April 20 in History

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

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.

For the first time in history, oil prices drop below zero, an effect of the 2020 Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war.

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.

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Lushan County, Ya'an, in China's Sichuan province, killing at least 193 people and injuring thousands.

One hundred twenty-seven people are killed when a plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that lasted six months.

Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.

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.

The Nicoll Highway in Singapore collapses, killing four workers.

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.

Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.

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.

Apollo program: The Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the Moon.

English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech.

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.

Cold War: Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.

Amethyst incident: The People's Liberation Army attacks HMS Amethyst (F116) travelling to the British embassy in Nanjing during the Chinese Civil War.

The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.

World War II: U.S. troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.

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.

Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school.

The Soviet government creates the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian SSR.

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.

Nineteen men, women, and children participating in a strike are killed in the Ludlow Massacre during the Colorado Coalfield War.

Opening day of competition in the New South Wales Rugby League.

Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.

U.S. President William McKinley signs a joint resolution to Congress for declaration of war against Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.

Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus, condemning Freemasonry.

The April Uprising begins. Its suppression shocks European opinion, and Bulgarian independence becomes a condition for ending the Russo-Turkish War.

Astronomer Angelo Secchi demonstrates the Secchi disk, which measures water clarity, aboard Pope Pius IX's yacht, the L'Immaculata Concezion.

Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.

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.

Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, attempting to display the value of balloons, makes record journey, flying 900 miles from Cincinnati to South Carolina.

U.S. Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.

René Caillié becomes the second non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu, following Major Gordon Laing. He would also be the first to return alive.

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.

The Septinsular Republic is established.

France declares war against the "King of Hungary and Bohemia", the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars.

George Washington arrives at Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, while en route to Manhattan for his inauguration.

The Georgian king, Erekle II, abandoned by his Russian ally Count Totleben, wins a victory over Ottoman forces at Aspindza.

Start of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, a new phase in the Burmese Civil War (1740–57).

English Admiral Robert Blake destroys a Spanish silver fleet, under heavy fire from the shore, at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Freedom of religion is granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam (later New York City).

Oliver Cromwell dissolves England's Rump Parliament.

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.

The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.

The Bahri Mamluks defeat the Ilkhanate in the battle of Marj al-Saffar, marking the end of the Mongol incursions into Syria.

After an eight-year conflict, Baldwin III of Jerusalem wins sole control of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from his mother Melisende.

Tallyn Da Silva, Australian rugby league player

Alexander Zverev, German tennis player

Luke Kuechly, American football player

Kyle Higashioka, American baseball player

Jason Behrendorff, Australian cricketer

Vannesa Rosales, Venezuelan activist and teacher

Brandon Belt, American baseball player

Jorge Pinto, Portuguese politician

Harris Wittels, American comedian (died 2015)

Miranda Kerr, Australian model

Emma Husar, Australian politician

Carl Greenidge, English cricketer

Killer Mike, American rapper

Randy Fine, American politician and former gambling industry executive

Julie Powell, American food writer and memoirist (died 2022)

Carmen Electra, American model and actress

Stephen Marley, Jamaican-American musician

Allan Houston, American basketball player

Mikey Welsh, American bassist and painter (died 2011)

Shemar Moore, American actor

Felix Baumgartner, Austrian daredevil (died 2025)

Will Hodgman, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Tasmania

Julia Morris, Australian entertainer

Lara Jill Miller, American actress

Mike Portnoy, American drummer and songwriter

David Chalmers, Australian philosopher and academic

David Filo, American businessman, co-founded Yahoo!

Kostis Chatzidakis, Greek politician, Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism

Léa Fazer, Swiss film director, screenwriter and actress

Mark Mallia, Maltese painter and sculptor (died 2024)

John Carney, American football player

Crispin Glover, American actor and filmmaker

Andy Serkis, English actor and director

Rosalynn Sumners, American figure skater

Rachel Whiteread, English sculptor

Sanjaasürengiin Zorig, Mongolian Politician, (died 1998)

Don Mattingly, American baseball player, coach, and manager

Konstantin Lavronenko, Russian actor

Debbie Flintoff-King, Australian hurdler and coach

Perry Haddock, Australian rugby league player

Viacheslav Fetisov, Russian ice hockey player and coach

Beatrice Ask, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister for Justice

Peter Chelsom, English film director, writer, and actor

Kakha Bendukidze, Georgian economist and politician (died 2014)

Olivia Dahl (died 1962), daughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal

Donald Pettit, American engineer and astronaut

Svante Pääbo, Swedish geneticist and Nobel Laureate

Sebastian Faulks, English journalist and author

James Chance, American musician (died 2024)

Louka Katseli, Greek economist and politician

Luther Vandross, American singer-songwriter and producer (died 2005)

Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (died 2002)

N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

Veronica Cartwright, English-American actress

Toller Cranston, Canadian-Mexican figure skater and painter (died 2015)

Massimo D'Alema, Italian journalist and politician, 76th Prime Minister of Italy

Jessica Lange, American actress

Matthias Kuhle, German geographer and academic (died 2015)

Rita Dionne-Marsolais, Canadian economist and politician

Viktor Suvorov, Russian intelligence officer, historian, and author

Niko Lekishvili, Georgian politician (died 2025)

Sandro Chia, Italian painter and sculptor

Michael Brandon, American actor and director

Olga Karlatos, Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer

Thein Sein, Burmese general and politician, 8th President of Burma

Naftali Temu, Kenyan runner (died 2003)

Steve Spurrier, American football player and coach

Toivo Aare, Estonian journalist and author (died 1999)

Alan Beith, English academic and politician

John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor and director

Edie Sedgwick, American model and actress (died 1971)

Ryan O'Neal, American actor (died 2023)

James Gammon, American actor (died 2010)

Peter S. Beagle, American author and screenwriter

Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian physician and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Norway–

Betty Cuthbert, Australian sprinter (died 2017)

Manfred Kinder, German runner

Eszter Tamási, Hungarian actress (died 1991)

Johnny Tillotson, American singer-songwriter (died 2025)

Jiří Dienstbier, Czech journalist and politician, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2011)

Harvey Quaytman, American painter and educator (died 2002)

George Takei, American actor

Pauli Ellefsen, Faroese technician, surveyor, and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (died 2012)

Pat Roberts, American captain, journalist, and politician

Myriam Bru, French actress

Michael Allenby, 3rd Viscount Allenby, English lieutenant and politician (died 2014)

John Eccles, 2nd Viscount Eccles, English businessman and politician

Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (died 2014)

Antony Jay, English director and screenwriter (died 2016)

Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (died 2013)

Johnny Gavin, Irish international footballer (died 2007)

Bud Cullen, Canadian judge and politician, 1st Canadian Minister of Employment and Immigration (died 2005)

Phil Hill, American race car driver (died 2008)

K. Alex Müller, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2023)

Ernie Stautner, German-American football player and coach (died 2006)

Elena Verdugo, American actress (died 2017)

Nina Foch, Dutch-American actress (died 2008)

Leslie Phillips, English actor and producer (died 2022)

Guy Rocher, Canadian sociologist and academic (died 2025)

Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster, founded Eternal Word Television Network (died 2016)

Irene Lieblich, Polish-American painter and illustrator (died 2008)

Tito Puente, American drummer and producer (died 2000)

Katarína Kolníková, Slovak actress (died 2006)

Frances Ames, South African neurologist, psychiatrist, and human rights activist (died 2002)

Clement Isong, Nigerian banker and politician, Governor of Cross River State (died 2000)

John Paul Stevens, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 2019)

Richard Hillary, Australian lieutenant and pilot (died 1943)

Kai Siegbahn, Swedish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007)

Yoko Matsuoka, Japanese writer (died 1979)

Nasiba Zeynalova, Azerbaijani actress (died 2004)

Joseph Wolpe, South African psychotherapist and physician (died 1997)

Israel Epstein, Chinese-Polish journalist and member of the Chinese Communist Party (died 2005)

Betty Lou Gerson, American actress (died 1999)

Mimis Fotopoulos, Greek actor and poet (died 1986)

Willi Hennig, German biologist and entomologist (died 1976)

Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Turkish diplomat and politician (died 1961)

Lionel Hampton, American vibraphone player, pianist, bandleader, and actor (died 2002)

Miran Bakhsh, Pakistani cricketer (died 1991)

Augoustinos Kantiotes, Greek bishop (died 2010)

Bruce Cabot, American actor (died 1972)

Alan Arnett McLeod, Canadian lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1918)

Henry de Montherlant, French essayist, novelist, and dramatist (died 1972)

Harold Lloyd, American actor, comedian, and producer (died 1971)

Joan Miró, Spanish painter and sculptor (died 1983)

Dave Bancroft, American baseball player and manager (died 1972)

Maurice Duplessis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 16th Premier of Quebec (died 1959)

Adolf Schärf, Austrian soldier and politician, 6th President of Austria (died 1965)

Albert Jean Amateau, Turkish rabbi, lawyer, and activist (died 1996)

Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland (died 1918)

Marie-Antoinette de Geuser, French mystic (died 1918)

Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born German politician, Führer of Nazi Germany (died 1945)

Tonny Kessler, Dutch footballer (died 1960)

Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (died 1966)

Oliver Kirk, American boxer (died 1960)

Daniel Varoujan, Armenian poet and educator (died 1915)

Holland Smith, American general (died 1967)

Paul Poiret, French fashion designer (died 1944)

Vladimir Vidrić, Croatian poet and lawyer (died 1909)

James Harcourt, English character actor (died 1951)

Sydney Chapman, English economist and civil servant (died 1951)

Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (died 1933)

Alexander Dianin, Russian chemist (died 1918)

Siegmund Lubin, Polish-American businessman, founded the Lubin Manufacturing Company (died 1923)

Daniel Chester French, American sculptor, designed the Lincoln statue (died 1931)

Odilon Redon, French painter and illustrator (died 1916)

Carol I of Romania, King of Romania (died 1914)

Dinah Craik, English author and poet (died 1887)

Heinrich Göbel, German-American mechanic and engineer (died 1893)

Bogoslav Šulek, Croatian philologist, historian, and lexicographer (died 1895)

Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France, Emperor of French Second Empire (died 1873)

Georg Michael Telemann, German composer and theologian (died 1831)

Philippe Pinel, French physician and psychiatrist (died 1826)

Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-Austrian minister and diplomat (died 1794)

Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (died 1781)

David Brainerd, American missionary (died 1747)

William Bedloe, English spy (died 1680)

Charles Plumier, French botanist and author (died 1704)

Emperor Go-Kōmyō of Japan (died 1654)

Geoffrey Shakerley, English politician (died 1696)

Rose of Lima, Peruvian mystic and saint (died 1617)

Renata of Lorraine, Duchess consort of Bavaria (died 1602)

Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (died 1566)

Luis Brandoni, Argentine actor and politician (born 1940)

Hugo Gatti, Argentine footballer (born 1944)

Antonio Cantafora, Italian film and television actor (born 1944)

Andrew Davis, English conductor (born 1944)

Roman Gabriel, Filipino-American NFL American footballer

Lourdes Portillo, Mexican film director, producer, and writer (born 1943)

Gavin Millar, Scottish film director (born 1938)

Idriss Déby, Chadian politician and military officer (born 1952)

Monte Hellman, American film director (born 1929)

Les McKeown, Scottish pop singer (born 1955)

Avicii, Swedish DJ and musician (born 1989)

Victoria Wood, British comedian, actress and writer (born 1953)

Neville Wran, Australian politician, 35th Premier of New South Wales (born 1926)

Bert Weedon, English guitarist and songwriter (born 1920)

Tim Hetherington, English photographer and journalist (born 1970)

Dorothy Height, American educator and activist (born 1912)

Monica Lovinescu, Romanian journalist and author (born 1923)

Andrew Hill, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (born 1931)

Michael Fu Tieshan, Chinese bishop (born 1931)

Fumio Niwa, Japanese journalist and author (born 1904)

Lizzy Mercier Descloux, French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter (born 1956)

Bernard Katz, German-English biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)

Alan Dale, American singer (born 1925)

Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (born 1946)

Rick Rude, American professional wrestler (born 1958)

Rachel Scott, American victim of Columbine High School massacre (born 1981)

Cassie Bernall, American victim of Columbine High School massacre (born 1981)

Trần Văn Trà, Vietnamese general and politician (born 1918)

Milovan Đilas, Yugoslav communist, politician, theorist and author (born 1911)

Cantinflas, Mexican actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1911)

Marjorie Gestring, American springboard diver (born 1922)

Benny Hill, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1924)

Steve Marriott, English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1947)

Don Siegel, American director and producer (born 1912)

Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (born 1916)

Archibald MacLeish, American poet, playwright, and lawyer (born 1892)

M. Canagaratnam, Sri Lankan politician (born 1924)

Lord Richard Cecil, British soldier and journalist in the Rhodesian Bush War (born 1948)

Vjekoslav Luburić, Croatian Ustaše official and concentration camp administrator (born 1914)

Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (born 1877)

Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Canadian journalist and author (born 1896)

Ivanoe Bonomi, Italian politician, 25th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1873)

Christian X, King of Denmark (born 1870)

Mae Busch, Australian actress (born 1891)

Erwin Bumke, Polish-German jurist and politician (born 1874)

Elmer Gedeon, American baseball player and pilot (born 1917)

Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, 6th State Elder of Estonia (born 1870)

John Cameron, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1872)

Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, English fashion designer (born 1863)

Giuseppe Peano, Italian mathematician and philosopher (born 1858)

Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon, 5th Baronet, Scottish-English fencer and businessman (born 1862)

Prince Henry of Prussia (born 1862)

Enrique Simonet, Spanish painter and educator (born 1866)

Jussi Merinen, Finnish politician (born 1873)

Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1850)

Bram Stoker, Anglo-Irish novelist and critic, created Count Dracula (born 1847)

Joaquim de Sousa Andrade, Brazilian poet and educator (born 1833)

Joseph Wolf, German ornithologist and illustrator (born 1820)

Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Greek-Egyptian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1826)

Charles-François-Frédéric, marquis de Montholon-Sémonville, French general and diplomat, French ambassador to the United States (born 1814)

William Burges, English architect and designer (born 1827)

Alexander H. Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1817)

William Tite, English architect, designed the Royal Exchange (born 1798)

John Abernethy, English surgeon and anatomist (born 1764)

Chief Pontiac, American tribal leader (born 1720)

Lancelot Addison, English clergyman and educator (born 1632)

Christoph Demantius, German composer and poet (born 1567)

Johannes Bugenhagen, German priest and theologian (born 1485)

Elizabeth Barton, English nun and martyr (born 1506)

Zhengde, Chinese emperor (born 1491)

Mary of Looz-Heinsberg, Dutch noble (born 1424)

Gersonides, French Jewish philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, physician, and astronomer (born 1288)

Simon Rinalducci, Italian Augustinian friar

Pope Clement V (born 1264)

Hōjō Tokimune, regent of Japan (born 1251)

Güyük Khan, Mongol ruler, 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (born 1206)

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English-Irish politician, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (born 1130)

Antipope Victor IV

Peter Bartholomew (born 1061)

Xi Zong, Chinese emperor (born 862)

Cædwalla, king of Wessex (born 659)