Historical Events
Historic Event
Apr 1 Henry Miller's Theater opens at 124 W 43rd St NYC
- Apr 1 United Kingdom: the Royal Air Force is created from the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps.
- Apr 3 US House of Representatives accepts American Creed written by William Tyler
- Apr 4 Food riot in Amsterdam
- Apr 13 Electrical fire kills 38 mental patients at Oklahoma State Hospital
- Apr 14 Douglas Campbell is 1st US ace pilot (shooting down 5th German plane)
Historic Publication
Apr 15 Georges Clémenceau publishes secret French/Austrian documents
- Apr 15 22nd Boston Marathon won by Camp Devens relay team; race run as relay for 10-man military teams
- Apr 16 The British House of Commons passes a new Military Service Bill, taking men up to 55 years old and extending to Ireland
- Apr 18 The People's Council of Latvia proclaims the independence of the new country of Latvia
Sports History
Apr 18 Cleveland center fielder Tris Speaker turns an unassisted double play
Historic Event
Apr 20 Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day
- Apr 21 World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen "The Red Baron", shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France, Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown credited with the kill
- Apr 23 Raid of Zeebrugge; the British navy attempts to block German vessels from leaving port by sinking obsolete ships - mostly fails
- Apr 23 Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea
- Apr 27 Giants' 9-0 winning start & Dodgers' 0-9 losing streak are stopped
- Apr 29 Tris Speaker ties career outfield record of 4 unassisted double plays
- Apr 30 Orange Nassau soccer team forms in Groningen
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 2 Charles White, American artist (The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1979)
- Apr 3 Enrique Iturriaga, Peruvian composer (Sinfonía Junín y Ayacucho), born in Lima, Peru (d. 2019)
- Apr 3 Louis Applebaum, Canadian conductor and composer, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2000)
- Apr 3 Sixten Ehrling, Swedish pianist, conductor (Royal Opera of Stockholm, 1953-60; Detroit Symphony, 1963-73), and educator (Juilliard, 1973-87), born in Malmö, Sweden (d. 2005)
- Apr 4 George Jellicoe, Earl Jellicoe, British naval commander and member of the House of Lords (1939-2007), born in Hatfield (d. 2007)
- Apr 6 Joan Bernard, Principal (Trevelyan College, Durham)
- Apr 6 Karen [Ingeborg Klinkerfuss], German actress (Sky Murder, All Through the Night, Madame X), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1967)
- Apr 6 Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian president (d. 1982)
- Apr 7 C B Bertie Clarke, cricketer (Barbados & West Indian leg-spinner)
- Apr 7 Michael "Peanuts" Hucko, American big band jazz and session clarinetist (Glenn Miller's Army-Air Force Band; Lawrence Welk Show), born in Syracuse, New York (d. 2003)
- Apr 7 Ronald Howard, British actor (Naked Edge, Come September, Murder She Said), born in Norwood, England (d. 1996)
- Apr 7 Bobby Doerr, American Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (9-time All Star, Boston Red Sox), born in Junction City, Oregon (d. 2017)
Betty Ford
Apr 8 Betty [Bloomer] Ford, US 1st lady (1974-77) and founder of the Betty Ford Center clinic, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2011)
- Apr 8 Glendon Swarthout, American novelist (Where The Boys Are; The Shootist), born in Pickney, Massachusetts (d. 1992)
- Apr 8 Lenore Engdahl, American classical pianist, and educator (Boston University School of Music, 1972–83), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2018)
- Apr 9 Jørn Utzon, Danish architect (Sydney Opera House), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 2008)
- Apr 11 Jean-Claude Servan-Schreiber, French journalist, born in Paris
- Apr 11 Richard Wainwright, English politician, Liberal MP for Colne Valley (1966–70), born in Leeds (d. 2003)
- Apr 11 Jimmy Lewis, American jazz double bassist and soul electric bassist, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 2000)
- Apr 13 A. L. [Audrey] Barker, English writer, born in St Pauls Cray, Kent (2002)
- Apr 14 Mary Healy, American actress (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, He Married his Wife), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2016)
- Apr 15 John Baragrey, American actor (Creeper, The Loves of Carmen), born in Haleyville, Alabama (d. 1975)
Spike Milligan
Apr 16 Spike Milligan, Irish-British actor and comedian (The Goon Show, 3 Musketeers), born in Ahmednagar, India (d. 2002)
William Holden
Apr 17 William Holden [Beedle], American actor (The Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai), born in O'Fallon, Illinois (d. 1981)
- Apr 18 Róbert Zimonyi, Hungarian rowing coxswain (Olympic gold USA men's eight 1964; bronze Hungary coxed pair 1948), born in Sárvár, Hungary (d. 2004)
- Apr 18 Roger de Grey, British landscape painter and President of Royal Academy (1984-93) (d. 1995)
- Apr 18 Tony Mottola, American jazz guitarist, born in Kearney, New Jersey (d. 2004)
- Apr 18 Cliff Hillegass, American publisher (Cliffsnotes), born in Rising City, Nebraska (d. 2001)
- Apr 20 June Storey, Canadian-born American actress (South of the Border), born in Toronto (d. 1991)
- Apr 22 Mickey Vernon, American baseball first baseman (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1960; AL batting champion 1946, 53), born in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania (d. 2008)
- Apr 23 Anthony Craxton, British TV producer, born in London (d. 1966)
- Apr 23 Maurice Druon, French writer and journalist (Prix Goncourt), born in Paris (d. 2009)
- Apr 23 Gordon Hirabayshi, American civil rights activist and WWII internment opponent (Hirabayshi v. United States), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2012)
- Apr 25 Astrid Varnay, Swedish soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1941-56), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 2006)
- Apr 25 Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer, born in Paris (d. 1995)
- Apr 26 Francina "Fanny" Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles, 4x100m relay 1948), born in Lage Vuursche, Netherlands (d. 2004)
- Apr 26 Stafford Repp, American actor (Playhouse 90, Batman, Plunder Road), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1974)
- Apr 27 John Alfred Scali, American journalist and diplomat, born in Canton, Ohio (d. 1995)
- Apr 27 Kirby Stone, American jazz combo leader (Kirby Stone Four - "Baubles Bangles & Beads"), born in NYC, New York (d. 1981)
- Apr 27 Sten Rudholm, Swedish jurist, member of the Swedish Academy, born in Karlstad, Sweden (d. 2008)
- Apr 29 Merv Harvey, Australian cricketer (brother of Neil, Test for Australia), born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia (d. 1995)
- Apr 29 George Allen, American Pro Football HOF coach (NFL Coach of the Year 1967, 71; LA Rams, Washington Redskins), born in Nelson County, Virginia (d. 1990)
- Apr 30 Don McNeill, American tennis player (French C'ship 1939, US Nat C'ship 1940), born in Chickasha, Oklahoma (d. 1996)
Famous Weddings
Eugene O'Neill
Apr 12 American Playwright Eugene O'Neill marries second wife novelist Agnes Boulton
Famous Deaths
- Apr 1 Karl Valentin, Swedish composer, dies at 64
- Apr 5 Paul Vidal de la Blanche, French geographer, dies at 73
- Apr 6 John Q. A. Brackett, American politician, 36th Governor of Massachusetts (1890-91), dies at 75
- Apr 11 Arthur Ochse, cricketer (WW I played for South Africa in 1889 aged 19), dies
- Apr 13 Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, Russian military officer, dies at 47
- Apr 20 Reginald Harry Mybirgh Hands, cricketer (1 Test for SA), dies
- Apr 20 Karl Ferdinand Braun, German inventor, co-developed wireless telegraphy (Nobel 1909), dies at 67
The Red Baron
Apr 21 Manfred von Richthofen [The Red Baron], German World War I fighter ace, dies at 25 after his plane is shot down
Gavrilo Princip
Apr 28 Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian-Serb assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, dies of tuberculosis at 23
