It happened today, the almanac of the day: the historical and political facts, who was born and who left us. What happened on April 20th
1303 – With the papal bull In suprema praeminentia dignitatis, Boniface VIII establishes the Studium Urbis (now the University of Rome La Sapienza)
1492 – Probable date of birth of Pietro Aretino (according to other sources recurring on 19 April)
1657 – Jews of New Amsterdam (now New York) gain the right to freedom of religion
1775 – American Revolution: British troops lay siege to the city of Boston, Massachusetts
1796 – The Battle of Mondovì begins
1815 – Austro-Neapolitan War: Austrian troops under the command of Federico Bianchi occupy Florence.
1841 – Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder in the Rue Morgue is published
1862 – First pasteurization test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
1865 – Bologna, the first Italian popular bank, the Banca Popolare di Credito, is born
1879 – Russia: Revolutionary student Alexander Soloviev fails in his attempt to assassinate Tsar Alexander II of Russia
1900 – Turin, the first Turin Motor Show opens at the Palazzina delle Belle Arti al Valentino
1902 – Pierre and Marie Curie purify and isolate the element radium
1914 – The Ludlow massacre takes place in the United States
1917 – Petrograd, Vladimir Ulianov (better known as Lenin) publishes his vision of the Marxist struggle, the so-called April Theses
1920 – Belgium, the VII Olympics opens in Antwerp
1926 – USA: Western Electric and Warner Bros announce the creation of the Vitaphone, a process for adding sound to films
Sent for the first time across the Atlantic Ocean copy of a check for radio broadcast
1940 -First public demonstration of an electron microscope
Second World War: Norway, the English land in the ports of Åndalsnes and Namsos
1944 – Second World War: Benito Mussolini, now head of the Italian Social Republic, establishes the Women’s Auxiliary Service of the Italian Social Republic
[1945–WorldWarII:SoviettroopsenterBerlin
1964 – The first jar of Nutella is marketed
1967C -ipro: A Swiss Britannia plane crashes in Nicosia: 126 victims
United States of America: a tornado devastates Chicago, causing 58 deaths
1968A South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes during takeoff in Windhoek, western South Africa: 122 victims
Canada: The Liberal Party of Canada led by Pierre Trudeau wins the general elections
1972 – Apollo 16 lands on the surface of the Moon
1980 – Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria): the police storm the university campus and begin the repression of the Berber Spring
1992 – Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium: the greatest singers on the world scene participate
1998 – An Air France Boeing 727-200 crashes into a mountain shortly after takeoff from Bogotá airport, Colombia: 53 victims.
1999United States: the Columbine High School massacre occurs, where 15 people die in a shooting, including the two perpetrators of the massacre, and 24 others are injured.
Italy: trial for the Milan Metro: Bettino Craxi is definitively sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison for corruption and illicit financing.
2001 – Canada: demonstration of anti-globalization movements in Quebec City against an FTAA summit.
2004 – Spain: the socialist government led by Zapatero, which replaced the executive of the popular Aznar, withdraws its contingent from Iraq.
2008 – Pope Benedict XVI visits Ground Zero in New York, the original site of the Twin Towers, destroyed on September 11, 2001.
2010 – Gulf of Mexico: explosion of the offshore oil tanker Deepwater Horizon, owned by British Petroleum.
2013 – Italy: Giorgio Napolitano is elected President for the second consecutive time.
The saints of the day
- Saint Theodore Trichinas: born in Siceon, Greece, in the 4th century, he was a monk who lived in a cave on Mount Olympus. He stood out for his ascetic life and for his miracles, including the healing of a demon-possessed woman. His name Trichinas means “with the three hundred thorns”, in reference to the iron belt that he wore to mortify his body.
- Saint Crescent: Christian martyr who lived in Africa in the 3rd century. He was arrested and sentenced to death for refusing to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods. According to tradition, during his martyrdom an angel appeared who encouraged him and gave him a crown of flowers.
- Saint Sulpice the Pious: bishop of Bourges, France, who lived in the 6th century. He dedicated himself to the construction of churches and monasteries, and was distinguished by his charity towards the poor and the sick. His nickname “the Pious” was given to him for his virtuous life.
- Saint Marian of Constantinople: monk who lived in the 5th century, was one of the founders of the monastery of Glyceria, near Constantinople. He devoted himself to ascetic life and prayer, and was revered for his miracles. He died around 430.
Born today April 20th
492 – Pietro AretinoItalian poet, writer and playwright
1889 – Adolf Hitlerfounder of Nazism
1913 – Giovanni Enrico HoepliItalian publisher
1949 – Jessica Lange
1893 – Joan Miró
Deaths today April 20th
1472 – Leon Battista Alberti
2001 – Giuseppe SinopoliItalian conductor, composer and essayist
2004 – Giorgio FalckItalian entrepreneur and sailor
2014 – Claudio Giorgio FavaItalian film critic, journalist and writer
