April 2005 in History

Events in History

Apr 6 Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes the Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day

Apr 19 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the Papal conclave.

Apr 24 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
Apr 25 Final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937
Apr 25 Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union
Apr 25 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan
Apr 26 Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.
Apr 27 The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France
Apr 28 The Patent Law Treaty goes into effect.
Apr 29 Syria completes withdrawal from Lebanon, ending 29 years of occupation
Apr 29 New Zealand's first civil union takes place

Apr 16 "Survivor: All-Stars" winner Amber Mariano (26) weds The Amazing Race star Rob Mariano (29) at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas
Apr 19 "Extra" co-host Dayna Devon (35) weds plastic surgeon Dr. Brent Moelleken at the Hans Fahden Winery in Calistoga, California

Apr 8 Prince Joachim of Denmark (35) divorces Countess of Frederiksborg Alexandra (40) after 9 years of marriage

Apr 2 Pope Saint John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla], Polish Roman Catholic Pope, dies of heart failure at 84

Apr 5 Saul Bellow, Canadian-American author (Mr Sammler's Planet, Nobel 1976), dies at 89

Apr 5 Dale Messick [Dalia Messick], American comic strip artist (Brenda Starr, Reporter), dies at 98
Apr 5 John Sichel, British film and television director (b. 1937)

Apr 6 Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (1949-2005), dies at 81

Apr 8 Onna White, Canadian choreographer (b. 1924)
Apr 9 Andrea Dworkin, American radical feminist (Pornography: Men Possessing Women), dies of heart failure at 58
Apr 10 Iakovos, Archbishop of America (b. 1911)
Apr 11 André François, Hungarian-French cartoonist, dies at 89
Apr 11 Maurice R. Hilleman, American microbiologist who developed over 36 vaccines including measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia, dies at 85
Apr 13 Nikola Ljubičić, President of the Presidency of Serbia (1982-84) & Communist politician, dies at 89
Apr 16 Marla Ruzicka, American humanitarian worker and peace activist (b. 1976)
Apr 19 Clement Meadmore, Australian sculptor (b. 1929)
Apr 20 Fumio Niwa, Japanese novelist (b. 1904)
Apr 22 Erika Fuchs, German translator, dies at 98
Apr 22 Philip Morrison, American physicist, dies at 89
Apr 23 Johannes Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland (1968-87), dies at 94
Apr 23 Al Grassby, Australian immigration minister, dies at 78
Apr 23 Romano Scarpa, Italian-born comic artist, dies at 77
Apr 24 Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (b. 1924)
Apr 24 Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
Apr 25 Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk (b. 1908)
Apr 26 Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan author, dies at 87
Apr 28 Taraki Sivaram, Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka, dies at 45
Apr 30 Ron Todd, TGWU General Secretary (1985 - 1992) (b. 1927)