April 1897 in History

Events in History

Scientific Discovery

Apr 30 English physicist and head of the Cavendish laboratory J. J. Thomson announces his discovery of the electron in a lecture to the Royal Institution

Birthdays in History

Apr 1 Willem H van de Pol, Dutch theologist (Christian Dilemma)
Apr 7 Erich Loewenhardt, German flying ace of World War I, born in Province of Silesia, Poland (d. 1918)
Apr 13 Werner Voss, German World War I flying ace, born in Krefeld, Germany (d. 1917)
Apr 14 Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, British sociologist and criminologist, born in Cambridge, England (d. 1988)
Apr 16 John Bagot Glubb, British commandant and writer (A soldier with the Arabs), born in Preston, Lancashire, England (d. 1986)
Apr 17 Antonius Coolen, Dutch author (Village by the River), born in Wijlre, Netherlands (d. 1961)

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975)

Apr 17 American playwright and writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey), born in Madison, Wisconsin

Apr 18 Ardito Desio, Italian explorer and topographer, born in Palmanova, Friuli, Italy (d. 2001)
Apr 19 Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman and philanthropist, born in India (d. 1970)

Lester B. Pearson (1897-1972)

Apr 23 14th Canadian Prime Minister (1963-68) (Nobel Peace Prize 1957), born in Toronto, Ontario

Apr 23 Lucius du Bignon Clay, American WWII general and military governor of West Germany, born in Marietta, Georgia (d. 1978)
Apr 24 Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist (the relation of language to thinking and cognition), born in Winthrop, Massachusetts (d. 1941)
Apr 24 Manuel Ávila Camacho, 45th President of Mexico (1940-46), born in Teziutlán, Puebla, Mexico (d. 1955)
Apr 25 Mary [Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary], Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, born in York Cottage, Sandringham (d. 1965)
Apr 28 Kálmán Tihanyi, Hungarian physicist and engineer (invented cathode ray tube for television), born in Üzbég, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1947)
Apr 28 Ye Jianying, Chinese communist general and politician (Head of State of the People's Republic of China 1978-83), born in Jiaying, Guangdong, Qing Empire (d. 1986)
Apr 29 Bernard Verhoeven, Dutch poet (Pleidooi near een non), born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1965)