Historical Events
Theory of Relativity
Apr 2 Albert Einstein lectures in New York City on his new "Theory of Relativity"
- Apr 4 Stanley Cup Final, Denman Arena, Vancouver, BC: Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA), 2-1 for a 3-2 series victory
Sun Yat-sen President
Apr 7 Revolutionary leader, Sun Yat-sen is elected President of China at Canton, though China remains divided into north and south and subject to rivalries of warlords
- Apr 11 Iowa imposes 1st state cigarette tax
- Apr 11 KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania broadcasts 1st radio sporting event, a boxing match between lightweights Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee
- Apr 11 The Emirate of Transjordan created
- Apr 11 Turkestan ASSR forms in Russian SFSR
- Apr 13 Foundation of the Spanish Communist Workers' Party.
- Apr 14 Prince Henry opens Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Bremen-Hamburg air route
- Apr 15 Black Friday in Britain: leaders of transport and rail unions announce a decision not to call for strike action in support of the miners; despite widespread feeling decision a breach of solidarity and a betrayal of the miners
- Apr 16 Liberal Freedom League forms in The Hague, Netherlands
- Apr 18 25th Boston Marathon won by Frank Zuna in race record 2:18:57.6
- Apr 18 Junior Achievement incorporated in Colorado Spring
- Apr 18 Philip James Barry's "Punch for Judy" premieres in NYC
- Apr 19 Funeral of last German Emperoress, Augusta Victoria
- Apr 23 Charles Paddock runs world record 100m (10.4 secs)
- Apr 24 1st municipal elections for men & women in Belgium
- Apr 24 Under Allies supervision, a plebiscite in the Tyrol favors merging with Germany; unhappy with the outcome, Allies give the area to Italy
- Apr 27 Hadjememaar, [Corn de Gelder] elected in Amsterdam
Capablanca World Chess Champion
Apr 28 Cuban José Raúl Capablanca becomes the world's third chess champion defeating German champion Emanuel Lasker in Havana
- Apr 30 1st American Professional Football Association Championship (1920): undefeated Akron Pros awarded inaugural title
- Apr 30 American Professional Football Association reorganizes in Akron, Ohio
On Dante
Apr 30 Pope Benedict XV encyclical "On Dante"
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Beau Jack, American boxer (NYSAC world lightweight champion 1942-44), born in Waynesboro, Georgia (d. 2000)
- Apr 1 Douglas Allenbrook, American pianist, harpsichord player, and composer, born in Alton, Massachusetts (d. 2003)
- Apr 1 Ken Reardon, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman and executive (Stanley Cup 1946; NHL All-Star 1946-50; Montreal Canadiens), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2008)
- Apr 1 Steve Race, British composer, jazz pianist and radio and television presenter (BBC's "My Music", 1967-94), born in Lincoln, England (d. 2009)
- Apr 1 William Bergsma, American composer (The Fortunate Islands; The Murder of Comrade Sharik), and educator (Juilliard, 1946-63; University of Washington, 1963-86), born in Oakland, California (d. 1994)
- Apr 3 Robert Karvelas, American actor (Get Smart - "Larabee"), born in New York City (d. 1991)
- Apr 5 Christopher Hewett, British actor (Mr. Belvedere; The Producers) and theater director, born in Worthing, Sussex, England (d. 2001)
- Apr 5 Les Jackson, English cricket fast bowler (2 Tests, 7 wickets; Derbyshire), born in Whitwell, England (d. 2007)
- Apr 5 Patricia Ford, Lady Fisher, Irish politician and founder (British Women Caring Trust), born in Donaghadee, County Down, Ireland (d. 1995)
- Apr 6 "Big" Walter [Horton], American blues harmonica player (Everybody's Fishin'), born in Horn Lake, Mississippi (d. 1981) [some sources cite year as far back as 1917]
- Apr 6 Andrew Imbrie, American contemporary classical composer, and pianist, born in New York City (d. 2007)
- Apr 6 Franta Belsky, Czecg-British sculptor, born in Brno, Czechia (d. 2000)
- Apr 6 Philip Moore [Lord Moore of Wolvercote], British Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II (d. 2009)
- Apr 8 Jan Novák, Czech classical composer and contemporary Latin poet, born in Nová Říše, Moravia, First Czechoslovak Republic (d. 1984)
- Apr 8 Phyllis "Pippa" Latour, British secret agent in France during WWII (MBE, French Legion of Honour), born in Durban, Natal, Union of South Africa (d. 2023)
- Apr 9 Frankie Thomas, American actor and author (Tom Corbett Space Cadet), born in New York City (d. 2006)
- Apr 9 Jean-Marie Balestre, French president of motor sport's FIA, born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France (d. 2008)
- Apr 9 Yitzhak Navon, President of Israel (1978-83), born in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine (d. 2015)
- Apr 10 Chuck Connors, American author, actor (The Rifleman, Branded, Cowboy in Africa), professional basketball and baseball player, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1992)
- Apr 10 Peter Herbert Penwarden, English priest, born in Walthamstow, England (d. 1995)
- Apr 10 Sheb Wooley, American vocalist ("The Purple People Eater"), born in Erick, Oklahoma (d. 2003)
- Apr 11 Jeff Stollmeyer, West Indian cricket batsman (32 Tests 4 x 100, HS 160; Trinidad & Tobago) and executive (President WI Board of Control 1974-81), born in Santa Cruz, Trinidad (d. 1989)
- Apr 11 Jim Hearn, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1954 NY Giants; MLB All Star 1952), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1998)
- Apr 11 Martin Buckmaster, 3rd Viscount Buckmaster, British barrister and diplomat, born in Paddington, London, England (d. 2007)
- Apr 12 Alfred Mabbs, British archivist (Public Records Office), born in London (d. 2009)
- Apr 13 Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Dutch-Swiss industrialist, born in Scheveningen, Netherlands (d. 2002)
- Apr 13 Maxwell Henley Harris, Australian poet and publisher (Gift of Blood), born in Adelaide, Australia (d. 1995)
- Apr 14 Rosanell Eaton, American voting rights advocate, born near Louisburg, North Carolina (d. 2018)
- Apr 14 Thomas Schelling, American economist, (Nobel Prize 2005 - game-theory analysis), born in Oakland, California (d. 2016)
- Apr 15 Georgy Beregovoy, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 3), born in Fedorivka, Poltava Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (d. 1995)
Peter Ustinov (1921-2004)
Apr 16 British actor, author, journalist, comedian and broadcaster (Death on the Nile; Logan's Run; Billy Budd), born in London, England
- Apr 19 Glyn England, British electrical engineer and CEO (CEGB, Windcluster Ltd), born in Llantrisant, Cardiff, South Wales (d. 2013)
- Apr 19 Will Ogdon, American composer, born in Redlands, California (d. 2013)
- Apr 20 Donald Gunn MacRae, sociologist, born in Glasgow (d. 1997)
- Apr 20 Janine Sutto, French Canadian actress and comedian (Guide de la petite vengeance), born in Paris, France (d. 2017)
- Apr 21 Jack Fletcher, American actor (Calucci's Department, Once Upon a Mattress), born in Forest Hills, New York (d. 1990)
- Apr 22 Cándido Camero, Cuban American percussionist (congo drum) and bandleader, born in Havana, Cuba (d. 2020) [1]
- Apr 22 Philip "Gabby" Pahinui, Hawaiian slack-key guitarist and singer, born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii (d. 1980)
- Apr 23 Janet Blair [Martha Janet Lafferty], American singer and actress (Leave it to the Girls, Smith Family), born in Altoona, Pennsylvania (d. 2007)
Warren Spahn (1921-2003)
Apr 23 American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (17 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1957; Cy Young Award 1957; 8 × NL wins leader; Boston/Milwaukee Braves), born in Buffalo, New York
- Apr 24 Laci Boldemann, Swedish composer, born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 1969)
- Apr 25 Jean Mogin, Belgian poet (Pastures of Silence), and playwright, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1986)
- Apr 25 Karel Appel, Dutch painter (Vragende Children), born in Amsterdam (d. 2006)
- Apr 26 Jimmy Giuffre, American jazz clarinetist, composer, arranger, and proponent of "free improv" jazz, born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2008)
- Apr 26 Margaret Gowing, English historian (Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy), born in Kensington, London (d. 1998)
- Apr 28 Rowland Evans, American news reporter (CNN-Evans & Novak), born in Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania (d. 2001)
- Apr 29 Tommy Noonan, American actor, screenwriter and producer (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Promises Promises), born in Bellingham, Washington (d. 1968)
- Apr 29 [Cornelis] Kees de Jager, Dutch astronomer (predicted solar variation), born in Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands (d. 2021)
- Apr 30 (Dorothy) "Dottie" Green, American AAGPBL baseball player, 1943-47 (Rockford Peaches), born in Natick, Massachusetts (d. 1992)
- Apr 30 Roger L. Easton, American scientist and inventor (GPS), born in Craftsbury, Vermont (d. 2014)
Famous Weddings
Charles de Gaulle
Apr 7 French army captain, and future president, Charles de Gaulle (30) weds Yvonne Vendroux (20) in the Notre-Dame de Calais church
Famous Deaths
- Apr 5 Alphonsus J M Diepenbrock, Dutch composer (Missa), dies at 58
- Apr 8 Ernst von Possart, German actor and theatre director (Bayerische Hoftheater), dies at 79
- Apr 11 Augusta Victoria, Queen of Prussia, wife of Emperor Wilhelm II, dies at 62
- Apr 12 William Strang, Scottish painter and engraver (illustrated Bunyan, Coleridge and Kipling), dies at 62
- Apr 18 Earnest [Bachigaloupi] Tourniaire, Dutch actor (Inkwartiering, Kloris & Roses), dies at 70
- Apr 20 Tony Jackson, American ragtime pianist and singer-songwriter ("Pretty Baby"), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 38
- Apr 29 Arthur Mold, English cricket fast bowler (England 3 Tests; 1,673 1st class wickets), dies at 57
