Historical Events
Sports History
Apr 1 A. Bartlett Giamatti replaces Peter Ueberroth as 7th commissioner of Major League Baseball; dies suddenly of a heart attack 5 months later
- Apr 2 8th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Auburn, 76-60; Lady Vols forward Bridgette Gordon MOP
- Apr 2 Calgary Flames right wing Joe Mullen sets new NHL record for most points in a season by a American-born player, with a goal and 2 assists in a 4-2 win over Edmonton Oilers gives him 110 points
- Apr 2 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Juli Inkster leads wire-to-wire to win her second DS event, 5 strokes ahead of runners-up JoAnne Carner and Tammie Green
WrestleMania
Apr 2 WrestleMania V, Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, NJ: Hulk Hogan beats Randy "Macho Man" Savage for WWF Heavyweight title
- Apr 3 "Sunrise" a Gannett newspaper begins publishing for Bronx
- Apr 3 51st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Michigan beats Seton Hall, 80-79 (OT); Wolverines first title; small forward Glen Rice named tournament MOP
- Apr 3 Mets win 11th consecutive home opener 8-4 over St Louis at Shea Stad
Sports History
Apr 4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's last NBA game in Seattle
Sports History
Apr 4 NY Yankee Tommy John ties record of playing 26 seasons, his 287th win puts him 19th overall as Yanks beat Twins on opening day 4-2
Sports History
Apr 5 Los Angeles Dodger Orel Hershiser's consecutive scoreless streak of 59 innings ends
1st TV Show in Dolby Stereo
Apr 5 NBC's "Late Night With David Letterman" becomes 1st network TV show broadcast in Dolby Stereo
- Apr 5 Poland grants legal status to trade union Solidarność (Solidarity)
- Apr 7 NY Supreme Court takes America's Cup away from SD Yacht Club for using a catamaran against NZ. Appeals court eventually overrules
- Apr 7 Soviet sub sinks in Norwegian Sea, with about a dozen deaths
- Apr 8 143rd Grand National: Irish 12-year-old Little Polveir, ridden by jockey Jimmy Frost wins by 7 lengths from West Tip
- Apr 8 California Angels pitcher Jim Abbott, born without his right hand, makes MLB debut, lasting only 4 2/3 innings
US Masters Golf
Apr 9 53rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Englishman Nick Faldo wins the first of his 3 Masters titles after a final round 65 (−7) and a birdie on the 2nd hole of a sudden-death playoff with Scott Hoch
Sports History
Apr 9 Mike Tyson strikes a parking attendant when asked to move his car
Baseball Record
Apr 9 Rickey Henderson steals his 800th career base in NY's 4-3 loss to Clev
- Apr 9 Washington, D.C. march supporting 1973 Roe vs Wade decision (allow abortions)
Academy of Country Music Awards
Apr 10 24th Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams Jr, George Strait, and K.T. Oslin win
Sports History
Apr 11 1st playoff goal scored by a goalie, Ron Hextall of visiting Philadelphia Flyers shoots into Washington Capitols empty net while his team is shorthanded in 8-5 win
- Apr 11 Flyers, scores short-handed into an empty net beating Caps 8-5
Soul Train Music Awards
Apr 12 3rd Soul Train Music Awards: Anita Baker, Bobby Brown win
- Apr 12 Peter Ueberroth deal to purchase Eastern Airlines falls through
- Apr 13 "Welcome to the Club" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 12 performances
- Apr 14 1,100,000,000th Chinese born
Event of Interest
Apr 14 In the Iran-Contra trial, Oliver North's case goes to the jury
- Apr 15 Hillsborough disaster, 96 are crushed to death and 766 injured at the Hillsborough Football Stadium in Sheffield, England, during a FA semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest
- Apr 15 Students in Beijing pro-democracy protests
- Apr 15 Sue Marchiano wins 3rd World Cup female marathon (2:30:48)
- Apr 15 Then largest lottery in North America ($69M) drawn in Illinois
Sports History
Apr 16 1st The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Don Bies wins his lone career Champions Tour major title by 1 stroke from Gary Player
- Apr 16 Berendrechtsluis opens in Antwerp, biggest flood lock in world
- Apr 16 Costa Rica beats US 1-0, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup
- Apr 16 Zeleka Metaferia wins 3rd World Cup marathon (2:10:28)
Boston Marathon
Apr 17 93rd Boston Marathon: Abebe Mekonen of Ethiopia takes men's race in 2:09:06; Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway wins her 2nd women's title in 2:24:33
- Apr 17 Maximum NY State unemployment benefits raised to $245 per week
- Apr 17 Polish labor union granted legal status
- Apr 17 Soviet-US agreement allows Soviets to fight US pros
- Apr 19 Central Park Five: Violent rape of jogger Trisha Meili in NYC's Central Park becomes one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s. Five teenagers are wrongfully convicted and spend between 6-12 years in prison.
- Apr 19 Gun turret explodes on USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors
- Apr 19 Kevin Elster (NY Mets), sets error-less shortstop mark at 73
- Apr 19 Republic Day in Sierra Leone
Sports History
Apr 21 George W. Bush and Edward W. Rose become joint CEOs of the Texas Rangers
- Apr 21 Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing's Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom
- Apr 22 "Welcome to the Club" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 12 performances
- Apr 23 CBS' premiere of fact based "The Littlest Victims", based on Newark, N.J. physician James Oleske as the first doctor to discover AIDS in children
- Apr 23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 10 points in his last game as a Laker in a 121-117 win over Seattle SuperSonics at the LA Forum
- Apr 23 NFL Draft: #1 pick UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman by Dallas Cowboys
Sports History
Apr 23 Nolan Ryan blows a no hitter in 9th inning
- Apr 23 Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts
Event of Interest
Apr 23 Wine merchant William Sokolin breaks a bottle of 1787 Château Margaux, possibly belonging to Thomas Jefferson, worth $500,000 at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York
- Apr 24 10s of thousands of student strikes in Beijing, China
- Apr 24 Massachusetts declares today "New Kids on the Block Day"
- Apr 25 Penguin Mario Lemuix ties NHL playoff record of 4 goals in 1st period
- Apr 26 AT&T announces NJ's 201 area code will split into 908 & 201
- Apr 26 Mike Tyson gets a speeding ticket for drag racing his Lamborghini in Albany, New York
- Apr 27 Barry Keating's musical "Starmites" opens at Criterion Center Stage Right Theater, NYC; runs for 60 performances
- Apr 27 Beijing students take over Tiananmen Square in China
- Apr 27 Hurricane in Bangladesh kills 500
- Apr 27 Mandatory seatbelt law goes into effect in Italy
- Apr 28 Argentina, hit by rocketing inflation, runs out of money
Event of Interest
Apr 28 Iran protests sale of "Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie
Beatification
Apr 30 Pope John Paul II beatifies Victoire Rasoamanarivo of Madagascar
- Apr 30 US beats Costa Rica 1-0, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup
World Wide Web
Apr 30 World Wide Web (WWW) is first launched in the public domain by CERN scientist Tim Berners-Lee
1989 History
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Jan Blokhuijsen, Dutch long-track speed skater (Olympic gold team pursuit 2014; World Single Distance C'ship gold 2012, 13, 16, 17), born in Zuid-Scharwoude, Netherlands
- Apr 3 Israel Folau, Australian Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL player (dual international), born in Minto, New South Wales, Australia
- Apr 7 Franco Di Santo, Argentine Footballer
- Apr 8 Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer, born in Shiogama, Japan
- Apr 8 Matthew Healy, British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer (The 1975 - "I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It"), born in London, England
- Apr 10 Per Olav Kobberstad, Norwegian Latin and acoustic jazz 8-string guitarist and composer, born in Norway
- Apr 11 Scott Boland, Australian cricket fast bowler (only second male Aboriginal player to play Test Cricket for Australia; BB 6/7), born in Melbourne, Australia
- Apr 17 Avriel "Avi" Kaplan, American pop bass vocalist (Pentatonix, 2011-2017; Avriel & the Sequoias), born in Visalia, California
- Apr 18 Alia Shawkat, American actress (Hannah Rayburn-State of Grace), born in Riverside, California
- Apr 19 Fiona MacGillivray, Canadian Celtic vocalist (The Cottars), born in Albert Bridge, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
- Apr 19 Simu Liu, Canadian actor (Kim's Convenience, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings), born in Harbin, China
- Apr 23 Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player, born in Nuremberg, West Germany
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (34 years old)
Apr 25 11th Panchen Lama, born in Lhari County, Tibet, China
- Apr 25 Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player (PDC World Champion 2014, 17, 19), born in Boxtel, Netherlands
- Apr 27 Emily Rios, American actress (Andrea Cantillo-Breaking Bad), born in Los Angeles, California
Famous Weddings
Jon Bon Jovi
Apr 29 Rock band Bon Jovi lead singer Jon Bon Jovi (27) weds high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley (26) at Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada
Robin Williams
Apr 30 Actor and comedian Robin Williams (37) weds nanny Marsha Garces at a private ceremony in Lake Tahoe, California
Famous Deaths
- Apr 1 Henk Gortzak [Hendricus Gortzak], Dutch carpenter and politician (CPN/PSP), dies at 57
- Apr 3 Norman Wooland, German actor (Ivanhoe, Quo Vadis, Hamlet), dies at 79
- Apr 5 María Cristina Gómez, Salvadoran teacher, literacy and civil rights activist, murdered at 46
- Apr 5 William Hibbard, American composer, musician and conductor, dies of an AIDS related illness at 49
- Apr 6 Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, American platform diver (Olympic gold 1924 and 1928), dies at 86
- Apr 7 Alberto Morin, Puerto Rican actor (Two Mules for Sister Sara; Rio Grande), dies at 86
- Apr 8 John Wyer, English sports car racing team manager, dies at 79
- Apr 10 Joan Barry, dies at 85
- Apr 11 Henk van Galen Last, Dutch journalist, dies at 68
- Apr 12 Abbie Hoffman, yippie peace activist of the 60's, dies at 52
- Apr 12 Gerald Flood, British actor (Doctor Who, Patton), dies of a heart attack at 61
- Apr 12 Herbert Mills, American pop singer (The Mills Brothers - "Paper Doll"; "Lazy River"), dies at 77
Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989)
Apr 12 American boxer (world welterweight champion 1946-51; middleweight champion 1951-52, 55, 58), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 67
Hu Yaobang (1915-1989)
Apr 15 Chinese communist official and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1982-87), dies of a heart attack at 73
- Apr 15 Nesuhi Ertegün, Turkish–American jazz record producer and label executive (Atlantic Records; Warner Music), dies from complications of cancer surgery at 71
- Apr 16 John "Jocko" Conlan, American Baseball HOF umpire (National League 1941-65), dies after heart surgery at 89
- Apr 16 Tawfieq Yusuf Awwaad, Lebanese writer, dies
- Apr 17 Charles Lampkin, American character actor (Frank’s Place - "Tiger Shepin"; Roots: The Next Generation), spoken word artist, musician, and educator, dies at 76 [1]
- Apr 18 Julia Smith, American composer (Prairie Kaleidoscope; Cynthia Parker), pianist (Orchestrette Classique), teacher, and musicologist (Aaron Copland: His Work and Contribution to American Music), dies at 84
- Apr 19 Daphne Du Maurier, English writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), dies at 82
- Apr 20 H.B. "Toby" Halicki, American filmmaker, stunt driver, and actor (Gone In 60 Seconds), killed by felled telephone pole while filming a stunt at 48
- Apr 21 James Kirkwood, American actor, author and playwright (A Chorus Line, P. S. Your Cat Is Dead!), dies of cancer at 64
- Apr 21 Princess Deokhye of Korea, last princess of the Korean Empire, dies at 76
- Apr 22 Benjamin "Bull Moose" Jackson, American R&B saxophone player and singer ("Hurry, Hurry"), dies at 70
Emilio G. Segrè (1905-1989)
Apr 22 Italian physicist and Nobel laureate (discovered the elements technetium, astatine and the sub-atomic antiparticle antiproton), dies at 84 of a heart attack
Lucille Ball (1911-1989)
Apr 26 American comedienne and actress (I Love Lucy; Mame), dies of a heart attack at 77
- Apr 27 Kōnosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (founded Panasonic), dies at 94
- Apr 28 Olaf J. de Landell, Dutch writer, dies at 77
- Apr 30 Guy Williams [Armando Joseph Catalano], American actor (Zorro, Lost in Space), dies of a brain aneurysm at 65
- Apr 30 Sergio Leone, Italian director who invented spaghetti westerns (The Man with No Name trilogy), dies of a heart attack at 60
- Apr 30 Yi Bangja, Crown Prince Euimin of Korea (1926-70), dies at 87
