Historical Events on April 20
- 1775: After the Battles at Lexington and Concord, the Siege of Boston starts during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1789: On his way to Manhattan for his inauguration, George Washington stops at Grays Ferry in Philadelphia.
- 1792: France declares war against Hungary – this is the start of the French Revolutionary Wars.
- 1836: The Wisconsin Territory is created by an act passed by the United States Congress.
- 1862: Claude Bernard and Louis Pasteur complete the experiment that shows the theory of spontaneous generation is false.
- 1902: Pierre Curie and his wife, Marie Curie refine radium chloride.
- 1908: The New South Wales Rugby Leagues has its first day of competition.
- 1912: It’s opening day for Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
- 1912: It’s opening day for Fenway Park in Boston.
- 1914: At the Ludlow Massacre, 19 men, women and children die during a coal miner’s strike in Colorado.
- 1945: The city of Leipzig in Germany is captured by United States’ forces. Later on, these forces would cede the city to the Soviets.
- 1945: Adolf Hitler leaves his bunker to give the child soldiers of the Hitler Youth Iron Crosses.
- 1945: 20 Jewish children are killed in the basement of Bullenhuser Damm School. These children were used in experiments at Neuengamme.
- 2010: The drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon explodes in the Gulf of Mexico; As a result, 11 workers are killed and an oil spill begins that would last 6-months.
- 2013: More than a hundred and fifty people are killed during an earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province.
Famous Birthdays on April 20
- Austrian-German soldier and dictator, Adolf Hitler is born in 1889.
- American actor Bruce Cabot is born in 1904.
- American actor George Takei is born in 1937.
- American actor James Gammon is born in 1940.
- American actor Ryan O’Neal is born in 1941.
- American actress Jessica Lange is born in 1949.
- American actor Crispin Glover is born in 1964.