# What happened on April 20 in history?

**Date:** April 20  
**Events recorded:** 49  
**Years spanned:** 1152 – 2023  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/april/20/

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## Featured Event

**2023** — SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time. It explodes four minutes into flight.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starship)

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## Events on this date

- **1152** — After an eight-year conflict, Baldwin III of Jerusalem wins sole control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother Melisende. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_III_of_Jerusalem))
- **1303** — The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapienza_University_of_Rome))
- **1303** — The Bahri Mamluks defeat the Ilkhanate in the battle of Marj al-Saffar, marking the end of the Mongol incursions into Syria. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahri_Mamluks))
- **1535** — A complex halo display is observed over Stockholm, Sweden, inspiring the Vädersolstavlan ("The Sundog painting"), the earliest depiction of such an event, and the oldest colour depiction of the city. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4dersolstavlan))
- **1653** — Oliver Cromwell dissolves England's Rump Parliament. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell))
- **1657** — English Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet, under heavy fire from the shore, at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Blake_(admiral)))
- **1657** — Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion))
- **1752** — Start of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, a new phase in the Burmese Civil War (1740–57). ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konbaung%E2%80%93Hanthawaddy_War))
- **1770** — The Georgian king, Erekle II, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins a victory over Ottoman forces at Aspindza. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)))
- **1789** — George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington))
- **1792** — France declares war against the "King of Hungary and Bohemia", the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor))
- **1800** — The Septinsular Republic is established. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septinsular_Republic))
- **1809** — Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_French_Empire))
- **1828** — René Caillié becomes the second non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu, following Major Gordon Laing. He would also be the first to return alive. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Cailli%C3%A9))
- **1836** — U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress))
- **1861** — American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1861** — Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, attempting to display the value of balloons, makes record journey, flying 900 miles from Cincinnati to South Carolina. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_S._C._Lowe))
- **1862** — Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur))
- **1865** — Astronomer Angelo Secchi demonstrates the Secchi disk, which measures water clarity, aboard Pope Pius IX's yacht, the L'Immaculata Concezion. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Secchi))
- **1876** — The April Uprising begins. Its suppression shocks European opinion, and Bulgarian independence becomes a condition for ending the Russo-Turkish War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Uprising_of_1876))
- **1884** — Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus, condemning Freemasonry. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanum_genus))
- **1898** — U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley))
- **1902** — Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Curie))
- **1908** — Opening day of competition in the New South Wales Rugby League. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Rugby_League))
- **1914** — Nineteen men, women, and children participating in a strike are killed in the Ludlow Massacre during the Colorado Coalfield War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre))
- **1918** — World War I:  Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a. The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I))
- **1922** — The Soviet government creates the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian SSR. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union))
- **1945** — World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II))
- **1945** — World War II: Führerbunker: On his 56th birthday Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BChrerbunker))
- **1945** — Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_human_experimentation))
- **1946** — The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations))
- **1949** — Amethyst incident: The People's Liberation Army attacks HMS Amethyst (F116) travelling to the British embassy in Nanjing during the Chinese Civil War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amethyst_incident))
- **1961** — Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War))
- **1968** — English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Airways_Flight_228))
- **1972** — Apollo program: The Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the Moon. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California%2C_Riverside_1985_laboratory_raid))
- **1998** — Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_422))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre))
- **2004** — The Nicoll Highway in Singapore collapses, killing four workers. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicoll_Highway))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Space_Center_shooting))
- **2008** — Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danica_Patrick))
- **2010** — The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that lasted six months. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhoja_Air_Flight_213))
- **2013** — A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Lushan County, Ya'an, in China's Sichuan province, killing at least 193 people and injuring thousands. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garowe_attack))
- **2020** — For the first time in history, oil prices drop below zero, an effect of the 2020 Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_of_oil))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Derek_Chauvin))
- **2023** — SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time. It explodes four minutes into flight. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starship))

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## Notable births on April 20

- **2005** — **Tallyn Da Silva** — Australian rugby league player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallyn_Da_Silva))
- **1997** — **Alexander Zverev** — German tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Zverev))
- **1991** — **Luke Kuechly** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Kuechly))
- **1990** — **Kyle Higashioka** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Higashioka))
- **1990** — **Jason Behrendorff** — Australian cricketer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Behrendorff))
- **1989** — **Vannesa Rosales** — Venezuelan activist and teacher ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannesa_Rosales))
- **1988** — **Brandon Belt** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Belt))
- **1987** — **Jorge Pinto** — Portuguese politician ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Pinto))
- **1984** — **Harris Wittels** — American comedian (died 2015) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Wittels))
- **1983** — **Miranda Kerr** — Australian model ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Kerr))

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## Notable deaths on April 20

- **2026** — **Luis Brandoni** — Argentine actor and politician (born 1940) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Brandoni))
- **2025** — **Hugo Gatti** — Argentine footballer (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Gatti))
- **2024** — **Antonio Cantafora** — Italian film and television actor (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Cantafora))
- **2024** — **Andrew Davis** — English conductor (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Davis_(conductor)))
- **2024** — **Roman Gabriel** — Filipino-American NFL American footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Gabriel))
- **2024** — **Lourdes Portillo** — Mexican film director, producer, and writer (born 1943) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes_Portillo))
- **2022** — **Gavin Millar** — Scottish film director (born 1938) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Millar))
- **2021** — **Idriss Déby** — Chadian politician and military officer (born 1952) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idriss_D%C3%A9by))
- **2021** — **Monte Hellman** — American film director (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Hellman))
- **2021** — **Les McKeown** — Scottish pop singer (born 1955) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_McKeown))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/april/20/](https://thisday.info/events/april/20/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.