

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Famous Deaths for 19th April 2025

1608 – Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English poet and statesman, Lord High Treasurer, dies at 71 or 72
1799 – Pieter Hellendaal, Dutch violinist, organist (Pembroke College and Chapel of Peterhouse, both in Cambridge, England), teacher, and composer (Glees), dies at 78
1932 – Władysław Rzepko, Polish composer, dies at 77
1967 – Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of West Germany (CDU: 1949-63), dies at 91
1972 – Billy Burke, American golfer (US Open 1931), dies at 69
1979 – Rogers Morton, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland), dies at 64
2007 – Helen Walton, wife of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton (b. 1919)
2010 – Edwin Valero, Venezuelan boxer (undefeated world champion WBA super featherweight 2006-08; WBC lightweight 2009-10), commits suicide at 28
2013 – Mike Denness, English cricket batsman and captain (28 Tests, top score 188), dies from cancer at 72
2019 – Bob Efford, British jazz and session baritone saxophonist and reed player, dies at 91

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Historical Events for 19th April 2025

1619 – Theatrum Anatomicum opens in Amsterdam
1861 – Baltimore riots – 4 soldiers, 9 civilians killed
1943 – 47th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Cote of Canada in 2:28:25.8; his 2nd of 4 wins in the event
1947 – Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Maple Leafs edge Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 for a 4-2 series win; first all-Canadian final since 1935
1966 – In 1st regular season game at Anaheim Stadium, Angels lose 3-1 to Chic
1970 – “Look to the Lilies” closes at Lunt-Fontanne NYC after 25 performances
1972 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1991 – Greyhound Bus posts $195 million loss for 1990
1997 – NFL Draft: Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace first pick by St. Louis Rams

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Today in History for 19th April 2025

Historical Events

1937 – 41st Boston Marathon won by Walter Young of Canada in 2:33:20
1983 – France performs nuclear test
1989 – Gun turret explodes on USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors
1990 – Marla Maples appears on ABC’s Prime-Time
2020 – Turkey passes Iran to become the Middle Eastern country with the most COVID-19 cases with 86,306 infections, Iran continues to have the most deaths

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Famous Birthdays

1660 – Sebastián Durón, Spanish composer, born in Brihuega, Guadalajara, Spain (d. 1716)
1861 – Edward Vermeulen, Flemish writer, born in Beselare, Belgium (d. 1934)
1937 – Joseph Estrada, Filipino actor and 13th President of the Philippines (1998-01), born in Tondo, Philippines
1962 – Gerhard Mans, Namibian rugby union utility back (27 Tests; Orange Free State RFU, South West Africa RFU), born in Karasburg, Namibia (d. 2022)
1987 – Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player (5 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Nyagan, Russia

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Famous Deaths

1739 – Nicholas Saunderson, English scientist and mathematician, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics Cambridge University, dies at 57
1992 – Alice Mary Riley, entertainer, dies of cancer at 51
2012 – Levon Helm, American drummer and singer (The Band – “Up On Cripple Creek”; “The Weight”), and actor (Coal Miner’s Daughter; The Right Stuff), dies from throat cancer at 71
2012 – Greg Ham, Australian rock saxophonist and flutist (Men At Work – “Who Can It Be Now”), dies under mysterious circumstances at 58
2022 – Mike Gregory, English darts player (BDO World C’ship 1992 runner-up), dies from dementia at 65

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