Historical Events
NHL Record
Apr 1 Wayne Gretzky breaks Bobby Orr's record with 103rd assist
Wayne Gretzky
- Apr 1 New York City's Transit Worker Union 100 begins a strike lasting 11 days.
- Apr 2 Wayne Gretzky becomes 1st teenager to score 50 goals in a season
- Apr 3 France performs nuclear test
- Apr 3 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 4 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Event of Interest
Apr 6 9th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Donna Caponi Young
Donna Caponi
NHL Record
Apr 6 Gordie Howe completes a record 26th season
Gordie Howe
- Apr 6 Post It Notes introduced
Event of Interest
Apr 7 Jimmy Carter breaks relations with Iran during hostage crisis
Jimmy Carter
- Apr 8 Islander Potvin's 2 shorthanded goals tie NHL record vs Kings & set NHL rec of 2 shorthanded playoff goals in 1 period
- Apr 9 Belgium's Marten's government resigns
- Apr 9 Los Angeles Kings tie NHL record with two shorthanded playoff goals (vs NY Islanders)
- Apr 9 Soyuz 35 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6
- Apr 11 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulates sexual harassment
Event of Interest
Apr 11 Paul McCartney releases "Coming Up"
Paul McCartney
- Apr 12 BCMA, Black Consciousness Movement of Azania, forms
- Apr 12 Milwaukee beats Boston Red Sox, 18-1 (Cooper & Money hit grand slams)
- Apr 12 US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow Olympic games
- Apr 12 Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending over 130 years of national democratic presidential succession.
- Apr 12 Terry Fox begins his "Marathon of Hope" at St. John's, Newfoundland
- Apr 13 Musical "Grease" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 3,388 performances
- Apr 13 "Reggae" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 21 performances
Golf Major
Apr 13 44th Masters Golf Tournament: Seve Ballesteros wins, shooting a 275
Seve Ballesteros
Film Awards
Apr 14 52nd Academy Awards: "Kramer vs Kramer", Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field win
Dustin Hoffman
Sally Field
Event of Interest
Apr 14 Pulitzer prize awarded to Norman Mailer (Executioner's Song)
Norman Mailer
Event of Interest
Apr 16 Arthur Ashe retires from professional tennis
Arthur Ashe
- Apr 16 Delhi beat Bombay by 240 runs to win Ranji Trophy final
- Apr 16 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 18 Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) declares independence from UK
- Apr 19 25th Eurovision Song Contest: Johnny Logan for Ireland wins singing "What's Another Year" in The Hague
- Apr 20 Cubans begin to arrive in US from Mariel boatlift
- Apr 20 Donna White wins LPGA Florida "Lady Citrus" Golf Tournament
- Apr 20 Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria sees hundreds of Berber political activists arrested
- Apr 21 84th Boston Marathon: Bill Rodgers of United States 1st man in 2:12:11 and Jacqueline Gareau of Canada 1st woman in 2:34:28; Rosie Ruiz disqualified as women's champion for not running the entire course
- Apr 21 Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WWWW Detroit Mich
- Apr 23 Soviet sub catches fire off Japan, 9 die
- Apr 24 US military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, 8 die
- Apr 25 A's manager Billy Martin restrained by umpires from attacking a fan
- Apr 25 Announcement of US hostage rescue bungle in Iran
- Apr 25 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Wayne Webb
- Apr 25 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Apr 26 Gerard Nijboer runs Dutch record marathon (2:09:01)
- Apr 26 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 26 Iran begins scattering US hostages from US Embassy
- Apr 26 Longest jump by a jet boat is set at 120 feet
- Apr 26 Phillies' Steve Carlton pitches his 6th 1-hitter (beats Cards)
- Apr 27 Barbara Barrow wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
- Apr 28 Cyrus Vance, Carter's US Secretary of State, resigns
- Apr 28 Reunion Arena in Dallas opens
- Apr 29 Corazones Unidos Siempre Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Inc. is founded
- Apr 29 1980 NFL Draft: Billy Sims from University of Oklahoma first pick by Detroit Lions
- Apr 30 "Barnum" opens at St James Theater NYC for 854 performances
- Apr 30 Ronald Harwood's "The Dresser" premieres in London
- Apr 30 Terrorists seize Iranian Embassy in London
- Apr 30 Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands, abdicates; Princess Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard becomes Queen
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Bryan Buffinton, actor (Bill Lewis Jr-Guiding Light), born in Ridgewood, New Jersey
- Apr 1 Randy Orton, American professional wrestler
- Apr 1 Bijou Phillips, American actress
- Apr 1 Yūko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
- Apr 2 Carlos Salcido, Mexican footballer (Guadalajara), born in Ocotlán, Jalisco, Mexico
- Apr 2 Adam Fleming, English news reporter (Daily Politics), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Apr 2 Ricky Hendrick, American NASCAR driver and owner, born in Charlotte, North Carolina (d. 2004)
- Apr 3 Trevor Moore, American actor and comedian (The Whitest Kids U' Know), born in Montclair, New Jersey
- Apr 4 Björn Wirdheim, Swedish racing driver, born in Växjö, Sweden
- Apr 4 Johnny Borrell, English singer (Razorlight), born in Sutton, London
- Apr 5 Matt Bonner, American basketball player
- Apr 5 Lee Jae Won, South Korean actor, singer, and rapper
- Apr 6 Matthew Thomas Carey, American actor (Old School,The Banger Sisters), born in Denver, Colorado
- Apr 8 Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
- Apr 8 Katee Sackhoff, American actress
- Apr 9 Kristin Lee, rhythmic gymnast (US team-96), born in Bethesda, Maryland
- Apr 9 Jerko Leko, Croatian footballer
- Apr 9 Yoanna House, American model
- Apr 9 Clueso, German singer, rapper, songwriter and producer
- Apr 10 Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player, born in North York, Ontario, Canada
- Apr 10 Charlie Hunnam, British actor (Sons of Anarchy), born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England
- Apr 10 Kasey Kahne, American race-car driver, born in Enumclaw, Washington
- Apr 10 Bryce Soderberg, American musician (Lifehouse), born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- Apr 11 Keiji Tamada, Japanese football player, born in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
- Apr 11 Mark Teixeira, American baseball first baseman, born in Annapolis, Maryland
- Apr 12 Brian McFadden, Irish singer and songwriter (Westlife), born in Dublin, Ireland
- Apr 12 Erik Mongrain, Canadian composer and guitarist, born in Montreal, Quebec
- Apr 13 Quentin Richardson, American basketball player
- Apr 13 Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress
- Apr 14 Ben Wells, American actor
- Apr 14 Win Butler, American/Canadian musician (Arcade Fire)
- Apr 14 Steven Holcomb, American Bobsledder (Olympic gold 2010), born in Park City, Utah (d. 2017)
- Apr 15 Victor Núñez, Costa Rican footballer
- Apr 15 Natalie Casey, British actress
- Apr 15 James Foster, English cricketer
- Apr 15 Raúl López, Spanish basketball player
- Apr 15 Willie Mason, Australian Rugby League Player
- Apr 15 Fränk Schleck, Luxembourgish cyclist
- Apr 16 Jesse Tendler, American actor (Nick-Ellen Burstyn Show), born in Madison, Wisconsin
- Apr 16 Paul London, American professional wrestler, born in Austin, Texas
- Apr 17 Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer/boxer
- Apr 17 Lee Hyun-il, South Korean badminton player
- Apr 18 Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
- Apr 19 Alexis Thorpe, American actress
- Apr 20 Blümchen [Jasmin Wagner], German singer (Boomerang), born in Hamburg, Germany
- Apr 21 Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player
- Apr 21 Tony Romo, American football player
- Apr 21 Jeff Keppinger, American baseball player
- Apr 22 Aaron Metchnik, actor (Stephen-Torkelsons), born in Santa Barbara, California
- Apr 22 Monica Flammer, gymnast (alt-Olympics 1996), born in Gainesville, Florida
- Apr 22 Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
- Apr 22 Courtney Friel, presenter of World Poker Tour
- Apr 22 Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- Apr 22 Aaron Michael Metchik, American actor
- Apr 24 Fernando Arce, Mexican football midfielder, born in Tijuana, Mexico
- Apr 24 Austin Nichols, American actor (One Tree Hill), born in Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Apr 25 Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
- Apr 25 Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
- Apr 25 Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese basaball player
- Apr 26 Jordana Brewster, Panama, actress (Nikki Graves-As the World Turns)
- Apr 26 Marnette Patterson, American actress (Nicole-Something So Right), born in Los Angeles, California
- Apr 26 Channing Tatum, American actor (21 Jump Street, Magic Mike), born in Cullman, Alabama
- Apr 27 Christian Lara, Ecuadorian footballer, born in Quito, Ecuador
- Apr 27 Ananda Mikola, Indonesian racing driver, born in Jakarta
- Apr 27 Sybille Bammer, Austrian tennis player, born in Linz, Austria
- Apr 27 Talitha Cummins, Australian journalist (Seven News Brisbane), born in Gold Coast, Australia
- Apr 28 Josh Howard, American basketball player (Dallas Mavericks)
- Apr 28 Bradley Wiggins, British cyclist (Olympic gold 2004, 2008 Tour de France 2012), born in Ghent, Belgium
- Apr 29 Mathieu Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
- Apr 29 Kian Egan, Irish singer (Westlife)
- Apr 29 Kelly Shoppach, American baseball player
Famous Deaths
- Apr 2 Dick Howorth, cricketer (England slow lefty all-rounder late 40's), dies
- Apr 3 Luella Gear, American actress (Joe & Mabel), dies at 82
- Apr 4 Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine, American country music singer, dies following a heart attack leading to a car crash at 62
- Apr 9 Kathleen Burke, American actress (Island of Lost Souls), dies at 66
- Apr 10 Kay Medford [ Margaret Kathleen Regan], American actress (Dean Martin Show, To Rome With Love), dies of cancer at 60
- Apr 11 Charlotte Henry, dies
- Apr 11 Florence Lake, American actress (Edgar Kennedy shorts), dies at 75
- Apr 12 Stanley De Silva, cricketer (motor bike Sri Lanka '79 World Cup), dies
- Apr 12 William R Tolbert Jr, Liberian President & 27 others killed in coup
- Apr 12 Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards and snooker player (b. 1895)
- Apr 13 Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1956)
- Apr 14 Tom Fadden, actor (Duffeild-Broken Arrow, Cimarron City), dies at 84
Jean-Paul Sartre
Apr 15 Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist philosopher and writer (Nobel 1964), dies in Paris at 74
Jean-Paul Sartre
- Apr 15 Marshall Reed, American actor (The Madmen of Mandoras, Mysterious Island), dies from a massive hemorrhage at 62
- Apr 15 Paul Langton, American actor (Till the Clouds Roll By, Peyton Place), dies from a heart attack at 66
- Apr 15 Raymond Bailey, American actor (Vertigo, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Incredible Shrinking Man), dies at 75
- Apr 19 Ethel Wilson, actress (Aunt Harriet-Aldrich Family), dies at 88
- Apr 19 Tony Beckley, actor (Assault, When a Stranger Calls), dies at 51
- Apr 21 Aleksandr Oparin, Russian biochemist (b. 1894)
- Apr 21 Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (b. 1928)
Jane Froman
Apr 22 Jane Froman, American singer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), dies at 72
Jane Froman
- Apr 24 Alenjo Carpentier, Cuban/French writer (Guerra del Tiempo), dies at 75
- Apr 25 Katia Mann, German actress and wife of German writer Thomas Mann, dies at 96
- Apr 26 Cicely Courtneidge, actress (Double Exposure), dies at 87
- Apr 28 Dee Carroll, [Betty Jean Marsh], actress (Mad Bomber, Split), dies
- Apr 28 Tommy Caldwell, American rocker (Marshall Tucker Band), dies in a jeep crash at 30
Alfred Hitchcock
Apr 29 Alfred Hitchcock, English director (Psycho, Birds, Rear Window), dies of renal failure at 80
Alfred Hitchcock