- Apr 1 Ranji Trophy Men's Cricket, Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi: Delhi beats Haryana by innings & 141; Manoj Prabhakar 113, Kirti Azad 107, Mohinder Amarnath 194, Ajay Sharma 110
- Apr 1 US submarine Nathaniel Green runs aground in Irish Sea
- Apr 1 World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel
- Apr 2 4 US passengers killed by bomb at TWA counter Athens Airport Greece
- Apr 2 George Corley Wallace (Gov-D-Ala) announces retirement plans
- Apr 2 NCAA Basketball Rules Committee votes to adopt the 3-point shot beginning the 1986-87 season; sets college distance at 19 feet, 9 inches, compared to 21 feet in the NBA
NHL Record
Apr 2 Paul Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers scores his 47th and 48th goals of the season in an 8-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks to break Bobby Orr's NHL record for most goals by a defenseman
NHL Record
Apr 4 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 213th point of season
Golf Major
Apr 6 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Pat Bradley wins the 4th of her 6 major titles, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Val Skinner
WrestleMania
Apr 7 WrestleMania II at 3 locations: Hulk Hogan beats King Kong Bundy; Mr. T beats Roddy Piper in a boxing match
Election of Interest
Apr 8 Clint Eastwood elected mayor of Carmel, California. Makes his day.
Film & TV History
Apr 9 TV show "Dallas" announces it will revive killed Bobby Ewing character
- Apr 10 "Big Deal" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 70 performances
Historic Event
Apr 10 Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan
- Apr 10 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 11 A 1921 Canadian 50 cent coin is auctioned in New York for $22,000
- Apr 11 Dodge Morgan sailed solo nonstop around world in 150 days
- Apr 11 Halley's Comet makes closest approach to Earth this trip, 63 M km
- Apr 11 KXA-AM in Seattle WA changes call letters to KRPM
- Apr 12 20,000 mine workers protest closing of Hasselt Belgium mines
US Masters Golf
Apr 13 50th Masters Golf Tournament: Jack Nicklaus wins his record 18th major with a 1-stroke victory over Greg Norman and Tom Kite; shoots final round 65 (−7); at 46 the oldest Masters winner
- Apr 13 Boston Celtics end season with a 40-1 home win record
Meeting of Interest
Apr 13 Pope John Paul II meets Rome's Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff at Rome synagogue
- Apr 13 Spanish Grand Prix decided by 0.014 of a second
Music Awards
Apr 14 21st Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
Election of Interest
Apr 14 Desmond Tutu elected Anglican Archbishop of Capetown, South Africa
- Apr 14 Double-decker ferry sinks in stormy weather in Bangladesh killing 200
- Apr 14 US aircraft attacks 5 terrorist locations in Libya
- Apr 15 US air raids Libya, responding to La Belle disco, Berlin bombing
- Apr 15 Viv Richards century off 56 balls v England in Antigua Test Cricket
- Apr 15 The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya.
TV Show Appearance
Apr 16 To dispel rumors he's dead, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appears on TV
- Apr 16 West Indies complete 5-0 demolition of England
- Apr 17 Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)
- Apr 17 Pulitzer prize awarded to Larry McMurtry for "Lonesome Dove"
- Apr 18 IBM produces 1st megabit-chip
- Apr 18 Robert M Gates becomes deputy director of CIA
- Apr 18 Titan rocket explodes seconds after liftoff from Vandenberg AFB
Boxing Title Fight
Apr 19 Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- Apr 20 "Jerry's Girls" closes at St James Theater NYC after 139 performances
NBA Record
Apr 20 Michael Jordan sets NBA playoff record with 63 points in a game
- Apr 20 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 20 Vladimir Horowitz performs in Moscow, Russia, his first appearance in his Russian homeland since 1925
- Apr 21 90th Boston Marathon: Rob de Castella first Australian winner in 2:07:51; Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway claims women's title in 2:24:55
- Apr 21 Bob Hering sets Formula One power boat record (165.338 mph, Ariz)
Film & TV History
Apr 21 Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on live TV and finds nothing, except great ratings for his spectacle
- Apr 22 Consumer Price Index drops .04% for 2nd month in a row
- Apr 22 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 23 Disney World breaks ground for Victorian themed Grand Floridian Beach Resort (now known as Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa)
- Apr 23 Madrid-Nelli Cooman runs world record 60m indoor (7 sec)
- Apr 24 Film "Crocodile Dundee" starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski premieres in Australia (highest grossing film of the year in the US)
- Apr 25 ETA bomb attacks Madrid killing 5
- Apr 25 Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II
- Apr 26 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marshall Holman
- Apr 26 France performs nuclear test
- Apr 26 Game between Angels & Twins delayed for 9 minutes by strong winds
Pripyat: Nuclear Wasteland
Apr 26 World's worst nuclear disaster: 4th reactor at Chernobyl nuclear power station in USSR explodes, 31 die, radioactive contamination reaches much of Western Europe
- Apr 27 Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' musical "Sweet Charity" starring Gwen Verdon, opens at the Minskoff Theatre, NYC; runs for 368 performances, and wins a Tony Award for choreographer Bob Fosse
- Apr 27 Captain Midnight (John R MacDougall) hacks into and interrupts HBO
- Apr 27 Soviet authorities order the evacuation of the city of Pripyat (pop. 50,000) 1 day after the Chernobyl nuclear accident
- Apr 28 Soviet TV news program Vremya announces a nuclear accident at Chernobyl nuclear power station, 2 days after the event
- Apr 29 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library
Baseball Record
Apr 29 Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners
Sports History
Apr 29 NFL Draft: Auburn running back Bo Jackson first pick by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sports History
Apr 30 Bill Elliott sets all-time NASCAR qualifying record, winning pole for the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway; 212.809 mph (342.483 km/h; 44.998 seconds)
