- 1880 Sam Crawford, baseball player (d. 1968)
- 1888 Duffy Lewis, American baseball player (d. 1979)
- 1889 John Kilbane, American featherweight boxing champ (world title held 1912-23), born in Cleveland, Ohio (. 1957)
- 1893 Violette Morris, French athlete (d. 1944)
- 1914 C S Nayudu, cricketer (brother of C K, 11 Tests as leggie)
- 1917 Ty LaForest, Canadian baseball player (d. 1947)
- 1918 Robert Zimonyi, Hungarian cox (Olympic-Hungary-bronze-1948/US-gold-64)
- 1926 Doug Insole, cricketer (England batsman of the 50's, nine Tests)
- 1927 Jim De Courcy, cricketer (in Newcastle Australian batsman 1953)
- 1931 Klas Lestander, Swedish 20K biathlon (Olympic gold 1960)
- 1937 Tatyana Shchelkanova, USSR, long jumper (Olympic bronze 1964)
- 1939 Von McDaniel, baseball player
- 1940 Ed Garvey, American labor leader (NFL Players Association), born in Burlington, Wisconsin (d. 2017)
- 1941 Walter Francis Sweeney, Cohasset, Massachusetts, NFL Guard (San Diego Chargers), (d. 2013)
- 1942 Jochen Rindt, Austrian auto racer (posthumous World F1 title 1970), born in Mainz, Germany (d. 1970)
- 1942 Steve Blass, American professional baseball player
- 1944 Irvine Shillingford, West Indian cricketer (cousin of Grayson, 4 Tests for WI), born in Dublanc, Dominica
Nate Archibald
1948 "Tiny" Nate Archibald, NBA guard (Cincinnati), born in NYC, New York
Nate Archibald
- 1949 Geoff Bodine, American race car driver
- 1951 Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer
- 1955 Anne-Marie Palli, Ciboure France, LPGA golfer (1992 ShopRite)
- 1956 David Wayne Edwards, Neosho MO, PGA golfer (1980 Walt Disney)
- 1958 Bernadette Robi, model/ex-wife of football player Lynn Swann
- 1958 Malcolm Marshall, cricketer (WI quickie 1978-91, WI top wicket-taker)
- 1959 Jim Eisenreich, American MLB outfielder (Tourette syndrome, Florida Marlins WS 1997), born in St. Cloud, Minnesota
- 1961 Ian Doig, Seaforth Ont, Canadian Tour golfer (1985 Florida Classic)
- 1961 Steve Lombardi, American wrestler
- 1962 Wilber Marshall, NFL linebacker (NY Jets)
- 1963 Phil Simmons, cricketer (West Indian opening batsman)
- 1966 Chuck Wade, Menomonee Falls Wisc, diver (Olympics 1996)
- 1966 Michelle Chryst, WPVA volleyballer (Santa Cruz-17th-1994)
- 1966 Valeri Kamensky, Voskresensk Russia, NHL left wing (Avalanche, Olympic silver 1998)
- 1966 Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
- 1967 Kenneth Gant, NFL safety (Tampa Bay Bucs)
- 1967 Marcel Valk, soccer player (RKC, Go Ahead Eagles)
- 1969 Vladimir Tsyplakov, Inta Russia, NHL left wing (LA Kings, Belarus 1998)
- 1970 Carl Simpson, NFL defensive tackle (Chicago Bears)
- 1970 Francois Leroux, Ste-adele, NHL defenseman (Pitts Penguins)
- 1970 Heike Friedrich, East Germany swimmer (world record 200m)
- 1970 Peter Giles, kayaker (Olympics 1996), born in London, Ontario
- 1970 William Roaf, NFL tackle (New Orleans Saints)
- 1970 Rico Brogna, American baseball player
- 1971 Dan Kordic, Edmonton, NHL defenseman (Philadelphia Flyers)
- 1971 Oleg Petrov, NHL right wing (Montreal Canadiens), born in Moscow, Russia
- 1972 Jeff Traversy, Canadian CFL defensive tackle (Calgary Stampeders), born in Ottawa, Ontario
- 1973 Derrick Brooks, NFL linebacker (Tampa Bay Bucs)
- 1973 Haile Gebrselassie, Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopian 10k runner (Olympic gold 1996)
- 1973 James "Jamie" Koven, rower (Olympic 5th 1996), born in Morristown, New Jersey
- 1977 Dan Lacouture, NHL hockey player
- 1979 Michael Bradley, American basketball player
- 1979 Anthony Davidson, British Formula One driver
- 1979 Matthew Upson, English footballer
- 1980 Robyn Regehr, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 Brian Buscher, American baseball player
- 1982 Scott Hartnell, NHL hockey player
- 1983 Miguel Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1983 Fodil Hadjadj, Algerian footballer
- 1985 Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
- 1985 Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver
- 1986 Maurice Edu, American soccer player
- 1986 Billy Butler, American baseball player
- 1987 Danny Guthrie, English footballer
April in History
Boxing Match That Went for 42 Rounds
The first "world championship" boxing match was a brutal affair, lasting nearly two and a half hours and stretching over 42 rounds.
April 17, 1860
Wicked or Sinless? The Life of Lucrezia Borgia
Hardly a week went by when Lucrezia Borgia, born on this day, was not accused of some foul deed. But was she just a pawn in the hands of her evil family?
April 18, 1480
Millions Come Up to See Mae West
Mae West, jailed on this day for obscenity, became one of the most successful sex symbols. Fans could not resist the offer: ‘Come up and see me some time.’
April 19, 1927
World's First Motor Race
It was hardly the stuff of today's adrenalin-pumping Formula 1 match ups, but on this day two men climbed aboard their machine for "the world’s first motor race”.
April 20, 1887