Historical Events
Contract of Interest
Apr 2 Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant signs a three-year contract extension with the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers worth $87 million
Film & TV History
Apr 3 Matt Smith's first appearance as the 11th Doctor with Karen Gillan as his companion in BBC program "Doctor Who" during "The Eleventh Hour" episode
- Apr 4 Africa's tallest monument, the African Renaissance Monument, dedicated outside Dakar, Senegal, designed by Pierre Goudiaby to commemorate Senegal's 50th anniversary of independence
Golf Major
Apr 4 Kraft Nabisco Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Yani Tseng of Taiwan wins her 2nd major title by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Suzann Pettersen of Norway
- Apr 5 72nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Duke beats Butler, 61-59; Blue Devils' forward Kyle Singler, 19 points
- Apr 6 29th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Stanford, 53-47; UConn forward Maya Moore scores 23 points
- Apr 10 163rd Grand National: Tony McCoy wins aboard 10/1 joint-favourite Don't Push It by 5 lengths ahead of Black Apalachi
- Apr 10 Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 people on board including President Lech Kaczyński
- Apr 11 "The night of Sora Aoi", Japanese porn actress Sora Aoi joins twitter prompting many Chinese fans to try and circumnavigate Chinese censorship
US Masters Golf
Apr 11 74th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Phil Mickelson wins his 3rd green jacket by 3 strokes from England's Lee Westwood
- Apr 12 A train derailed near Merano, Italy, after running into a landslide, causing nine deaths and injuring 28 people.
- Apr 14 Icelandic Volcano Eyjafjallajökull begins erupting from the top crater in the centre of the glacier
- Apr 15 Volcanic ash from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland leads to the closure of airspace over most of Europe.
Academy of Country Music Awards
Apr 18 45th Academy of Country Music Awards: Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and Miranda Lambert win
- Apr 19 114th Boston Marathon: Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot of Kenya wins 4th men's title in 2:05:52; Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia women's champion in 2:26:11
- Apr 20 The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes, killing 11 and causing the rig to sink, causing a massive oil discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and an environmental disaster
Shrek Forever After
Apr 21 "Shrek Forever After" directed by Mike Mitchell with voices by Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival
- Apr 22 NFL Draft: Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford first pick by St. Louis Rams
Film & TV History
Apr 24 Christy Turlington’s directorial debut, "No Woman, No Cry", is released in the U.S.
Indian Premier League
Apr 25 IPL Cricket Final, DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 22 runs; Suresh Raina 57 no (35)
Iron Man 2 Premieres
Apr 26 "Iron Man 2", directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, premieres in Los Angeles
Famous Weddings
Famous Divorces
- Apr 2 "Wayne's World" actress Tia Carrere (43) divorces British photojournalist Simon Wakelin due to irreconcilable differences after 7 years of marriage
Famous Deaths
John Forsythe (1918-2010)
Apr 1 American actor (Charlie's Angels, Dynasty), dies at 92
- Apr 2 Chris Kanyon, American pro wrestler (WCW/WWF World Tag Team C'ship), dies from suicide at 40
- Apr 2 Mike Cuellar, Cuban baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1967, 70, 71, 74; World Series 1964, 70; AL Cy Young Award 1969; Baltimore Orioles), dies from stomach cancer at 72
- Apr 2 Thomas J. Moyer, American judge and Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court (1987-2010), dies at 70
- Apr 3 Dušan Radić, Serbian composer, dies at 80
- Apr 3 Eugène Terre'Blanche, South African white supremacist and leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, beaten to death over alleged political and racist motivations at 69
Alec Bedser (1918-2010)
Apr 4 English cricket medium-pace bowler (51 Tests, 236 wickets, BB 7/44; Surrey CCC), dies at 91
- Apr 4 Clifford M. Hardin, American politician (17th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture), dies at 94
- Apr 4 Rudy Kousbroek, Dutch essayist (Het Oostindisch kampsyndroom (The East Indian Camp Syndrome)), poet (Anathema), and translator, dies at 81
- Apr 5 Vitali Sevastiyanov, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 9, 18), dies at 74
- Apr 6 Corin Redgrave, British actor (Excalibur, A Man For All Seasons), dies at 70
- Apr 6 Lorraine Chargin, American boxing promoter (IBHOF; Bobby Chacon, Tony "The Tiger" Lopez, Loreto Garza), dies from cancer at 79
- Apr 6 Tony MacGibbon, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (26 Tests, 70 wickets; Canterbury CA), dies at 85
Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010)
Apr 6 Native American activist, 1st woman chief of the Cherokee Nation, dies of cancer at 64
George Nissen (1914-2010)
Apr 7 American inventor (created the trampoline), dies at 96
- Apr 8 Abel Muzorewa, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979-80), dies at 84
- Apr 8 Dorothea "Teddy" Scholten, Dutch pop singer ("Een beetje" - "A Little Bit"), dies at 83
- Apr 8 Jack Agnew, American World War II veteran (b. 1922)
Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010)
Apr 8 British band manager (New York Dolls; Sex Pistols; Bow Wow Wow) and musician, dies of cancer at 64
- Apr 9 Aladár Kovácsi, Hungarian pentathlete and Olympic champion (1952, Helsinki), dies at 77
- Apr 9 Bob Franks, American politician (Rep-R-NJ 1993-2001), dies of cancer at 58
- Apr 9 Zoltán Varga, Hungarian Footballer (b. 1945)
- Apr 10 Dixie Carter, American actress (Designing Women, Edge of Night), dies at 70
- Apr 10 Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician (President of Poland, 2005-10), killed in the crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 at 60
- Apr 10 Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist and First Lady of Poland, is killed in the crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 at 67
- Apr 10 Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish statesman is killed in the crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 at 90
- Apr 11 Jean Boiteux, French swimmer (Olympic gold 400m freestyle, bronze 4×200m freestyle 1952), dies after falling off a tree at 76
- Apr 11 Vicki Draves, American diver (Olympic gold platform & springboard 1948), dies from pancreatic cancer at 85
- Apr 12 Michel Chartrand, French Canadian union activist, dies at 93
- Apr 12 Palito [Reynaldo Hipolito], Filipino slap-stick comedian and actor, dies at 76
- Apr 12 Peter Haskell, American actor (Bracken's World, Rituals), dies at 75
- Apr 14 Peter Steele [Petrus Ratajczyk], American heavy metal singer-songwriter, and bassist (Type O Negative), dies of sepsis at 48
- Apr 15 Benjamin Hooks, American lawyer, Baptist minister, and civil rights leader (NAACP executive director, 1977-92), dies at 85
- Apr 15 Jack Herer, American author and cannabis activist, dies at 70
- Apr 16 Daryl Gates, LAPD Chief, dies at 83
- Apr 16 Marion Ladewig, American ten-pin bowler (9 time woman bowler of year 1950-63), dies at 95
- Apr 16 Rasim Delic, Bosnian military chief of staff and war criminal (b. 1949)
- Apr 19 Carl Williams, Australian criminal (b. 1970)
- Apr 19 Edwin Valero, Venezuelan boxer (undefeated world champion WBA super featherweight 2006-08; WBC lightweight 2009-10), commits suicide at 28
- Apr 19 Keith "Guru" Elam, American rapper (b. 1966)
Dorothy Height (1912-2010)
Apr 20 American civil rights and women's rights activist (National Council of Negro Women), dies at 98
- Apr 21 Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
- Apr 21 Idwal Pugh, Welsh-born British civil servant (UK Ombudsman 1976-78), dies at 92
- Apr 21 Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish sports administrator (7th President International Olympic Committee 1980-2001), dies of cardio-respiratory failure at 89
- Apr 23 Norman Wright, American doo-wop tenor vocalist (Del-Vikings - “Come Go With Me”), dies at 72
- Apr 23 Peter Porter, Australian-British author and poet (Chair of Babel), dies at 81
- Apr 25 Alan Sillitoe, English writer (Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner), dies at 82
- Apr 25 Dorothy Provine, American actress (The Roaring 20's; That Darn Cat: Who's Minding The Mint?), and singer, dies of emphysema at 75
- Apr 27 Morris Pert, Scottish session jazz-rock drummer, percussionist, pianist, and contemporary classical composer (Ankh; Auroura), dies at 62
- Apr 29 Johannes Fritsch, German composer, dies at 68
- Apr 30 Gerry Ryan, Irish radio broadcaster (b. 1956)
