Historical Events
- Apr 1 47th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Villanova beats Georgetown, 66-64; Wildcats lowest-seeded team (8th) to win tournament
NHL Record
Apr 2 Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky sets an NHL record with his 34th career hat trick as the Oilers beat the Kings 6-4 in Los Angeles
Sports History
Apr 2 Quebec's Czech center Peter Šťastný scores his 100th NHL point of the season for the 5th straight year, with an assist for the Nordiques in a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins in Quebec City
- Apr 2 The NCAA Rules Committee adopts a 45-second shot clock for men’s basketball to begin in the 1986 season in an effort to eliminate stalling
- Apr 2 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 3 French government adopts equal electoral system
- Apr 3 Players' Association agrees to expand LCS from 5 to 7 games
- Apr 3 Vic Elliot pockets 15,780 pool balls in 24 hours in London
- Apr 4 Tulane University cancels its basketball season amidst scandal
- Apr 6 Bombay beat Delhi by 90 runs to win the Ranji Trophy final
- Apr 6 Sudan suspends constitution after coup under general Swarreddahab
- Apr 6 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 7 1st live telecast of Easter Parade in New York
- Apr 7 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Alice Miller shoots a final round 67 (−5) to win her only major title, 3 strokes ahead of Jan Stephenson of Australia
- Apr 7 New Jersey General Hershel Walker rushes for USFL record 233 yards
- Apr 8 "Leader of the Pack" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 120 performances
- Apr 8 Amdahl releases UTS/V, 1st mainframe Unix
- Apr 8 India files suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster
Sports History
Apr 9 White Sox pitcher Tom Seaver starts a record 15th opening day game
- Apr 10 At 80 Leo Sites becomes oldest bowler to score a 300 game
- Apr 10 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 51-B mission
- Apr 12 16th Shuttle Mission (51D)-Discovery 4 launched-with Senator Jake Garn
- Apr 13 "TASS" denounces US boycott of Moscow Olympics
- Apr 13 Katrin Dörre wins 1st female World Cup marathon (2:33:30)
Event of Interest
Apr 13 Ramiz Alia succeeds Enver Hoxha as party leader of Albania
- Apr 13 Space Shuttle Atlantis ferried to Kennedy Space Center via Ellington AFB, Texas
- Apr 14 "Take Me Along!" opens/closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
US Masters Golf
Apr 14 49th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Bernhard Langer wins by 2 strokes from Seve Ballesteros, Curtis Strange & Raymond Floyd; first German champion
- Apr 14 Ahmed Salah wins 1st World Cup marathon (2:08:09)
- Apr 14 Alan Garcia wins elections in Peru
- Apr 14 Bob Carpenter is unsuccessful on Washington Capitals 1st playoff penalty shot
- Apr 14 Jack C. Burcham is 5th to receive "Jarvik 7" permanent artificial heart
- Apr 15 89th Boston Marathon: Englishman Geoff Smith repeats as men's champion in 2:14:05; American Lisa Larsen Weidenbach takes women's title in 2:34:06
- Apr 15 Challenger moves to launch pad for 51-B missing
- Apr 16 "Grind" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 79 performances
- Apr 18 "Wham!" become the first western pop act to release an album in China
- Apr 19 16th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-D): Discovery 4 returns to Earth
- Apr 19 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Apr 20 ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas
- Apr 20 Carlos Lopes runs world record marathon (2:07:12)
- Apr 20 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Mark Williams
- Apr 20 Karyn Marshall of NYC lifted 303 lbs in a clean & jerk lift
- Apr 21 Bomb attacks in NATO/AEG-Telefunken building in Brussels
Sports History
Apr 21 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway wins London Marathon in race record 2:21:06
- Apr 23 Brooklyn College soccer team wins Nepal's invitational
- Apr 23 New Coke debuts; Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula
- Apr 24 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carolyn Lizer for "Yin"
- Apr 25 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points in a Cup game (3 goals, 4 assists)
Big River
Apr 25 Roger Miller's musical "Big River", based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater, NYC; runs for 1005 performances, wins 3 Tony Awards
- Apr 25 West German Parliament rules it is illegal to deny the Holocaust
Sports History
Apr 28 Billy Martin named NY Yankee manager for 4th time
Sports History
Apr 28 Fernando Valenzuela sets record of 41 scoreless inn to start season
- Apr 29 17th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-B): Challenger 7 launches
Sports History
Apr 29 New York Yankees fire manager Yogi Berra 16 games into season, despite assurance from owner George Steinbrenner that he would be kept for the whole season. Billy Martin named as replacement.
- Apr 29 Ranger Larry Parrish is 5th to hit 3 HRs in a game in both leagues
- Apr 29 Tony Tubbs beats defending champion Greg Page by unanimous decision in 15 rounds at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo for WBA heavyweight boxing title
- Apr 30 "Shoah", French documentary about the Holocaust, directed by Claude Lanzmann, starring Richard Glazar and Raul Hilberg, premieres in Paris
Sports History
Apr 30 Dale Murphy drives in record tying 28th & 29th runs of April
- Apr 30 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Apr 30 Last edition of Brink Daily Mail and Sunday Express in South Africa
- Apr 30 NFL Draft: Virginia Tech defensive end Bruce Smith first pick by Buffalo Bills
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Beth Tweddle, English gymnast (World C'ship gold 2006, 09, 10; Olympic bronze 2012), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Apr 1 Josh Zuckerman, American actor
- Apr 2 Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater (World C'ship gold men's singles 2005, 06; Olympic silver 2006; Grand Prix Final champion 2005, 07), born in Martigny, Switzerland
- Apr 2 Thom Evans, Scottish rugby union winger (10 caps; London Wasps, Glasgow Warriors), born in Harare, Zimbabwe
Leona Lewis (39 years old)
Apr 3 English pop singer-songwriter ("Bleeding Love"; "Better In Time"), born in Islington, London
- Apr 4 Rudy Fernández, Spanish basketball guard (Olympic silver 2008, 12; bronze 2016; FIBA World Cup gold 2006, 19; Portland TB's, Denver Nuggets; Real Madrid), born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Apr 6 Clarke MacArthur, Canadian-born ice hockey player
- Apr 6 Garrett Zablocki, American rock guitarist (Senses Fail, 2002-11), born in New Jersey
- Apr 7 Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician (SNP leader and Scottish First Leader elect, 1st Muslim to lead a major UK political party), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Apr 7 Saad Lamjarred, Moroccan pop singer-songwriter ("Lm3allem"), born in Rabat, Morocco
- Apr 9 Yamashita Tomohisa, Japanese singer and actor, born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
- Apr 10 Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Apr 10 Eddie Castro, Panamanian jockey (record 9 wins in one race meeting 2005), born in Los Santos Province, Panama
- Apr 11 Will Minson, Australian rules footballer (Western Bulldogs), born in South Australia
- Apr 12 Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer (Hangry & Angry), born in Miyoshi, Saitama, Japan
- Apr 12 Jeísa Chiminazzo, Brazilian supermodel (IMG Models), born in Muçum, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- Apr 12 Olga Seryabkina, Russian singer and songwriter (Serebro), born in Moscow, Russia
- Apr 12 Ted Ginn Jr., American football player, born in Ohio
- Apr 15 Aaron Laffey, American baseball player
- Apr 15 John Danks, American baseball player
- Apr 16 Benjamín Rojas, Argentine actor and singer, born in La Plata, Argentina
- Apr 16 Luol Deng, Sudanese-born British basketball player, born in Wau, South Sudan
- Apr 16 Mark Baker, Welsh author and historian
- Apr 17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player (Australian Open 2008 runner-up; Davis Cup 2017; Hopman Cup 2014), born in Le Mans, France
- Apr 17 Luke Mitchell, Australian actor (Home and Away; Blindspot), born in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Apr 17 Rooney Mara, American actress (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Carol), born in Bedford, New York
- Apr 18 Elena Temnikova, Russian disco and Euro-pop singer (Serebro), fashin designer, and television personality, born in Kurgan, Russia
- Apr 18 Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver, born in Perth, Australia
- Apr 18 Łukasz Fabiański, Polish football goalkeeper (Poland national team), born in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland
- Apr 19 Valon Behrami, Swiss footballer (Switzerland national team), born in Mitrovica, Yugoslavia
- Apr 21 Łukasz Trepczyński, Polish classical pianist, born in Radomsko, Poland
- Apr 22 Sam Altman, American entrepreneur (co-founder and CEO OpenAI), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Apr 23 Angel Locsin, Filipina TV and movie actress (Mulawin), born in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines
- Apr 25 Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver, born in Rhenen, Netherlands
- Apr 25 Jonathan Halyalkar, American actor (Billy-Who's the Boss), born in Ramsey, New Jersey
John Isner (38 years old)
Apr 26 American tennis player, born in Greensboro, North Carolina
- Apr 26 Nam Gyu-Ri, Korean singer (member of See Ya), born in Seoul, South Korea
Gal Gadot (38 years old)
Apr 30 Israeli actress (Wonder Woman), born in Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel
Famous Weddings
Rodney King
Apr 27 Police violence victim Rodney King (20) weds Dennetta Lyles
Famous Deaths
- Apr 1 Douglass Wallop, American novelist and playwright (b. 1920)
- Apr 1 Herman Roelstraete, Belgium composer, dies at 59
- Apr 4 Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (b. 1891)
- Apr 5 Arthur Negus, English antiques expert and broadcaster (Antiques Roadshow), dies at 82
- Apr 5 Tyrell Johnson, West Indian cricketer (WI left-arm quickie, one Test 1939), dies at 68
- Apr 6 Mark Lothar, German composer (The Story of the Lazy Bear), dies at 82
- Apr 7 Carl Schmitt, German political theorist and prominent Nazi (Verfassungslehre), dies at 96
- Apr 8 J. Fred Coots, American songwriter ("Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"; "Love Letters In The Sand"), dies at 87
- Apr 11 Bunny Ahearne, British ice hockey promoter, dies at 84
Enver Hoxha (1908-1985)
Apr 11 Albanian post-war communist leader and dictator of Albania (1944-85), dies at 76
- Apr 14 Noele Gordon, British actress (Crossroads), dies at 65
- Apr 14 Reginald Beane, American pianist (Starlit Time: Once Upon a Tune), dies at 63
- Apr 15 Ben Stroman, Dutch writer (Jomtof & Blue Beard), dies at 82
- Apr 16 Scott Brady [Gerald Tierney], American actor (Shotgun Slade, China Syndrome, Gremlins, Johnny Guitar), dies of pulmonary fibrosis at 60
- Apr 18 Gertrude Caton-Thompson, English archaeologist (Zimbabwe, So Arabia), dies at 97
- Apr 21 Foster Hewitt, Canadian radio broadcaster (Hockey Night in Canada), dies at 82
- Apr 21 Irving Mills [Isadore Minsky], American jazz music publisher, manager (Duke Ellington, 1926-48), singer and lyricist, dies at 91
- Apr 21 Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer (monokini, miniskirt), dies of cancer at 62
- Apr 21 Tancredo Neves, president-elect of Brazil, dies at 75
- Apr 22 José de Lima Siqueira, Brazilian conductor, and composer, dies at 78
- Apr 22 Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer, dies at 84
- Apr 23 Kent Smith, American actor (Peyton Place, Invaders), dies from heart disease at 78
- Apr 23 Sam Ervin, American politician (U.S. Senator from North Carolina) and Watergate committee chairman, dies at 88
- Apr 24 Sergei Yutkevich, Russian film director, (Otello, Banya), dies at 80
- Apr 25 Murray Matheson, actor (Felix-Banacek), dies at 72
- Apr 25 Richard Haydn, British actor (The Sound of Music; Alice in Wonderland), dies from a heart attack at 80
