Historical Events
- Apr 11 New York Giants future Baseball Hall of Fame backstop Roger Bresnahan becomes first catcher to wear shin guards
- Apr 12 Belgium government of Paul Smet de Naeyer resigns
- Apr 12 In Switzerland, parliament passes a new army bill reorganizing the nation's forces into a standing militia, with training required for all males
- Apr 15 11th Boston Marathon won by Canadian Tom Longboat in race record 2:24:24
- Apr 17 Ellis Island, New York records 11,745 immigrants
- Apr 18 Augustus Thomas' "Witching Hour" premieres in NYC
- Apr 18 Fairmont Hotel opens in San Francisco
- Apr 26 Jamestown, Virginia Tercentenary Exposition opens
- Apr 30 Honolulu, Hawaii, becomes an independent city.
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Walter Kaufmann, German-American conductor (Winnipeg Symphony, 1948-57), composer (Navaratnam), and musicologist (The Ragas of South India), born in Karlsbad, Germany (d. 1984)
- Apr 2 Harald Andersson, Swedish discus thrower (world record 52.42m 1934), born in Stanford, California (d. 1985)
- Apr 2 Luke Appling, American Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop (7 x MLB All Star; AL batting champion 1936, 43; Chicago White Sox), born in High Point, North Carolina (d. 1991)
- Apr 3 Iron Eyes Cody [Espera Oscar de Corti], Italian-American actor (Keep America Beautiful, Black Gold, Ernest Goes to Camp), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 1999)
- Apr 3 Isaac Deutscher, Polish-English historian (Stalin/Trotsky biography), born in Chrzanów, Poland (d. 1967)
- Apr 4 Nathan M. Pusey, American educator, 24th president of Harvard University (1953-71), born in Council Bluffs, Iowa (d. 2001)
- Apr 5 Jan Zeldenrust, Dutch pathologist and anatomist, born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1990)
- Apr 8 Maurice Stacey, British chemist who worked to synthesize vitamin C, born in Moreton, England (d. 1994)
- Apr 10 Pete Desjardins, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, 3m springboard 1928), born in St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba (d. 1985)
- Apr 11 Ivor Spencer-Thomas, English farmer, entrepreneur and inventor, born in Llanymynech, Powys (d. 2001)
- Apr 11 Paul Douglas, American actor (Adventure Theater, Clash by Night), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1959)
- Apr 12 Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor (Marine Corps War Memorial), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 2003)
- Apr 12 Hardie Gramatky, American author and animator (Little Toot), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 1979)
- Apr 13 (Wilmore) "Slick" Jones, American jazz drummer (Fletcher Henderson, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet), born in Roanoke, Virginia (d. 1969)
- Apr 13 Harold Stassen, American politician (25th Governor of Minnesota) and perennial presidential candidate, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota (d. 2001)
- Apr 13 Roderich Menzel, Czech tennis player (French Open singles 1938 runner-up; US Open mixed doubles 1935 runner-up), born in Reichenberg, Czech Republic (d. 1987)
François Duvalier (1907-1971)
Apr 14 Dictator and President of Haiti (1957-71), born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- Apr 14 Otto Frans Antoine Hubert van Nispen, Dutch mayor (Pannerden), born in Pannerden, Netherlands (d. 1992)
- Apr 14 Phyllis Konstam, British actress (Murder, Skin Game), born in London, England (d. 1976)
- Apr 15 Gerald Abrahams, English author (Teach Yourself Chess), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1980)
- Apr 15 Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch-British biologist and zoologist (Nobel 1973), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1988)
- Apr 16 August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal, born in Steyr, Austria (d. 1947)
- Apr 16 Joseph-Armand Bombardier, French Canadian inventor and businessman (Bombardier) (d. 1964)
- Apr 18 Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American classical and film music composer (Spellbound; A Double Life; Ben-Hur), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1995)
- Apr 18 Stephen Longstreet, American writer (All or Nothing), born in New York (d. 2002)
- Apr 19 Alan Wheatley, British actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), born in Tolworth, Surrey, England (d. 1991)
- Apr 19 Gino Contilli, Italian composer, born in Rome, Italy (d. 1978)
- Apr 19 Lina Basquette, American actress (Paradise Park, Pleasure, Goldie), born in San Mateo, California (d. 1994)
- Apr 20 Miran Bakhsh, Pakistani cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 2 wickets; Punjab), born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan (d. 1991)
- Apr 20 William Dollar, American ballet dancer and choreographer, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1986)
- Apr 21 Antoni Szałowski, Polish-French composer (The Resurrection of Lazarus; 2 Pieces for Ondes Martenot), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1973)
- Apr 21 Beatrice Kay, American singer and actress (Sister Sue-Calvin & Col), born in New York City (d. 1986)
- Apr 22 Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist (originator of the concept of taphonomy) and author (Andromeda Nebula), born in Vyritsa, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1972)
- Apr 23 Lee Miller, American photographer (War correspondent for Vogue in WWII), born in Poughkeepsie, New York (d. 1977)
- Apr 24 Václav Trojan, Czech composer, born in Plzeň, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1983)
- Apr 25 Vasily Pavlovich Solov'yov-Sedoy, Russian composer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1979)
- Apr 26 Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (The Girl with the Red Hair), born in Veenwouden, Friesland, Netherlands (d. 2005)
- Apr 29 Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director (From Here to Eternity, Julia), born in Rzeszów, Austria-Hungary (d. 1997)
- Apr 29 Sydney Box, British film producer and screenwriter (The Seventh Veil), born in Perth, Western Australia, Australia (d. 1983)
- Apr 29 Tino Rossi, French singer ("Deux Amours"; "Marlene"), born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1983)
Famous Weddings
Henry J. Kaiser
Apr 8 American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser (24) weds Bess Fosburgh in Boston, Massachusetts
Famous Deaths
- Apr 3 Theodor Aufrecht, German linguist, Indologist and translator (Rigveda's Hymns), dies at 85
- Apr 5 Laura de Force Gordon, California lawyer, a prominent suffragette, and 1st woman to run a daily newspaper in the US (Stockton Daily Leader, 1874), dies at 68
- Apr 23 Alfred Packer, American prospector 'The Colorado Cannibal', dies at 65
- Apr 26 Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., Austrian composer, violinist, and conductor, dies of kidney failure at 52
- Apr 26 Pietro Platania, Italian composer, dies at 79
