1799 – Friedrich von Schiller’s play “Wallensteins Tod” premieres in Weimar
1809 – Napoleon I and French forces defeat Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria
1951 – Huge ticker-tape parade held in NYC for World War II and Korean War General Douglas MacArthur after he was relieved of Command by President Truman
1962 – OAS-leader ex-general Salan arrested in Algiers
1962 – NASA civilian pilot Neil Armstrong flies the experimental X-15 aircraft to an altitude of 63,250 meters
1991 – Mark Lenzi becomes the first diver to score more than 100 points on a single dive, earning 101.85 points
1996 – Chicago Bulls win record 72 games in a season
2012 – Plane crash near Islamabad, Pakistan, kills 127 people
Author: gil7
Today in History for 20th April 2026
Historical Events
1931 – British House of Commons agrees to allow sports to be played on Sunday
1934 – Heinrich Himmler is appointed chief of all German police including the Prussian secret state police
1985 – Carlos Lopes runs world record marathon (2:07:12)
1998 – German terrorist group Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, disbands after 28 years
2009 – 113th Boston Marathon: Deriba Merga of Ethiopia wins men’s event in 2:08:42; Salina Kosgei of Kenya women’s champion in 2:32:16
Famous Birthdays
1857 – Charles Louis Philippe Zilcken, Dutch painter and author (HW Knife Day), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1930)
1894 – Martinus Nijhoff, Dutch poet and linguistic (spelling), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1953)
1955 – Donald Pettit, American chemical engineer and NASA astronaut, born in Silverton, Oregon
1961 – Don Mattingly, American MLB first baseman (6 x MLB All-Star; AL MVP 1985; 9 x Gold Glove; 3 x Silver Slugger; AL batting champion 1984; NY Yankees) and manager (LA Dodgers, Miami Marlins), born in Evansville, Indiana
1971 – Mikey Welsh, American bass player (Weezer, 1998-2001 – “Island In The Sun”), born in Syracuse, New York (d. 2011)
Famous Deaths
1164 – Victor IV [Ottaviano Montecello], Italian antipope (1159-64), dies
1960 – Paul Fort, French poet (founder of Vers et Prose), dies at 88
1970 – Paul Celan [Antschell], German-Romanian poet (Collected Prose), drowns himself at 49
1994 – Jean Carmet, French actor (Cache Cash, Miss Mona, Night Magic), dies of a heart attack at 72
2003 – Ruth Hale, American playwright and actress (b. 1908)
Famous Deaths for 19th April 2026
1831 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German mathematician, dies at 65
1892 – Fr. Thomas Dale SSC, Anglican clergyman prosecuted for Ritualist practices in the 1870s (b. 1821)
1937 – William Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington, English historian and explorer (Spitzbergen), dies at 81
1956 – Lionel Crabb “Buster”, British Royal Navy diver (WWII), disappears presumed dead on a job for M16 at 47
1978 – Emile de Strycker, Belgian philosopher and founder of the Antwerp University Faculty of Philosophy and Literature, dies at 70
1981 – Ernst Levy, Swiss composer, dies at 85
1992 – Alice Mary Riley, entertainer, dies of cancer at 51
1995 – Igor Hajek, Czech translator and writer, dies at 64
2011 – Grete Waitz, Norwegian long distance athlete (9 x NYC Marathon titles; World C’ship gold 1983; 5 x gold World Cross Country; WR x 4), dies of cancer at 57
2020 – Peter Beard, American wildlife photographer and diarist (The End of the Game, Eyelids of Morning), found dead in Camp Hero State Park at 82
Historical Events for 19th April 2026
1932 – US President Herbert Hoover suggests five-day work week
1954 – 7-time winner of Boston Marathon, 65-year-old Clarence Demar, runs his last race at Boston finishing 78th
1959 – Uprising in La Paz Bolivia, fails
1971 – Charles Manson sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Sharon Tate
1972 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 – Oriole Al Bumbry hits an inside-the-park HR against NY Yankees
1982 – Former Cuban marathon cheat Rosie Ruiz is arrested for embezzling $60,000
1987 – Brendon Kuruppu scores 201* on Test Cricket debut (Sri Lanka v NZ)
Today in History for 19th April 2026
Historical Events
1923 – New Egyptian law allows suffrage for men, except soldiers
1926 – 30th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Johnny Miles in 2:25:40.4
1944 – 1944 NFL Draft: Angelo Bertelli from University of Notre Dame first pick by Boston Yanks
1965 – 1st all news radio station (WINS 1010 AM in NYC) begins operating
1965 – T.A.M.I. Show premieres in London
Famous Birthdays
1821 – Mortimer Dormer Leggett, American Major General (Union Army), born in Ithaca, New York (d. 1896)
1931 – Walter Stewart, Canadian writer and journalist, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2004)
1945 – Michael Stewart, American folk music producer, arranger, banjo player and guitarist (We Five – “You Were On My Mind”), born in Riverside County, California (d. 2002)
1972 – Jeff Wilkins, American football kicker (Super Bowl XXXIV St Louis Rams; Pro Bowl and NFL scoring leader 2003), born in Youngstown, Ohio
1977 – Lucien Mettomo, Cameroonian footballer (2002 World Cup), born in Douala, Cameroon
Famous Deaths
1776 – Jacob Israel Emden [Jacob ben Tswi], German rabbi, dies at 78
1870 – William Henry Havergal, composer, dies at 77
1874 – Owen Jones, architect, dies
1949 – Stephen Samuel Wise, American Rabbi and President of Zionist Org of America, dies at 75
2022 – Mike Gregory, English darts player (BDO World C’ship 1992 runner-up), dies from dementia at 65
Famous Deaths for 18th April 2026
1863 – Job Plimpton, American composer and organ builder, dies at 79
1917 – Moritz von Bissing, Prussian general, dies at 73
1947 – Benny Leonard, American boxer (world lightweight title 1917-25), dies from a heart attack at 51
1949 – Will Hay [William Thomson Hay], British comedian, actor and amateur astronomer, dies from a stroke at 60
1956 – Floyd Smith, American aviator and inventor of the modern parachute, dies at 71
1996 – Hubert Opperman, Australian road cyclist, politician (multi-distance world records), dies of heart failure at 91
2013 – Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer and music video director (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, The Cranberries), dies of cancer at 69
2015 – Joseph Lechleider, American electrical engineer (invented DSL/high speed internet technology), dies at 82
2020 – François Lafortune Jr., Belgian rifle shooter (7 x Olympic Games 1952-1976, 50m Rifle, Prone Position), dies from Parkinson’s disease at 87
2022 – Sid Mark [Fliegelman], American disc jockey and ‘Frank-ophile’ (The Sounds of Sinatra, 1960-2022), dies at 88
Historical Events for 18th April 2026
1738 – Real Academia de la Historia (“Royal Academy of History”) founded in Madrid
1869 – 1st international cricket match, held in San Francisco, won by California
1922 – Netherlands soccer team defeats Denmark 2-0
1939 – Hubert Pierlot forms Belgian government
1946 – Jackie Robinson debuts as second baseman for the Montreal Royals, the minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers
1956 – Egypt and Israel agree to a cease fire
1966 – 70th Boston Marathon: Kenji Kimihara of Japan wins in 2:17:11; American Bobbi Gibb first woman in 3:21:40 (unsanctioned)
2013 – 28th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Heart; Albert King; Randy Newman; Public Enemy; Rush; Donna Summer; Quincy Jones; and Lou Adler
Today in History for 18th April 2026
Historical Events
1868 – San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals forms in San Francisco, California
1950 – 1st opening night-game, Cards beat Pirates, 4-2
1963 – Dr. James Campbell performs the first human nerve transplant
1974 – Red Brigade kidnaps Italian attorney general Mario Sossi
1996 – In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces accidentally shell the UN compound at Quana.
Famous Birthdays
1918 – Róbert Zimonyi, Hungarian rowing coxswain (Olympic gold USA men’s eight 1964; bronze Hungary coxed pair 1948), born in Sárvár, Hungary (d. 2004)
1925 – Bob Hastings, American actor (McHale’s Navy; All in the Family), born in Brooklyn, New York City(d. 2014)
1946 – Tommy Shannon [Smedley], American blues-rock bassist (Johnny Winter; Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble), born in Tucson, Arizona
1950 – Kenny Ortega, American film and television producer (High School Musical trilogy), born in Palo Alto, California
1966 – Valeri Kamensky, Russian NHL left wing (Avalanche, Olympic silver 1998), born in Voskresensk, Russia
Famous Deaths
1587 – John Foxe, English historian (Book of Martyrs), dies
1674 – John Graunt, English statistician and founder of science of demography, dies at 53
1960 – Emory Johnson, American actor and director (Phantom Express, Shield of Honor), dies at 66
1974 – John Henry Lewis, American boxer (World Light-Heavyweight champion, 1935-38), dies of emphysema and Parkinson’s at 59
1997 – Edward Barker, English cartoonist, dies at 46
Famous Deaths for 17th April 2026
485 – Proclus, Greek mathematician, dies in Athens [or Apr 14]
1835 – William Henry Ireland, English forger (Shakespearean manuscripts), dies
1896 – Sophus Tromholt, Danish astrophysicist and photographer (portraits of the Kven and Sami people), dies at 44
1941 – Al Bowlly, South African-British dance band vocalist (“Midnight, The Stars, And You”), and bandleader, dies in a German bombing raid of London at 43
1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and leader, Second President of India (1962-67), dies at 86
1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American rock music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist (Mountain – “Mississippi Queen”), shot and killed by his wife, Gail, at 43
1992 – Arthur “Skeets” Herfurt, American jazz and session saxophonist and clarinetist (Dorsey Brothers; Benny Goodman; Lawrence Wlek), dies at 80
2004 – [Andrew] Bruce Boa, Canadian actor (The Empire Strikes Back), dies of cancer at 73
2008 – Danny Federici, American rock organist, accordionist, and glockenspieler (E Street Band), dies of melanoma at 58
2018 – Tom McBride, Irish traditional and country music singer-songwriter, and band leader (Big Tom and the Mainliners), dies at 81
Historical Events for 17th April 2026
1930 – Abkhazian ASSR forms in Georgian SSR
1950 – 54th Boston Marathon won by Kee Yong Ham of South Korea in 2:32:39
1956 – Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament
1961 – 1,400 Cuban exiles land in the Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro
1964 – 1st game at Shea Stadium, NY Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1987 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1993 – Two Los Angeles police officers convicted in federal court of violating Rodney King’s civil rights and sentenced to prison, while two others are acquitted,
2006 – 110th Boston Marathon: Kenyan double; Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot wins 2nd men’s title in 2:07:14; Rita Jeptoo takes women’s title in 2:23:38