April 20

Birthdays:

1949~ Jessica Phyllis Lange, American actress.

1943~ Edie Sedgwick (née Edith Minturn Sedgwick, d. Nov. 16, 1971), American socialite and heiress.  She died of a drug overdose at age 28.

1941~ Ryan O’Neal (né Charles Patrick Ryan O’Neal), American actor.  He is best known for his role in Love Story.

1938~ Betty Cuthbert (née Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert, d. Aug. 6, 2017), Australian sprinter who won it all.  She competed in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics in Melbourne and Tokyo, respectively, where she won gold medals.  She died at age 79.

1937~ George Hosato Takei, American actor.  He is best known for his role as Sulu on Star Trek.

1927~ Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics.

1924~ Nina Foch (née Nina Consuelo Maud Fock, d. Dec. 5, 2008), Dutch-American actress.  She died at age 84.

1923~ Tito Puente (néErnesto Antonio Puente, d. May 31, 2000), American jazz musician.  He died of a massive heart attach at age 77.

1920~ John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Gerald Ford.  He served on the Court from December 1975 until June 2010.

1918~ Kai Seigbahn (d. July 20, 2007), Swedish physicist and recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 89.

1908~ Lionel Leo Hampton (d. Aug. 31, 2002), African-American jazz musician and bandleader.  He died at age 94.

1905~ Stanley Marcus (né Harold Stanley Marcus, d. Jan. 22, 2002), American businessman and co-founder of the Neiman Marcus department store.  He died at age 96.

1893~ Harold Lloyd (néHarold Clayton Lloyd, Sr., d. Mar. 8, 1971), American silent screen actor.  He died of prostate cancer at age 77.

1893~ Joan Miró (d. Dec. 25, 1983), Spanish painter.  He died at age 90.

1889~ Adolf Hitler (d. Apr. 30, 1945) dictator of Nazi Germany.  He committed suicide 10 days before his 57^thbirthday.

1889~ Albert Jean Amateau (d. Feb. 9, 1996), Turkish rabbi.  He died at age 106.

1850~ Daniel Chester French (d. Oct. 7, 1931), American sculptor and designer of the Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.  He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire.  He died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts at age 81.

1839~ Carol I of Romania (d. Oct. 10, 1914), King of Romania.  He ruled from March 1881 until his death in October 1914.  He died at age 75.

1808~ Napoleon III (né Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, d. Jan. 9, 1873), 1^stPresident of the French Republic.  He died at age 64.

1586~ St. Rose of Lima (née Isabel Flores de Oliva, d. Aug. 24, 1617), Peruvian saint.  She died at age 31.

1446~ Sandro Botticelli (d. May 17, 1510), Italian painter.  This is the date generally ascribed to his birth.  The actual date is unknown.

Events that Changed the World:

2014~ Easter Sunday.

2013~ A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck in China killing over 150 people and injuring thousands more.

2010~ The Deepwater Horizonoil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 12 workers and beginning an oil spill that would take over 6 months before being capped.  The damage to the sea life would be felt for years.  The ensuing lawsuit with British Petroleum was finally settled in 2016.

2008~ Danica Patrick (b. 1984) won the Indy Japan 300 to become the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.

1999~ Two students went on a killing rampage at their school, and killed 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School, before committing suicide.

1972~ Apollo16, commanded by astronaut John Young (1930 ~ 2018), landed on the moon.

1951~ Romanian surgeon Dan Gavriliu (1915 ~ 2012) performed the first total surgical replacement of a human organ when he replaced an esophagus, using sections of the patient’s stomach to bypass the damaged tissue.

1946~ The League of Nations officially dissolved.  Most of its power and authority was transferred to the United Nations.

1939~ Billie Holiday (1915 ~ 1959) recorded Strange Fruit, which is regarded as the first civil rights song.

1912~ The Boston Red Sox baseball team began playing for the first time in Fenway Park.

1902~ Pierre (1859 ~ 1906) and Marie Curie (1867 ~ 1934) refined radium chloride.

1861~ Robert E. Lee (1807 ~ 1870) resigned his commission in the United States Army to command the Confederate forces for the state of Virginia.

1775~ The Siege of Boston began, following the battles at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, during the American Revolutionary War.

1657~ Freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam.

1653~ Oliver Cromwell (1699 ~ 1658) dissolved the Rump Parliament.

1534~ Jacques Cartier (1491 ~ 1557) began his first voyage to what is now known as Newfoundland and Canada.

Good-Byes:

2015~ Aharon Lichtenstein (b. May 23, 1933), French-American Orthodox rabbi.  He died about a month before his 82^ndbirthday.

2014~ Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (b. May 6, 1937), American boxer convicted of murder.  He spent nearly 20 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.  His story inspired Bob Dylan to write a song about him called Hurricane.  He died of prostate cancer 16 days before his 77^thbirthday.

2003~ Bernard Katz (d. Mar. 26, 1911), German-born biophysicist and recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died less than a month after his 92^ndbirthday.

1999~ Señor Wences (né Wenceslao Moreno, b. Apr. 17, 1896), Spanish-American ventriloquist.  He died 3 days after his 103^rdbirthday.

1996~ Christopher Robin Milne (b. Aug. 21, 1920), son of writer A.A. Milne and inspiration for the character of Christopher in Milne’s Winnie-the-Poohbooks.  He died at age 75.

1992~ Benny Hill (né Alfred Hawthorne Hill, b. Jan. 21, 1924), British comedian.  He died at age 68.

1982~ Archibald MacLeish (b. May 7, 1892), American poet and writer.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts 17 days before his 90^thbirthday.

1947~ King Christian X of Denmark (b. Sept. 26, 1870).  He died at age 76.

1932~ Guiseppe Peano (b. Aug. 27, 1858), Italian mathematician.  He died at age 73.

1918~ Karl Ferdinand Braun (b. June 6, 1850), German physicist and recipient of the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 67.

1912~ Abraham “Bram” Stoker (b. Nov. 8, 1847), Irish novelist who was best known for his Gothic novel, Dracula.  He died at age 64.

1812~ George Clinton (b. July 26, 1739), 4^thVice President of the United States.  He served under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and was Vice President from March 1805 until his death at age 72 in 1812.  He was the first Vice President to die in Office.

1521~ Zhengde (b. Oct. 26, 1491), 11^thChinese Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.  He died at age 29.

1517~ Bogdan III, the One-Eyed (b. 1470), Romanian son of Stephen III of Moldavia.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.  He is believed to have been about 37 or 38 at the time of his death.

1314~ Pope Clement V (né Raymond Bertrand de Got, b. 1264).  He was Pope from June 1305 until his death on this date. The exact date of his birth is unknown.

1164~ Antipope Victor IV (b. 1095).  The exact date of his birth is not known.

888~ Xi Zong (b. June 8, 862), Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.  He died at age 25.