Historical Events
- Apr 1 Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declares a nationwide public emergency after violent protests amid the country's worst economic crisis since independence [1]
- Apr 2 Ukraine liberates the entire Kyiv region from retreating Russian forces
- Apr 3 40th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota: South Carolina Gamecocks defeat UConn Huskies, 64–49 to win their second NCAA title: MOP Aliyah Boston (SC)
Grammy Awards
Apr 3 64th Grammy Awards: Jon Batiste wins Album of the Year, Olivia Rodrigo three awards including Best New Artist, Silk Sonic Best Song "Leave the Door Open" [1]
- Apr 3 Chevron Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: American Jennifer Kupcho wins her first LPGA tournament by 2 strokes over Jessica Korda
Sports History
Apr 3 Pakistan plunges into constitutional crisis after Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolves parliament and calls for new elections, avoiding a no-confidence vote [1]
- Apr 3 Return engagement of David Byrne's musical revue "American Utopia" closes at St. James Theatre, NYC, after 134 performances
- Apr 3 The Taliban government bans cultivation of opium in Afghanistan, with consequences for world supply as it produces 80% [1]
- Apr 3 Women's Cricket World Cup: Alyssa Healy scores ICC CWC record 170 as Australia beats England by 71 runs in the final in Christchurch, NZ
- Apr 4 83rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Caesars Superdome, NO, Louisiana: Uni of Kansas overcome record 16 point first half deficit to beat North Carolina Tar Heels, 72–69: Jayhawks 4th national title
- Apr 4 Economist Rodrigo Chaves elected President of Costa Rica defeating current president José María Figueres [1]
- Apr 4 Eon Musk buys 9.2% of Twitter stock, making him the company's largest shareholder [1]
- Apr 4 Ukrainian government begins a war crimes investigation after 410 civilians found killed after the withdrawal of Russian forces from around Kyiv [1]
- Apr 5 Shanghai lockdown extended to cover the whole city as COVID-19 cases increase, as China remains one of the last to employ a "zero-Covid" system [1]
Event of Interest
Apr 5 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urges UN Security Council to act against Russia, accusing Russian military of the worst war crimes since WWII, including execution, rape and torture of civilians [1]
- Apr 6 Hermits Peak fire, New Mexico's largest wildfire starts in Mora County, as a supposedly controlled burn off by US Forest Service, goes onto displace 100 people, burn 341,000 acres, 62 million trees [1]
- Apr 6 Military Tribunal in Ouagadougou convicts former Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré in absentia, of the 1987 killing of his predecessor Thomas Sankara [1]
- Apr 6 Scientists claim to have found dinosaur remains killed on the actual day a giant asteroid struck earth 66 million years ago beginning their extinction, at Tanis fossil site, North Dakota [1]
- Apr 7 Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first black woman to be confirmed by the US Senate to the Supreme Court in 53-47 vote [1]
- Apr 7 MLB Cleveland Guardians lose in first game under their new name, 3-1 to the Royals in Kansas City
- Apr 7 Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi transfers power to an eight-member council to negotiate with the Houthis in attempt to end country's seven-year civil war [1]
- Apr 8 First all-private space flight, Axiom-1 launches to the International Space Station [1]
Film Release
Apr 8 Michael Bay's film "Ambulance" is released in the US by Universal Pictures
Film & TV History
Apr 8 US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bans Will Smith from attending the Oscars for 10 years after he slapped host Chris Rock on stage during the 2022 ceremony [1]
- Apr 9 Joel Embiid is named the NBA scoring champion, averaging 30.6 points per game
US Masters Golf
Apr 10 86th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: World #1 golfer Scottie Scheffler wins first career major title; beats Irishman Rory McIlroy by 3 strokes for record $2.7m payout
- Apr 10 Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan removed from power after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament [1]
Music History
Apr 10 Revival of "Cabaret" starring Eddie Redmayne wins best musical at UK's Olivier Awards, "Life of Pi" wins best play [1]
CMT Music Awards
Apr 11 21st CMT Video Music Awards: Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert. and Cody Johnson win
- Apr 11 Mayor of Ukrainian city Mariupol says over 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege, with the likely death toll twice this, as bodies are " carpeted through the streets” [1]
- Apr 11 Shehbaz Sharif elected Pakistan's new Prime Minister by the country's parliament, replacing Imran Khan [1]
- Apr 12 Global COVID-19 known cases pass 500 million, with 5.1 billion (66%) having received at least one vaccine shot [1]
- Apr 12 Terrorist attack on the New York subway injures 26, 10 by gunfire, with the suspect arrested a day later [1]
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 12 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologies and is fined for attending parties during COVID-19 lockdown - first premier to be sanctioned for breaking the law [1]
- Apr 13 At least 448 people killed after heavy rains and flooding in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, "one of the worst weather storms in the history of our country" according to authorities [1]
- Apr 14 Russian ship Moskva, flagship of its Black Sea fleet, sinks in the Black Sea during the invasion of Ukraine amid conflicting accounts [1]
- Apr 14 The biggest surge in years of attacks by Arab militants in Israel leaves 14 dead, leading to Israel army operations that kill a further 20 [1]
Music Concert
Apr 15 Coachella Valley music festival returns after a two-year hiatus with Harry Styles the headlining act on opening night in front of 100,000 [1]
Film & TV History
Apr 17 Alex Jones' companies including website Infowars, file for bankruptcy in the US after losing defamation suits filed by families of the Sandy Hook Massacre (which he called a hoax)
Event of Interest
Apr 18 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declares a national state of disaster, after floods and mudslides in Durban area result in over 400 deaths and destroy over 4,000 homes [1]
- Apr 19 US Biden administration restores climate impacts and community say to the National Environmental Policy Act, previously removed by Donald Trump [1]
- Apr 19 US inflation hits 8.5%, the highest since 1981, driven by a rise in gas prices, rent and food [1]
- Apr 20 Online streaming service Netflix suffers its first subscriber loss in a decade, losing 200,000 customers Jan-Mar [1]
- Apr 21 Ex-president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández extradited to the US to face drug trafficking and weapons charges [1]
- Apr 23 59th Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition opens, with 80 participating. Main exhibition "The Milk of Dreams" curated by Cecilia Aleman. [1]
- Apr 23 American Simone Leigh is the first Black woman artist to win the main prize at Venice Biennale for her sculpture "Brick House" [1]
- Apr 23 Venice Biennale's top award, The Golden Lion (Best National Participation) awarded to UK's Sonia Boyce for her work "Feeling Her Way" [1]
Election of Interest
Apr 24 French President Emmanuel Macron wins re-election defeating National Rally's Marine Le Pen, first sitting French president re-elected in 20 years [1]
Brontë’s Million Dollar Book of Ryhmes
Apr 25 Charlotte Brontë’s "A Book of Ryhmes" (10cm x 6cm), written when she was 13, sells at auction in New York for $1.25 million to Friends of the National Libraries for the Brontë Parsonage Museum [1]
- Apr 25 First airport for electric flying cars and large drones, built by Urban-Air Port, begins operations in Coventry, England [1]
US Leaves Pandemic Phase
Apr 26 US infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says that the country is out of the "Pandemic Phase" - for the moment [1]
- Apr 26 World Bank warns the war in Ukraine will cause the "largest commodity shock" since the 1970s, with large economic and humanitarian effects [1]
- Apr 27 Italian women footballers finally turn professional after Italian Football Federation changes status of top division (takes effect 1 July) and ends capped amateur salaries [1]
- Apr 27 SpaceX, launches its Crew Dragon capsule with four astronauts, including Jessica Watkins - becomes 1st black woman to serve extended mission on International Space Station [1]
- Apr 27 US CDC report finds that more than half of people (57.7%) had antibodies for COVID-19 by February 2022, with 75.2% of children and teenagers [1]
Event of Interest
Apr 28 Russian missiles strike Ukrainian city of Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary-General António Guterres
The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker
Apr 29 London court sentences retired tennis star Boris Becker to 2-1/2 years in prison for hiding assets during bankruptcy proceedings
- Apr 29 Six-story building collapses in the Chinese city of Changsha, killing 26, with one woman surviving six days in the rubble [1]
- Apr 29 World's longest glassed-bottomed bridge, the Bach Long (White Dragon), 632m long, opens in Moc Chau Island mountain park and resort, Vietnam [1]
- Apr 30 Bach Long Bridge, the world's longest glass-bottom bridge at 632m opens in Moc Chau Island mountain park, Vietnam [1]
- Apr 30 Brock Purdy is selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, becoming Mr. Irrelevant
- Apr 30 Jacky Hunt-Broersma sets world record for running 104 consecutive marathons in 104 days, after surviving cancer and with a prosthetic leg. [1]
Famous Weddings
Travis Barker
Apr 4 Kourtney Kardashian and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker marry at the One Love Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas (they later call it their "practice" as they didn't have a licence)
Nicola Peltz
Apr 9 Heiress and actress Nicola Peltz (27) marries photographer Brooklyn Beckham (23) in Palm Beach, Florida
- Apr 9 WWE star Alexa Bliss marries singer Ryan Cabrera in Palm Desert, California
- Apr 14 Bollywood actors Alia Bhatt (29) and Ranbir Kapoor (39) marry in Mumbai
Ewan McGregor
Apr 23 Actors Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead marry in Los Angeles
- Apr 24 American singer NE-YO (42) renews marriage vows with his wife Crystal Renay Smith (35) in an elaborate rooftop ceremony at Resorts World Las Vegas, Nevada; divorce in 2023
Famous Deaths
- Apr 1 C. W. McCall [William Dale Fries, Jr.], American country singer (Convoy), dies of cancer at 93
- Apr 1 Neil Stevens, Canadian Hockey HOF, Lacrosse HOF sportswriter (The Canadian Press), dies from cancer at 74
- Apr 1 Roland White [LeBlanc], American bluegrass mandolin player and vocalist (Kentucky Colonels; Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass), dies after a heart attack at 83
- Apr 2 Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian (Estelle Costanza - Seinfeld; Toy Story), dies at 93
- Apr 2 Leonel Sánchez, Chilean soccer striker (85 caps; Club Universidad de Chile 413 games, 167 goals), dies at 85
- Apr 3 Gene Shue, American NBA basketball guard, 1954-64, 5X All-Star (New York Knicks, Fort Wayne/Detroit Pistons, and 2 other teams), and NBA coach, 1966-89, 2X Coach of the Year (Baltimore/Washington Bullets, Philadelphia 76ers, and 2 other teams), dies from melanoma at 90
- Apr 3 June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 & 1997–2020 - "Dot"; Sitting Target), dies at 95
- Apr 3 Stan Parrish, American football coach (Ball State Uni, Wabash College, Kansas State Uni, Marshall Uni; TB Buccaneers QB coach Super Bowl 2002), dies at 75
- Apr 3 Tommy Davis, American baseball utility (3 x MLB All Star; World Series 1963; NL batting champion 1962, 63 LA Dodgers), dies at 83
- Apr 4 Joe Messina, American soul, jazz, and R&B session guitarist (Soupy Sales; The Funk Brothers), dies at 93 [1]
- Apr 4 Petar Skansi, Croatian basketball center (Olympic silver Yugoslavia 1968; Jugoplastika) and coach (Yugoslavia, Croatia, Jugoplastika, Benetton Treviso), dies at 78
- Apr 5 Bobby Rydell [Ridarelli], American pop singer ("Wild One"; "Wildwood Days"), and actor (Bye Bye Birdie), dies of pneumonia at 79 [1]
- Apr 5 Boris Brott, Canadian conductor (Hamilton Philharmonic, 1969-90) and music promoter (Brott Music Festival: National Academy Orchestra of Canada), killed in a hit-and-run accident at 78
- Apr 5 Joaquim Carvalho, Portuguese soccer goalkeeper (6 caps; Sporting CP), dies at 84
- Apr 5 Josef Panáček, Czech sport shooter (Olympic gold skeet 1976), dies at 84
- Apr 5 Nehemiah Persoff, American painter and actor (An American Tail, Some Like It Hot), dies at 102
- Apr 5 Paul Siebel, American folk singer and songwriter (Louise; Spanish Johnny), dies from complications of pulmonary fibrosis at 84
- Apr 6 Fujiko F. Fujio [Motoo Abiko], Japanese manga cartoon artist (Doraemon), dies at 88
- Apr 6 John Creighton, New Zealand rugby union hooker (1 Test, 6 apps NZ; Canterbury), dies at 85
- Apr 6 Tom Smith, Scottish rugby union loosehead prop (61 Tests, 6 British & Irish Lions; Glasgow Warriors, Caledonia Reds, Northampton Saints RUFC), dies from cancer at 50
- Apr 7 George Bruce, British portrait painter, dies at 92
- Apr 7 Rayfield Wright, American Pro Football HOF offensive tackle (Super Bowl 1971, 77; 3 × First-team All-Pro; 6 × Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys), dies at 76
- Apr 8 Henri Depireux, Belgian soccer midfielder (2 caps; RFC Liège, Standard de Liège) and manager (Cameroon, Congo DR, FC Metz), dies at 78
- Apr 9 Dwayne Haskins Jr, American NFL football quarterback (Washington Redskins), dies from injuries sustained when struck on a highway while tending to his disabled vehicle at 24
- Apr 9 Jack Higgins [Harry Patterson], British novelist (The Eagle Has Landed), dies at 92
- Apr 10 John Drew, American basketball small forward (NBA All-Star 1976, 80; Atlanta Hawks, Utah Jazz), dies from bone cancer at 67
- Apr 11 Mohammad Hussain, Pakistani cricket all-rounder (2 Tests, 3 wickets; 14 ODIs, 13 wickets; Lahore), dies from kidney related illness at 45
Gilbert Gottfried (1955-2022)
Apr 12 American stand-up comedian, and actor (SNL; Aladdin - "Iago the Parrot"; The Afflac Duck), dies at 67
- Apr 12 Sergei Yashin, Russian Hockey HOF left winger (Olympic gold USSR 1988; HC Dynamo Moscow, EC Wilhelmshaven-Stickhausen), dies at 60
- Apr 12 Shirley Spork, American golfer and administrator (co-founder LPGA; Women's PGA C'ship runner-up 1962), dies at 94
- Apr 13 Alex Gilady, Israeli journalist (VP NBC Sports; Chairman IAAF Television Commission; 7 x Emmy Awards) and sports official (IOC), dies at 79
- Apr 13 Freddy Rincón, Colombian soccer midfielder (84 caps; Santa Fe, América de Cali, SC Corinthians), dies in car accident at 55
- Apr 13 Gloria Parker [Rosenthal], American marimbist, glasspiel player, songwriter (Clap Your Hands and Shake Your Blues Away), and bandleader, dies at 100 [1]
- Apr 13 Wolfgang Fahrian, German soccer goalkeeper (10 caps DRG; SC Fortuna Köln), dies from pneumonia at 80
Mike Bossy (1957-2022)
Apr 14 Canadian Hockey HOF right wing (Stanley Cup 1980-83; Conn Smythe Trophy 1982; 7 x NHL All Star; NY Islanders), dies of lung cancer at 65 [1]
- Apr 15 Andy Coen, American college football coach (Lehigh University Mountain Hawks 2006-18; record 85-64), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 57
- Apr 15 Art Rupe [Goldberg], American gospel, R&B, and early rock record producer and label executive (Specialty Records - Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Lloyd Price), dies at 104
- Apr 15 Bernhard Germeshausen, German bobsledder (Olympic gold x 4 GDR 1976, 80), dies at 70
- Apr 15 Charles Henry Plumb, British Conservative politician and 15th President of the European Parliament (1987-89), dies at 97
- Apr 15 Jack Newton, Australian golfer (British Open runner-up 1975; US Masters runner-up 1980), dies at 72
- Apr 15 Tony Brown, Australian rugby league five-eighth (10 Tests; Newtown RLFC, Penrith RLFC), dies at 86
- Apr 16 Joachim Streich, German soccer striker (102 caps GDR; FC Hansa Rostock, 1. FC Magdeburg) and manager (1. FC Magdeburg), dies at 71
- Apr 17 Jim Hartz, American journalist and newscaster (NBC-TV Today, 1974-77; PBS - Innovations), dies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at 82
- Apr 17 Kevin Meates, New Zealand rugby union flanker (2 Tests; Canterbury), dies at 92
- Apr 17 Radu Lupu, Romanian Grammy Award-winning concert pianist (Van Cliburn Competition - gold, 1966; George Enesco Competition - 1st prize, 1967), dies at 76
- Apr 17 Re Styles [Shirley Macleod], Dutch-American actress (Space Is The Place), designer, and rock vocalist (The Tubes, 1976-79), dies at 72
- Apr 18 Harrison Birtwistle, British contemporary classical composer (The Minotaur; The Mask of Orpheus), dies at 87 [1]
- Apr 18 Janez Matičič, Slovenian pianist. conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 95
- Apr 18 Nicholas Angelich, American concert pianist, dies of degenerative lung disease at 51
- Apr 18 Sid Mark [Fliegelman], American disc jockey and 'Frank-ophile' (The Sounds of Sinatra, 1960-2022), dies at 88
- Apr 19 Kane Tanaka, Japanese centenarian (world's 2nd oldest recorded person), dies as the world's oldest living person at 119 [1]
- Apr 19 Mike Gregory, English darts player (BDO World C'ship 1992 runner-up), dies from dementia at 65
- Apr 19 Sandra Pisani, Australian field hockey captain (Olympic gold 1988), dies from cancer at 63
- Apr 20 Bob Krueger, American Democrat politician and diplomat (U.S. ambassador to Botswana & Burundi), dies at 86
- Apr 20 Guitar Shorty [David William Kearney], American blues-rock guitarist, singer and songwriter (You Don't Treat Me Right), dies at 87
- Apr 20 Robert Morse, American Tony and Emmy Award-winning stage and screen singer and actor (Mad Men; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), dies at 90 [1]
- Apr 21 Daryle Lamonica, American football quarterback (Pro Bowl 1970, 72; AFL MVP 1967, 69; Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills), dies at 80
- Apr 21 Jack Rutherford, Australian cricket all-rounder (1 Test, HS 30, 1 wicket; WA CA), dies at 92
Guy Lafleur (1951-2022)
Apr 22 Canadian Hockey HOF right wing (5 x Stanley Cup, 2 x NHL MVP, NHL Playoff MVP Montreal Canadiens; NY Rangers, Quebec Nordiques), dies of lung cancer at 70 [1]
- Apr 22 Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan economist and politician (President of Kenya, 2002-13), dies at 90
- Apr 22 Pedrie Wannenburg, South African rugby union flanker (20 Tests; Bulls, Ulster, Castres, Oyonnax), dies in a car accident at 41
- Apr 23 Arno [Arnold Hintjens], Belgian rock singer-songwriter (TC Matic), pancreatic cancer at 72
- Apr 23 Dawie de Villiers, South African rugby union captain and halfback (25 Tests; Western Province), dies at 81
- Apr 23 Johnnie Jones, American attorney, civil rights activist (1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott), and US Army veteran (Normandy Invasion - Purple Heart; Battle of the Bulge), dies at 102 [1]
- Apr 23 Orrin Hatch, American politician (US Senator from Utah (R), 1977-2019) longest-serving Utah US Senator, dies at 88
- Apr 24 (Wilhelm) "Willi" Resetarits, Austrian singer and human rights activist, dies at 73
- Apr 24 Richie Moran, American Lacrosse HOF midfielder (Uni of Maryland) and coach (NCAA National C'ship 1971, 76, 77; Coach of the Year 1971, 77, 87; Cornell), dies at 85
- Apr 25 J. Roy Rowland, American politician (Rep-D-GA, 1983-95), dies at 96
- Apr 26 Inge Bernstein (née Schwartz), British judge, dies at 91
- Apr 26 İsmail Ogan, Turkish freestyle wrestler (Olympic gold 78kg 1964, silver 1960), dies at 89
- Apr 27 Judy Henske, American folk singer (High Flying Bird), dies at 85
- Apr 29 David Birney, American stage and screen actor (Bridget Loves Bernie; St Elsewhere, 1982-83), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 83
- Apr 30 (Diana) "Naomi" Judd, American Grammy Award-winning country singer (The Judds - "Why Not Me"), dies of a self-inflicted gunshot at 76
- Apr 30 Mino Raiola, Italian soccer agent (Pavel Nedvěd, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba), dies at 54
- Apr 30 Ron Galella, American celebrity photographer and a pioneer paparazzo (sued by Jackie Onassis; punched by Marlon Brando), dies of heart failure at 91
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide