Events in History
Historic Event
Apr 6 Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes the Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day
Papal Inauguration
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
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
Apr 9 His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles
Divorces in History
- Apr 8 Prince Joachim of Denmark (35) divorces Countess of Frederiksborg Alexandra (40) after 9 years of marriage
Deaths in History
- Apr 1 Robert Coldwell Wood, American educator MIT, University of Massachusetts), and government administrator (US Housing and Urban Development; Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority), dies of stomach cancer at 81
John Paul II
Apr 2 Pope Saint John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla], Polish Roman Catholic Pope, dies of heart failure at 84
- Apr 4 Edward Bronfman, Canadian businessman (b. 1924)
Saul Bellow
Apr 5 Saul Bellow, Canadian-American author (Mr Sammler's Planet, Nobel 1976), dies at 89
Rainier III
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 21 Heinz Kluncker, German trade union leader (ÖTV (Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr - Public service, transport and traffic) president, 1964-82)., dies at 80
- Apr 22 Erika Fuchs, German translator, dies at 98
- Apr 22 Philip Morrison, American physicist, dies at 89
- Apr 22 Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and pop art pioneer (mosaics Tottenham Court Rd tube), dies at 81
- 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)