The Madness of George III
Apr 1 Alan Bennett's play "The Madness of George III" premieres in London
- Apr 1 Reigning NASCAR Winston Cup champion Alan Kulwicki perishes in a private plane crash en route to Bristol for the Food City 500
- Apr 2 1st test flight of Fokker 70 (Amsterdam)
- Apr 2 Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mark Price has his consecutive free throw streak end at 77, during a 114-113 loss at Charlotte; falls 1 short of Calvin Murphy’s NBA record of 78 straight free throws
- Apr 2 Venezuelan DC-10 crashes at Margarita, killing 10
- Apr 3 147th Grand National: race declared void, after 30 of 39 runners carried on racing despite a false start; bookmakers forced to refund estimated £75 million in bets staked
- Apr 4 12th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Texas Tech beats Ohio State, 84-82; future Hall of Fame forward Sheryl Swoopes MOP
- Apr 4 The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Tom Shaw wins his lone career major title by 1 stroke from Mike Hill
WrestleMania
Apr 4 WrestleMania IX, Caesar's Palace, LV, NV: Yokozuna beats Bret Hart for WWF Heavyweight title
- Apr 5 55th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: North Carolina beats Michigan, 77-71; Tar Heels' 3rd title
- Apr 5 73,293 see the NY Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 in the season opener at Cleveland Stadium
- Apr 5 A win and a loss for MLB expansion teams in their debut games; Florida Marlins beat LA Dodgers, 6-3 in Miami; the Colorado Rockies lose to Mets, 3-0 in NYC
- Apr 6 1st test flight of Ilyushin IL-96M (Moscow)
- Apr 6 Florida Marlins 1st lost ever (4-2 to LA Dodgers)
- Apr 7 Dante Bichette hits the 1st Colo Rockie HR (Shea Stadium NY)
- Apr 8 Indians' Carlos Baerga is 1st to switch hit HRs in same inn (vs Yanks)
- Apr 8 STS-56 (Discovery) launches into orbit
- Apr 9 Colorado Rockies 1st home game & 1st victory, 11-4 over Mont Expos
- Apr 10 BPAA US Open by Del Ballard Jr
- Apr 10 Ottawa Senators win 1st road game (Islanders) after 38 straight loses
- Apr 10 Pittsburgh Penguins win their NHL record 17 game winning streak
- Apr 11 450 prisoners riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continue for ten days, citing grievances about prison conditions and the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis)
US Masters Golf
Apr 11 57th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Bernhard Langer of Germany wins his second green jacket by 4 strokes from Chip Beck
Arcadia
Apr 13 Tom Stoppard's play "Arcadia" premieres in London directed by Trevor Nunn, starring Rufus Sewell, Felicity Kendal and Bill Nighy
Music History
Apr 16 David Lee Roth arrested in NYC for purchasing marijuana for $10
Rodney King Riots
Apr 16 Jury reaches guilty verdict in federal case against police officers (two convicted, two acquitted) who beat Rodney King, but the verdict is not read until April 17th
- Apr 17 STS-56 (Discovery) lands
US History
Apr 17 Two Los Angeles police officers convicted in federal court of violating Rodney King's civil rights and sentenced to prison, while two others are acquitted,
- Apr 18 Lee Adams and Mitch Leigh's musical "Ain't Broadway Grand" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater, NYC; runs for 25 performances
Senior PGA Championship
Apr 18 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: American Tom Wargo pars second playoff hole to beat Bruce Crampton of Australia and take his first and only major title
- Apr 19 97th Boston Marathon: Cosmas N'deti of Kenya wins men's event in 2:09:33; Olga Markova of Russia repeats as women's champion in 2:25:27
- Apr 19 After a 51 day siege by the FBI 76 Branch Davidians die in a fire near Waco Texas (accident, suicide, tear gas are disputed causes)
- Apr 19 Fire in psychiatric institute in South Korea, kills 40
- Apr 19 South Dakota governor George Mickelson and seven others are killed when a state-owned aircraft crash lands in Iowa
Shania Twain
Apr 20 Mercury Nashville Records releases "Shania Twain", the debut studio album by Shania Twain
- Apr 20 Uranus passes Neptune (once every 171 years)
- Apr 21 "Wilder, Wilder, Wilder" opens at Circle in Sq NYC for 30 performances
Walker, Texas Ranger
Apr 21 Action TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger" starring Chuck Norris debuts on CBS
- Apr 21 Brazil votes against a monarchy
- Apr 22 Candid Camera creator Allen Funt suffers a stroke at 78
- Apr 22 Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated in Washington, D.C.
The Who's Tommy
Apr 22 Pete Townshend's rock musical "The Who's Tommy" adapted for theatrical stage, opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 899 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards, and a Grammy Award
- Apr 22 Seattle Mariner Chris Basio no-hits Boston Red Sox
- Apr 22 The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.
- Apr 23 Eritrea votes to secede from Ethiopia
Farm Aid Concert
Apr 24 Farm Aid VI held in Ames, Iowa; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Arlo Guthrie, The Jayhawks, Lyle Lovett, Johnny Cash, Ricky Van Shelton, Marty Stuart, Martina McBride, Bruce Hornsby, Bryan Adams, Ringo Starr, and Dwight Yoakam [1]
- Apr 24 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by George Branham
- Apr 24 The IRA explodes a 1000kg car bomb in Bishopsgate, London, killing a news photographer and injuring 44 others
- Apr 25 "Blood Brothers" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 839 performances
- Apr 25 NFL Draft: Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe first pick by New England Patriots
Yeltsin Elected President
Apr 25 Russia elects Boris Yeltsin President of the Russian Federation
- Apr 26 "Shakespeare for My Father" opens at Helen Hayes Theatre, NYC; runs for 266 performances
- Apr 26 Boeing 737 crashes at Aurangabad, kills 56
O'Brien Replaces Letterman
Apr 26 NBC announces Conan O'Brien to replace David Letterman on "Late Night"
Sports History
Apr 28 NY Islanders beat Washington Capitals 4 to 1 in playoffs, Capitals' Dale Hunter attacks Pierre Turgeon after scoring, in hockey's worst cheap shot
- Apr 28 Zambian plane crashes at Libreville, Gabon, 30 soccer players die
- Apr 30 The World Wide Web source code is released by CERN, making the software freely available to all
- Apr 30 Virgin Radio broadcasts for the first time in the United Kingdom.
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists