- Apr 1 All England Lawn Tennis Club cancels Wimbledon for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic; entire grass-court season abandoned
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 1 US President Donald Trump says the US Strategic National Stockpile is almost depleted amid widespread shortages of medical equipment to fight COVID-19
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 2 Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro downplays the COVID-19 pandemic saying "its not all its being made out to be"
- Apr 2 New study shows western Antarctica once swampy with temperate forests 93-83 million years ago during Cretaceous period, according to Alfred Wegener Institute
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 2 Number of COVID-19 cases worldwide passes 1 million, with 1,002,159 cases and 51,485 deaths reported, according to Johns Hopkins University
- Apr 2 Record 6.6 million Americans filed claims for unemployment in last week according to the US Department of Labor, 10 million over 2 weeks
- Apr 2 Spain's death toll passes 10,000 (10003), as it posts a record single-day rise of 950 deaths
- Apr 3 27 people swept off a ferry and feared dead in the Solomon Islands during Cyclone Harold
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 3 London's Nightingale hospital opened by Prince Charles (remotely) after nine days with 4,000 beds to treat COVID-19 patients at the ExCeL Centre
- Apr 3 US aircraft carrier captain Brett Crozier cheered off his ship after being fired for a letter demanding more help for his sailors infected with COVID-19
WrestleMania
Apr 4 WrestleMania XXXVI, WWE Performance Center, Orlando FL, Part 1: The Undertaker defeats AJ Styles in a Boneyard match; Becky Lynch beats Shayna Baszler to retain Raw Women's C'ship
Event of Interest
Apr 5 British monarch Queen Elizabeth II makes an address to the nation “we will meet again”, for only the 5th time in her 66-year reign
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 5 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to hospital suffering from COVID-19
WrestleMania
Apr 5 WrestleMania XXXVI, WWE Performance Center, Orlando FL, Part 2: Drew McIntyre defeats Brock Lesnar to win the WWE C'ship; Charlotte Flair beats Rhea Ripley for NXT Women's title
- Apr 6 149th British Open Men's Golf Championship is cancelled for the first time since WWII due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Royal St George's GC to host event in 2021
- Apr 6 Cyclone Harold makes landfall in Vanuatu, leaving thousands of houses destroyed and 2 dead
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 6 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announces state of emergency in seven prefectures and a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package as COVID-19 cases climb
- Apr 6 Nadia, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo (New York City), tests positive for COVID-19, 1st known case of human-to-cat transmission
- Apr 6 US COVID-19 death toll passes 10,000 in six weeks, with more than 356,000 American infected, New York death toll reaches 4,758
- Apr 7 Australia's highest court overturns the child sexual abuse conviction of Catholic Cardinal George Pell
- Apr 7 China ends its lockdown of Wuhan, the city at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic after 76 days as the country reports no new deaths for the 1st time
- Apr 7 US Acting-Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigns after calling USN Capt. Brett Crozier of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) "too naive and too stupid", in an address to the ship's crew
- Apr 7 Wisconsin holds its Democratic primary with in-person voting in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, after a mail-in voting rejected by the Wisconsin Legislature
Event of Interest
Apr 8 Bernie Sanders drops out of the Democratic race for US president
- Apr 8 Saudi-backed coalition fighting Houthi fighters in Yemen calls for a ceasefire after five years to stop the spread of COVID-19
- Apr 8 World Trade organization predicts a drop in global trade greater than the 2008 financial crisis, between 13% and 32% for 2020
- Apr 11 Brazil is the 1st country in the southern hemisphere to report more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19, with 1,056 deaths and 19,638 cases
Farm Aid Concert
Apr 11 Farm Aid "At Home" held virtually; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Black Pumas, Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Edie Brickell, Jack Johnson, and Jon Batiste [1]
- Apr 12 Huge storm system produces more than 40 tornadoes in the US from Texas to South Carolina killing 32 people across six states
- Apr 12 OPEC and other major oil companies agree to the largest-ever drop in production to stabilize world prices
Easter Message
Apr 12 Pope Francis calls for the world to be united in the face of COVID-19 as he delivers his Easter message from an empty St Peter's Cathedral in Rome
- Apr 13 Bernie Sanders endorses former rival Joe Biden for president
Music Concert
Apr 13 Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sings a special Easter concert in the deserted Milan cathedral, accompanied by an organist
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 13 NY Governor Andrew Cuomo says “I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart,” about the COVID-19 pandemic in New York as death toll passes 10,000
Obama Endorses Biden
Apr 14 Former President Barack Obama endorses his former Vice President Joe Biden for president
- Apr 14 IMF warns the global economy expected to contract by 3% in 2020 due to COVID-19 "Great Lockdown", steepest downturn since the Great Depression
- Apr 14 Parts of Europe begin to ease lockdown restrictions after 5-6 weeks with some shops opening in Austria and parts of Italy
Modi Extends Lockdown
Apr 14 PM Narendra Modi extends India's COVID-19 lockdown until May 3
- Apr 14 US President Donald Trump freezes funding for the World Health Organization pending a review, for mistakes in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and for being "China-centric", prompting international criticism
- Apr 15 Revised death count for New York taking into account assumed COVID-19 deaths makes the city's per-capita death rate higher than Italy at 10,367 at this date
Election of Interest
Apr 15 South Korea is 1st country to hold a general election under COVID-19, President Moon Jae-in's ruling Democratic party wins in a landslide
- Apr 15 US's deadliest day during COVID-19 pandemic with 2,752 deaths reported
- Apr 16 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in 4 weeks (5.2 million in the last week), wiping out 9 1/2 years of job gains
- Apr 16 Nationwide State of Emergency declared in Japan till 6 May due to the worsening COVID-19 outbreak
- Apr 16 New study claims a multi-decade megadrought is already under way in the western US, published in journal "Science"
- Apr 17 WHO warns Africa could be next epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 300,000 deaths, pushing 30 million into poverty as it records nearly 1000 deaths and 19,000 cases to date
Music Concert
Apr 18 "Together At Home" virtual benefit concert for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund curated by Lady Gaga; 6-hour pre-show streams on-line, followed by 2-hour global telecast; performers include: Andra Day, Common, The Killers, Charlie Puth, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Annie Lennox, and Zucchero
- Apr 18 Canada's worst modern mass shooting as a gunman kills 18 people, including a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, across Nova Scotia
- Apr 18 French flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle reports over 1,000 cases of COVID-19, prompting an investigation
- Apr 19 Turkey passes Iran to become the Middle Eastern country with the most COVID-19 cases with 86,306 infections, Iran continues to have the most deaths
- Apr 19 UK COVID-19 death toll reaches 16,060 (hospitals only), as "The Sunday Times" criticizes Boris Johnson's government's response, saying they "sleepwalked into disaster"
- Apr 19 US COVID-19 death toll passes 40,000, with 742,442 cases recorded according to Johns Hopkins tally
- Apr 20 Price of US oil turns negative for the 1st time in history - West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for US oil, falls as low as minus $37.63 a barrel as worldwide demand falls
- Apr 20 The last three cruise ships still afloat amid COVID pandemic, finally dock at the ports of Marseille, France; Barcelona, Spain; and Los Angeles California
- Apr 20 Three US states, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina the 1st to announce end to some COVID-19 restrictions
- Apr 21 At least 25,000 extra people across 11 countries have died during COVID-19 pandemic that were not previously counted according to new mortality figures
- Apr 21 Health Secretary Matt Hancock and UK government come under criticism for lack of personal protective equipment and testing for COVID-19 (despite pledge to test 100,000 a day only 19,000 done April 20th)
- Apr 21 Mexico says it is entering stage three of its COVID-19 outbreak, with rapid spread and hospitalizations from 8,772 infections and 712 deaths
Event of Interest
Apr 21 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announces $26 billion aid package and plans for gradual reopening of economy as cases reach 3,465 with 58 deaths
- Apr 21 US President Donald Trump announces new 60-day ban on most green cards for the US
- Apr 22 Sudan bans female genital mutilation and makes it a criminal offense
- Apr 23 Ecuador's COVID-19 death toll is then one of world's highest per capita after 7,600 more deaths than usual (503 official toll), in report by "The New York Times"
- Apr 23 First findings of a frog fossil 40 million years old, found on Seymour Island, Antarctica (2015) published in "Scientific Reports"
- Apr 23 German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns this is "not the end phase but still just the beginning" of the COVID-19 pandemic
Sports History
Apr 23 NFL Draft: LSU quarterback Joe Burrow first pick by Cincinnati Bengals
- Apr 23 US President Donald Trump suggests studying if COVID-19 could be treated by introducing disinfectant or UV lights into a human body, during a White House press briefing; government officials and disinfectant companies quickly state doing so is not only extremely dangerous but potentially deadly
- Apr 27 Global confirmed cases of COVID-19 pass 3 million with the death toll at 205,000. US has 1/3 of all new cases.
- Apr 27 US Defense Department declassifies and releases videos of unidentified "aerial phenomena" from 2004 and 2015
- Apr 28 Argentina bans all commercial domestic and international flights until September 1 because of COVID-19
COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 28 President Vladimir Putin warns Russia has not yet reached the peak of COVID-19 infections, with 93,000 recorded cases and 867 deaths
- Apr 28 US confirmed cases of COVID-19 pass 1 million, while death toll of 58,365 surpasses that of US soldiers killed in Vietnam War (Johns Hopkins)
- Apr 28 US Department of Defense releases three declassified videos of possible UFOs from 2004 and 2015
- Apr 29 A mile-wide asteroid named 1998 OR2 passes within 3.9 million miles of Earth
- Apr 29 Fire at an Icheon warehouse, South Korea, kills 38
- Apr 29 UK official death toll reaches 26,000 deaths from COVID-19 as care home and community deaths included
- Apr 29 US GDP falls 4.8% for the financial quarter, officially ending the country's growth streak. Worst contraction since 2008.
- Apr 29 World record for the longest single lightning flash of 477miles (768km) across US states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi according to World Meteorological Organization [1]
- Apr 30 British Captain Tom Moore, who raised more £30 million for the National Health Service walking in his garden, turns 100 and made an honorary colonel by the Queen
Event of Interest
Apr 30 Eurozone economy shrinks at -3.8% between Jan and Mar 2020, the fastest rate on record with Euro Bank President Christine Lagarde warning the 2nd quarter will be even worse
- Apr 30 Russian Prime Minister Mikhail V. Mishustin says he has COVID-19
- Apr 30 South Korea reports no new domestic cases of COVID-19 for 1st time, their virus cases peaked Feb 29
- Apr 30 UK PM Boris Johnson says Britain is past the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak
- Apr 30 US President Donald Trump claims COVID-19 originated in a lab in Wuhan, while the Office of the Director of National Intelligence saying the virus is not manmade
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists