Historical Events
St. Andrew's Ambulance Association
Apr 18 St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria
Beatty Officer HMS Barfleur
Apr 20 David Beatty is appointed executive officer of the HMS Barfleur, a small battleship and flagship of the China Station
- Apr 24 Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
- Apr 27 Foundation of the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Science, the world's first research sound archive (added to UNESCO's Memory of the World 1999) [1]
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Gustavs Celmins, Latvian politician (d. 1968)
- Apr 1 Lida Durdikova, Czech children's author (Children with extinguished eyes) and publisher (Père Castor), born in Prague (d. 1955)
- Apr 3 David Jack, English footballer (scored 267 goals from 521 appearances), born in Bolton, Lancashire, England (d. 1958)
- Apr 4 Carmel Myers, American stage and silent and sound screen actress (Ben-Hur; Svengali), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1980)
- Apr 4 William Brann, South African cricketer (South African batsman v England 1922-23), born in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province (d. 1953)
- Apr 5 William Hornby Steer, Conservative Party politician and barrister (d. 1993)
- Apr 7 Robert Casadesus, French concert pianist and composer (Symphony No. 7 - "Israel"), born in Paris (d. 1972)
- Apr 9 James Smith McDonnell, American aviator and engineer, born in Denver, Colorado (d. 1980)
Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975)
Apr 11 African American chemist who received 130 patents, pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants, born in Montgomery, Alabama
- Apr 12 Chief Thundercloud [Victor Daniels], Cherokee actor (The Lone Ranger; Colt .45), born in Muskogee, Indian Territory (d. 1955)
- Apr 13 Alexander Alexandrovich Davidenko, Soviet composer, born in Odessa, Russian Empire (d. 1934)
- Apr 13 Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and game inventor (Scrabble), born in Poughkeepsie, New York (d. 1993)
- Apr 13 Alfred Schütz, Austrian-American architect and philosopher, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1959)
- Apr 16 Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist, born in Bergaliszki (d. 1988)
- Apr 17 Vincent Wigglesworth, British entomologist (Metamorphosis hormones), born in Kirkham, Lancashire, England (d. 1994)
- Apr 19 George O'Brien, American actor (Sunrise: A Song of Two Human), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1985)
- Apr 21 Clement D'Hooghe, Belgian composer, born in Temse, Belgium (d. 1951)
- Apr 21 Randall Thompson, American composer (Trip to Nahant), born in New York City (d. 1984)
- Apr 22 Martyn Green, British actor (Gilbert & Sullivan, Iceman Cometh), born in London, England (d. 1975)
Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)
Apr 22 Russian-American novelist (Lolita, Ada), born in St Petersburg, Russia
- Apr 23 Minoru Shirota, Japanese microbiologist and fouder of the Yakult Honsha beverage company, born in Tatsuoka, Nagano (d. 1982)
- Apr 24 Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (algebraic geometry), born in Kobrin, Russian Empire (d. 1986)
- Apr 26 Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, American actor (Hoedown, Country Fair, Blackmail), born in Decatur, Texas (d. 1962)
Leo Diegel (1899-1951)
Apr 27 American golfer (PGA C'ship 1928-29), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Apr 29 (Karl) Yngve Sköld, Swedish organist, pianist, and composer, born in Vallby, Södermanland County, Sweden (d. 1992)
- Apr 29 Edward "Duke" Ellington, American bandleader, composer and pianist ("Take the A Train"; "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1974)
- Apr 29 Natalie Talmadge, American actress (Our Hospitality), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1969)
- Apr 30 Lucie Mannheim, German actress (East Meets West, 39 Steps), born in Berlin, German Empire (d. 1976)
Famous Deaths
- Apr 8 John Wesley Turner, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), dies at 65
- Apr 15 Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum, German psychiatrist (pioneer in classifying mental health), dies at 70
- Apr 16 Emilio Jacinto, Filipino poet and revolutionary, dies at 23
- Apr 17 Hans Balatka, Moravian-American conductor (Milwaukee Musikverein; Chicago Oratorio Society), author (Condensed History of Music), and composer, dies at 74
- Apr 20 Joseph Wolf, German artist (b. 1820)
- Apr 21 Heinrich Kiepert, German cartographer and geographer (1st modern maps of classical world and Ottoman Empire), dies at 80
- Apr 22 Ned Gregory, Australian cricket batsman (1 Test; first recognised Test in 1877), dies at 59
- Apr 23 Dandridge McRae, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 69