Events in Sport
- Apr 7 105th Grand National: John Bullock wins aboard 40/1 shot Nickel Coin; of 36 runners, only 3 complete the course
US Masters Golf
Apr 7 15th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Ben Hogan wins the first of his 2 Masters titles, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Skee Riegel
- Apr 16 55th Boston Marathon won by Shigeki Tanaka of Japan in 2:27:45
Sports History
Apr 17 NY Yankee Mickey Mantle's 1st game, he goes 1 for 4
- Apr 21 NBA Championship: Rochester Royals beat New York Knicks, 79-75 to take series 4 games to 3; first Finals appearance for both teams
- Apr 21 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 for a 4-1 series victory
Birthdays in Sport
- Apr 2 Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer (US Open 1987 runner-up, 17 LPGA Tour titles), born in Hiroshima, Japan
- Apr 5 Rennie Stennett, Panamanian baseball infielder (World Series 1979; SF Giants; one of 3 players to collect 7 hits in a MLB game), born in Colón, Panama (d. 2021)
- Apr 6 Bert Blyleven, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (World Series 1979, 87 Minnesota Twins; MLB All-Star 1973, 85), born in Zeist, Netherlands
- Apr 9 John Teerlinck, American NFL defensive end (SD Chargers) and coach (annual award for NFL best defensive line coach named after him), born in Rochester, New York (d. 2020)
- Apr 11 Glyn Shaw, Welsh rugby union prop (12 caps; Neath RFC), and rugby league prop (7 caps Wales, 1 GB; Widnes RLFC, Wigan RLFC), born in Rhigos, Wales (d. 2022)
- Apr 11 Jim Holton, Scottish soccer defender (15 caps; Manchester United, Coventry City), born in Lesmahagow, Scotland (d. 1993)
- Apr 13 Beatrix "Trixie" Schuba, Austrian figure skater considered to be one of the best compulsory figure skaters ever (Olympic gold 1972), born in Vienna, Austria
- Apr 13 Joachim Streich, German soccer striker (102 caps GDR; FC Hansa Rostock, 1. FC Magdeburg) and manager (1. FC Magdeburg), born in Wismar, Germany (d. 2022)
- Apr 17 Börje Salming, Swedish Hockey HOF defenceman (first European born & trained player to appear in 1,000 career NHL games; Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings; NHL All Star First Team 1977), born in Kiruna, Sweden (d. 2022) [1]
- Apr 18 Ricardo Fortaleza, Australian-Filipino boxer, born in Malate, Manila, Philippines
- Apr 21 Tony Danza, American boxer and actor (Taxi,- "Tony"; The Tony Danza Show - "Tony"; Who's the Boss - "Tony"), born in Brooklyn, New York
Dale Earnhardt (1951-2001)
Apr 29 American auto racer (7 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championships), born in Kannapolis, North Carolina
- Apr 30 Danuta Rosani, Polish discus thrower (Olympic 1976) disqualified for drugs
Deaths in Sport
- Apr 27 Philip Hands, South African cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 50, HS 83; Western Province), dies at 61
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions