1679 – Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau, German poet, dies at 62
1690 – Charles V, Duke of Lorraine and Austrian field marshal, dies at 47
1802 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician writer and botanist (grandfather of Charles Darwin), dies at 70
1888 – Roscoe Conkling, American politician (U.S. Senator from New York 1867-81), dies at 58
1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus, dies at 59
1943 – Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese WWII Marshall Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese fleet who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, killed in action at 59 by a US ambush after the “Magic” code-breaking team intercepted and decoded his flight plan
1947 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak politician (President of the First Slovak Republic), dies at 59
1984 – Arvi Kivimaa, Finnish writer (Groenende Cross), dies at 79
2004 – Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, first Prime Minister of Fiji and President of Fiji, dies at 83
2013 – Cordell “Boogie” Mosson, American musician (Parliament-Funkadelic collective), dies of liver failure at 60
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 18th April 2020
1775 – Paul Revere and William Dawes ride from Charlestown to Lexington warning the “regulars are coming!”
1943 – Operation Vengeance: US Army Air Force P-38G fighter aircraft from Kukum Field on Guadalcanal ambush and shoot down the transport bomber aircraft of Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy and mastermind behind the Pearl Harbor attack
1950 – Sam Jethroe is 1st African American to play for Boston Braves
1966 – 70th Boston Marathon: Kenji Kimihara of Japan wins in 2:17:11; American Bobbi Gibb first woman in 3:21:40 (unsanctioned)
1968 – 1st ABA basketball championship began
1972 – The Widgery Report on ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Northern Ireland is published, causing outrage among the people of Derry who call it the “Widgery Whitewash”
1995 – Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football
1999 – Wayne Gretzky plays his last game in the NHL, as his New York Rangers lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins
2004 – 50th British Academy Television Awards: “Little Britain” Best Comedy, “Buried” Best Drama
2015 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Lou Reed, Ringo Starr, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Green Day, Bill Withers, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the 5 Royales
Today in History for 18th April 2020
Historical Events
1945 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Bolivia established
1962 – 16th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 3
1972 – “Lost in the Stars” based on the novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 39 performances
1983 – Pulitzer Prize awarded to Alice Walker for the novel “The Color Purple”
1987 – Bob Land wins his 6th straight Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race
1987 – Pat Knauff, France sets 1-leg downhill ski speed record (115.012 mph)
Famous Birthdays
1910 – Sylvia Fisher, Australian operatic soprano (Albert Herring Opera), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 1996)
1946 – Hayley Mills, English actress (Parent Trap, Pollyanna), born in London, England
1963 – Eric McCormack, Canadian-American actor (Will and Grace), born in Toronto, Ontario
1966 – Trine Hattestad, Norwegian javelin thrower (Olympic gold 2000), born in Lørenskog, Norway
1969 – Sayako Kuroda, Japanese Imperial Shinto priestess and Supreme Priestess of the Ise Grand Shrine who gave up her imperial title for marriage, born in Chiyoda, Tokyo
1985 – Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver, born in Perth, Australia
Famous Deaths
1873 – Justus von Liebig, German agricultural and biological chemist who is considered the founder of organic chemistry, dies at 69
1888 – Roscoe Conkling, American politician (U.S. Senator from New York 1867-81), dies at 58
1906 – Luis Martín, Spanish Superior-General of the Society of Jesus, dies at 59
1936 – Seaborn McDaniel Denson, American composer, dies at 82
1944 – Cécile Chamindale, French composer and pianist, dies at 86
2019 – Mark Medoff, American playwright, director, actor and professor (Children of a Lesser God), dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 17th April 2020
326 – Alexander of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria
1539 – George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony (1500-39), dies at 67
1574 – Joachim Camerarius [Liebhard Kammerer], German classical scholar, dies at 74
1696 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, French writer (b. 1626)
1870 – Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Berry, Italian princess of the House of Bourbon, dies at 71
1945 – Walter Model, German fieldmarshal, commits suicide at 54
1998 – Linda McCartney, American-born photographer and wife of Paul McCartney, dies of breast cancer at 56
2003 – John Paul Getty Jr., American-born British oil magnate and billionaire (Getty Oil), dies of a chest infection at 70
2011 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer and songwriter (b. 1948)
2013 – Deanna Durbin [Edna Mae Durbin], Canadian actress and vocalist (Every Sunday, Three Smart Girls, 100 Men and a Girl), dies at 91
Historical Events for 17th April 2020
1534 – Sir Thomas More confined in the Tower of London
1747 – French troops occupy Zeeuws-Flanders, Netherlands
1824 – Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54° 40’N
1853 – Johan Rudolf Thorbecke’s government in the Netherlands resigns
1922 – 26th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in race record 2:18:10; his 2nd race victory; first of 3 consecutive wins
1945 – Benito Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan
1958 – Brussells (Belgium) World Fair opens
1969 – Mont Expos Bill Stoneman no-hits Phillies, 7-0
1982 – Proclamation of the Constitution Act by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
1999 – NFL Draft: University of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch first pick by Cleveland Browns
Today in History for 17th April 2020
Historical Events
1704 – 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1924 – Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B Mayer Co merged to form Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)
1925 – NY Yankee Babe Ruth has ulcer surgery
1945 – Benito Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan
1981 – Isle Potvin’s 3 playoff power-play goals tie NHL record vs Oilers
1997 – John Bell aged 115 receives a new pacemaker
Famous Birthdays
1715 – Johann Wolfgang Kleinknecht, German composer, born in Ulm, Germany (d. 1786)
1918 – William Holden [Beedle], American actor (The Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai), born in O’Fallon, Illinois (d. 1981)
1950 – Bruce McNall, American former NHL team owner, born in Arcadia, California
1955 – Rob Bolland, Dutch singer and guitarist (Bolland and Bolland), born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
1968 – Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, eldest son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven, born in Utrecht, Netherlands
1973 – Kenneth Carlsen, Danish tennis star, born in Copenhagen, Denmark
Famous Deaths
1297 – Willem van Afflighem, Flemish poet/abbot St Truiden, dies at about 86
1714 – Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German composer, dies at 56
1937 – Yi Sang, Korean author and poet (Dying Words, Wings, Child’s Bone), dies of tuberculosis in a Japanese prison camp at 26
1945 – Hannie Schaft, Dutch communist resistance fighter known as the “Girl with red hair”, executed at 24
1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)
1987 – Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher and Christian apologist, dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 16th April 2020
1446 – Filippo Brunelleschi, architect, dies
1645 – Tobias Hume, Scottish composer (The First Part of Ayres), dies
1687 – George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham, English statesman and poet, dies at 59
1904 – Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (b. 1812)
1947 – Rudolf Höss, German commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, dies at 45
1994 – Ron Vawter, American actor (Roy Cohn, The Silence of the Lambs), dies at 45
2003 – Graham Jarvis, Canadian actor (Mary Hartman, Misery), dies of multiple myeloma at 72
2007 – Maria Lenk, Brazilian swimmer and first Brazilian woman to compete in the Olympic Games (b. 1915)
2007 – Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, American instructor of French (b. 1958)
2019 – Fay McKenzie, American actress and singer (The Party, Sierra Sue), dies at 101
Historical Events for 16th April 2020
1746 – Jacobite Rising 1745: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart
1928 – 32nd Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in 2:37:07.8; back-to-back wins for his 6th race title
1940 – Heitor Villa-Lobos’ opera “Izaht” premieres in Rio de Janeiro
1948 – Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris
1959 – “Party with Comden and Green” opens at John Golden NYC for 44 performances
1972 – Apollo 16 launched; 5th manned lunar landing (Decartes Highlands)
1975 – Cambodian Red Khmer occupy Phnom Penh
1980 – Arthur Ashe retires from professional tennis
1990 – Maximum NY State unemployment benefits raised to $260 per week
1990 – Supreme Court rejects appeal from retarded man, Dalton Prejean, condemned to death for murdering a Louisiana state trooper in 1977
Today in History for 16th April 2020
Historical Events
1870 – Vaudeville Theatre Strand opens in London
1935 – Babe Ruth’s 1st NL game, for Boston Braves, included a HR
1953 – British royal yacht Britannia launched by Queen Elizabeth II
1970 – Protestant Unionist Ian Paisley wins seat formerly held by Terence O’Neill in the Stormont (North Ireland Parliament)
1985 – “Grind” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 79 performances
2018 – Kendrick Lamar is the first rapper and non classical or jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for music with his album “Damn”
Famous Birthdays
1909 – Herman Uyttersprot, Flemish literature historian, born in Denderbelle (d. 1967)
1951 – Mordechai Ben David, American Jewish singer, born in Brooklyn, New York
1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor (Meeting Venus, V I Warshawski), born in Austin, Texas
1968 – Grace Kim, South Korean-American tennis star, born in South Korea
1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarusian tennis ace (18 Grand Slam double titles), born in Minsk, Belarus
1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player, born in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, France
Famous Deaths
1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
1860 – Carolina, duchess of Berry/daughter of crown prince of Naples, dies
1947 – Rudolf Höss, German commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, dies at 45
1989 – Tawfieq Yusuf Awwaad, Lebanese writer, dies
2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
2011 – Gerry Alexander, West Indian cricket wicket-keeper (25 Tests, top score 108, 90 dismissals), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 15th April 2020
1632 – George Calvert, English politician and coloniser, dies at 52
1919 – Jane Delano, American nurse and educator (Red Cross Nursing Service during WWI), dies at 57
1962 – Esther Minciotti, Italian actress, dies at 73
1980 – Raymond Bailey, American actor (Vertigo, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Incredible Shrinking Man), dies at 75
1984 – Machito, Latin jazz musician and creator of Cubop and salsa music (Afro-Cubans), dies following a stroke at 76
1993 – John Tuzo Wilson, Canadian geologist (contributions to plate tectonics), dies at 84
1998 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (1976-79) and revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge (1963-97), dies at 72
1999 – Harvey Postlethwaite, British engineer and racing car designer, dies at 55
2005 – Margaretta Scott, British actress (Crescendo, Where’s Charley, Counterblast), dies from pneumonia and breast cancer at 93
2008 – Krister Stendahl, Swedish Lutheran theologian and bishop, dies at 86