What Happened in April 2000

Historical Events

Boxing Title Fight

Apr 1 American boxer Chris Byrd wins WBO Heavyweight title after Ukrainian champion Vitali Klitschko retires with a shoulder injury at the end of the 9th round in Berlin, Germany

  • Apr 1 Michelle Kwan pushes through all 7 triple jumps at the Palais des Exposition in Nice, France to become the first American since Peggy Flemming to win 3 world figure skating titles
  • Apr 2 19th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Tennessee, 71-52; Huskies' point guard Shea Ralph is named the Most Outstanding Player
  • Apr 2 Adam Gilchrist takes his 10th catch in the 3rd cricket Test against New Zealand in Hamilton to create an Australian record for dismissals by a wicketkeeper; Australia wins by 6 wickets for 3-0 series sweep
  • Apr 2 Atlanta center Ray Ferraro scores a goal and added 2 assists as the Thrashers end an NHL record 17-game home winless streak (0-15-2) with a 5-4 win against the visiting New York Islanders

Sports History

Apr 2 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Tom Kite wins his lone Champions Tour major with birdie on 6th playoff hole with Tom Watson & Larry Nelson

WrestleMania

Apr 2 WrestleMania XVI, Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, CA: Triple H beats The Rock, Mick Foley and The Big Show in a 4-way elimination match for the WWF Heavyweight tile

  • Apr 3 62nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Michigan State beats Florida, 89-76; Spartans only top-4 seed to advance to the Final Four
  • Apr 7 1st regular season MLB game at Enron Field (now Minute Maid Park) in Houston, Texas; visiting Philadelphia Phillies beat Astros 4-1, Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen hits first homer at new park

Cricket History

Apr 7 South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is charged by Delhi police with fixing One Day International matches against India

  • Apr 8 153rd Grand National: Irish 10/1 shot Papillon, ridden by jockey Ruby Walsh and trained by his father Ted Walsh wins by 1¼ lengths from Mely Moss
  • Apr 8 Nineteen US Marines are killed when a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona
  • Apr 9 53rd British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "American Beauty" Best Film, Pedro Almodovar Best Director

US Masters Golf

Apr 9 64th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Fijian Vijay Singh wins by 3 strokes from Ernie Els of South Africa

  • Apr 11 MLB: Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco, California and Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan open
  • Apr 11 South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is sacked after admitting dishonesty following match-fixing allegations in India

Film & TV History

Apr 13 "When Louis Met..." documentary by Louis Theroux premieres on BBC2 in the UK featuring Jimmy Saville

Music Concert

Apr 13 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Ricky Martin, Billy Joel, Gladys Knight, Percy Sledge, Tom Jones, Martha Reeves, Macy Gray, Sam Moore, and The Impressions

Music History

Apr 14 Metallica file a lawsuit against P2P sharing phenomenon Napster. This lawsuit eventually leads the movement against file-sharing programs.

Event of Interest

Apr 15 Giant Sequoia National Monument proclamation signed by President Bill Clinton in California, preserving one-third of all giant sequoia groves, the world's largest tree [1]

  • Apr 15 NFL Draft: Penn State defensive end Courtney Brown first pick by Cleveland Browns

Senior PGA Championship

Apr 16 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Doug Tewell wins first of 2 Champions Tour major titles with a convincing 7 stroke margin from the foursome of Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson and Dana Quigley

  • Apr 17 104th Boston Marathon: Kenyan double; Elijah Lagat wins men's race in 2:09:47; Catherine Ndereba takes women's title in 2:26:11
  • Apr 22 In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
  • Apr 22 The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom

Canonization

Apr 30 Pope John Paul II canonizes Polish nun Sister Faustina [Helena Kowalska] as a Catholic saint


2000 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Apr 9 Jackie Evancho, American classical crossover singer (The Debut), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Apr 11 Milly Alcock, Australian actress (The House of the Dragon), born in Sydney, Australia

David Hogg (23 years old)

Apr 12 American gun control activist and author (#NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line) who as a student survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, born in Parkland, Florida

Chloe Kim (23 years old)

Apr 23 American snowboarder (Olympic Gold 2018), born in Torrance, California


Born in 2000

Famous Weddings

Emmitt Smith

Apr 22 NFL football player Emmitt Smith (31) weds Miss Virginia USA beauty queen Patricia Southall (29)

Famous Deaths

  • Apr 1 Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Baron Mackenzie-Stuart, Scottish jurist, dies at 75
  • Apr 2 Tommaso Buscetta, Sicilian mafioso and pentito (b. 1928)
  • Apr 3 Terence McKenna, American writer and philosopher (b. 1946)
  • Apr 4 Kenneth Allen, English industrialist (WH Allen and Sons Ltd, helped form CBI and negotiate 40 hr week), dies at 92 [1]
  • Apr 5 Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)
  • Apr 6 Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian statesman, 1st President of Tunisia (1957-87), dies at 96
  • Apr 7 Heinz [Burt], British rock bassist (The Tornados - "Telstar"), dies from complications of a stroke at 57 [1]
  • Apr 8 Bernie Grant, British politician (Labour), dies of a heart attack at 56

Claire Trevor (1910-2000)

Apr 8 American actress (Marjorie Morningstar), dies of respiratory failure at 91

  • Apr 10 Kirsten Rolffes, Danish actress (The Kingdom, Matador, Een stor familie), dies at 71
  • Apr 10 Larry Linville, American actor (M*A*S*H, 1972-77 - "Major Frank Burns"), dies of pneumonia, following cancer surgery in at 60
  • Apr 10 Peter Jones, British actor (Chariots of Fire, From a Bird's Eye View), dies of natural causes at 79
  • Apr 11 Diana Darvey, British actress, singer and dancer (b. 1945)
  • Apr 11 Lucia Dlugoszewski, Polish-American composer (Fire Fragile Flight), dies at 74
  • Apr 12 Niaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricket fast bowler (2 Tests, 3 wickets; Dacca, Public Works Dep't, East Pakistan, Railways; only East Pakistani to play Test cricket), dies at 54
  • Apr 13 Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball utility (World Series 1941; Brooklyn Dodgers), dies at 90
  • Apr 13 Giorgio Bassani, Italian writer (Botteghe Oscure), dies at 84
  • Apr 13 Inglis Gundry, British composer, musicologist and novelist, dies at 94
  • Apr 14 Phil Katz, American computer programmer (Zip file format), dies from the effects of alcoholism at 37
  • Apr 14 Wilf Mannion, English footballer (b. 1918)
  • Apr 15 Edward Gorey, American illustrator, dies at 75
  • Apr 19 Louis Applebaum, Canadian conductor and composer, dies at 82
  • Apr 21 Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (The Jordanaires), dies at 70
  • Apr 22 Alexander H. Cohen, Broadway producer (Beyond the Fringe), dies at 79
  • Apr 22 Toon Hermans, Dutch poet (Kolderliedjes), dies at 83
  • Apr 24 Alma Heflin, American commercial airplane test pilot and child psychologist, dies at 89
  • Apr 24 Derek Allhusen, English equestrian rider (Olympic gold team, silver Individual eventing 1968), dies at 86
  • Apr 24 John Beck, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests; 3 x 50; top score 99; Wellington), dies at 65
  • Apr 25 Claire Hogan, American jazz and big band singer (Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, 1948-50), dies at 73 [1]
  • Apr 25 David Merrick, American theatrical producer (Hello Dolly), dies at 88
  • Apr 25 Lucien le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)
  • Apr 25 Neils Viggo Bentzon, Danish pianist and composer (The Tempered Piano), dies at 80
  • Apr 27 Vicki Sue Robinson, American stage and screen actress, and pop singer ("Turn the Beat Around"), dies of cancer at 45
  • Apr 28 Jerzy Einhorn, Polish-Swedish doctor, researcher and politician, dies at 74
  • Apr 28 Penelope Fitzgerald, English writer, dies at 83
  • Apr 30 Bernhard Heiden [Levi], German-American composer (Dreamers on a Slack Wire; Euphorion), and music teacher (University of Indiana, 1945-74), dies at 89