Today’s Almanac April 20th, the Macondo explosion and the largest sea spill in history

It happened today

On April 20, 2010, in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon platform was in full swing. The well had a romantic name, with a Marquezian flavor – Macondo – but it didn’t bring luck. An explosion sparked a violent fire, 11 people died instantly and the platform, which belonged to BP, became uncontrollable. After two days it sank, but the safety valves didn’t work: oil began to leak at the rate of a thousand barrels a day. It took months to close the leak and in the meantime over four million barrels of crude oil ended up in the water, the largest spill into the sea in history. An enormous black blob reached the coasts of the southern states of the USA, in particular Louisiana, causing a huge environmental disaster. Ten years later — April 20, 2020 — another significant event occurred in oil history: for the first time the price of crude oil fell below zero. Blame the pandemic and the Russian-Saudi trade war.

Born of the day

Napoleon III of France20 April 1808, President of the French Republic

Nikolai Yakovlevich MyaskovskyApril 20, 1881, Russian composer

Adolf Hitler20 April 1889, Austrian politician

Harold LloydApril 20, 1893, American actor, director and film producer

Joan Mirópainter, 20 April 1893, Spanish sculptor and ceramist

Gianrico TedeschiApril 20, 1920, actor

Paolo Rosi20 April 1924, rugby player at 15, journalist and sports commentator

Edie SedgwickApril 20, 1943, American model and actress

Jessica LangeApril 20, 1949, American actress and former model

Massimo D’Alema20 April 1949, politician, journalist and writer

Matteo Piantedosi20 April 1963, prefect, official and politician

Ermal Meta20 April 1981, Albanian naturalized Italian singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist

Alexander Zverev20 April 1997, German tennis player

Fabio Quartararo20 April 1999, French motorcycle racer

Deaths of the day

Ivanoe Bonomi, 20 April 1951, lawyer, journalist and politician

Don SiegelApril 20, 1991, American director, editor and film producer

Benny Hill20 April 1992, British comedian, actor and singer

Giuseppe Sinopoli, April 20, 2001, conductor, composer and essayist

Giorgio Falck20 April 2004, entrepreneur and sailor

Claudio G. FavaApril 20, 2014, film critic, television critic and journalist

Rubin CarterApril 20, 2014, American naturalized Canadian boxer

Saint of the day

Saint Sarah of Antioch. She married a high official involved in the persecutions against Christians wanted by Diocletian. Sarah had her children baptized in Alexandra of Egypt, where a large community of Christians lived. Once home, she told her husband about the event, who reported her to her commander. Diocletian condemned her to the stake together with her two children.