Summary of the Day ✨ 20 April (20/04)
SpaceX’s record-breaking Starship rocket launched only to explode minutes later while Derek Chauvin was found guilty in George Floyd’s murder, marking historic moments in space exploration and justice. The same day witnessed unprecedented economic turmoil as oil prices plummeted below zero, Somalia mourned victims of a UN food convoy bombing, and China’s Sichuan province reeled from a devastating earthquake that claimed nearly 200 lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 2023: SpaceX’s Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, launches for the first time. It explodes four minutes into flight.
- 2021: State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin: Derek Chauvin is found guilty of all charges in the murder of George Floyd by the Fourth Judicial District Court of Minnesota.
- 2020: For the first time in history, oil prices drop below zero, an effect of the 2020 Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war.
- 2015: Ten people are killed in a bomb attack on a convoy carrying food supplies to a United Nations compound in Garowe in the Somali region of Puntland.
- 2013: A 6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Lushan County, Ya’an, in China’s Sichuan province, killing at least 193 people and injuring thousands.
- 2012: One hundred twenty-seven people are killed when a plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 2010: The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that lasted six months.
- 2008: Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.
- 2007: Johnson Space Center shooting: William Phillips barricades himself with a handgun in NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before killing a male hostage and himself.
- 2004: The Nicoll Highway in Singapore collapsed, killing four workers.
- 1999: Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 14 people and injure 23 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.
- 1998: Air France Flight 422 crashes after taking off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, killing all 53 people on board.
- 1985: University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid: Animal Liberation Front rescues 467 animals being tested in a lab at University of California, Riverside in Riverside, California, causing $700,000 in damages to the laboratory in advocation for Animal rights.
- 1972: Apollo program: Apollo 16 Lunar Module, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the Moon.
- 1968: English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial “Rivers of Blood” speech.
Famous Births 👶
- 2005: Tallyn Da Silva, Australian rugby league player
- 1997: Alexander Zverev, German tennis player
- 1991: Luke Kuechly, American football player
- 1990: Kyle Higashioka, American baseball player
- 1990: Jason Behrendorff, Australian cricketer
- 1989: Vannesa Rosales, Venezuelan activist and teacher
- 1988: Brandon Belt, American baseball player
- 1987: Jorge Pinto, Portuguese politician
- 1984: Harris Wittels, American comedian (died 2015)
- 1983: Miranda Kerr, Australian model
- 1980: Emma Husar, Australian politician
- 1978: Carl Greenidge, English cricketer
- 1975: Killer Mike, American rapper
- 1974: Randy Fine, American politician and former gambling industry executive
- 1973: Julie Powell, American food writer and memoirist (died 2022)
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Hugo Gatti, Argentine footballer (born 1944)
- 2024: Antonio Cantafora, Italian film and television actor (born 1944)
- 2024: Andrew Davis, English conductor (born 1944)
- 2024: Roman Gabriel, Filipino-American NFL American footballer
- 2024: Lourdes Portillo, Mexican film director, producer, and writer (born 1943)
- 2022: Gavin Millar, Scottish film director (born 1938)
- 2021: Idriss Déby, Chadian politician and military officer (born 1952)
- 2021: Monte Hellman, American film director (born 1929)
- 2021: Les McKeown, Scottish pop singer (born 1955)
- 2018: Avicii, Swedish DJ and musician (born 1989)
- 2016: Victoria Wood, British comedian, actress and writer (born 1953)
- 2014: Neville Wran, Australian politician, 35th Premier of New South Wales (born 1926)
- 2012: Bert Weedon, English guitarist and songwriter (born 1920)
- 2011: Tim Hetherington, English photographer and journalist (born 1970)
- 2010: Dorothy Height, American educator and activist (born 1912)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Agnes of Montepulciano - Christian feast day:
Pope Anicetus - Christian feast day:
Blessed Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz - Christian feast day:
Beuno - Christian feast day:
Blessed James Bell and John Finch - Christian feast day:
Johannes Bugenhagen (Lutheran) - Christian feast day:
Marcellinus of Gaul - Christian feast day:
Blessed Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh - Christian feast day:
Theotimos - Christian feast day:
April 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - 420 (cannabis culture)
- Evacuee Flag Day (Finland)
- UN Chinese Language Day (United Nations)