Historical Events
- Apr 1 47th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Villanova beats Georgetown, 66-64; Wildcats lowest-seeded team (8th) to win tournament
NHL Record
Apr 2 Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky sets an NHL record with his 34th career hat trick as the Oilers beat the Kings 6-4 in Los Angeles
Sports History
Apr 2 Quebec's Czech center Peter Šťastný scores his 100th NHL point of the season for the 5th straight year, with an assist for the Nordiques in a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins in Quebec City
- Apr 2 The NCAA Rules Committee adopts a 45-second shot clock for men’s basketball to begin in the 1986 season in an effort to eliminate stalling
- Apr 2 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 3 French government adopts equal electoral system
- Apr 3 Players' Association agrees to expand LCS from 5 to 7 games
- Apr 3 Vic Elliot pockets 15,780 pool balls in 24 hours in London
- Apr 4 Tulane University cancels its basketball season amidst scandal
- Apr 6 Bombay beat Delhi by 90 runs to win the Ranji Trophy final
- Apr 6 Sudan suspends constitution after coup under general Swarreddahab
- Apr 6 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Apr 7 1st live telecast of Easter Parade in New York
- Apr 7 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Alice Miller shoots a final round 67 (−5) to win her only major title, 3 strokes ahead of Jan Stephenson of Australia
- Apr 7 New Jersey General Hershel Walker rushes for USFL record 233 yards
- Apr 8 "Leader of the Pack" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 120 performances
- Apr 8 Amdahl releases UTS/V, 1st mainframe Unix
- Apr 8 India files suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster
Sports History
Apr 9 White Sox pitcher Tom Seaver starts a record 15th opening day game
- Apr 10 At 80 Leo Sites becomes oldest bowler to score a 300 game
- Apr 10 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 51-B mission
- Apr 12 16th Shuttle Mission (51D)-Discovery 4 launched-with Senator Jake Garn
- Apr 13 "TASS" denounces US boycott of Moscow Olympics
- Apr 13 Katrin Dörre wins 1st female World Cup marathon (2:33:30)
- Apr 13 Space Shuttle Atlantis ferried to Kennedy Space Center via Ellington AFB, Texas
- Apr 14 "Take Me Along!" opens/closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
- Apr 14 Ahmed Salah wins 1st World Cup marathon (2:08:09)
- Apr 14 Alan Garcia wins elections in Peru
- Apr 14 Bob Carpenter is unsuccessful on Washington Capitals 1st playoff penalty shot
- Apr 14 Jack C. Burcham is 5th to receive "Jarvik 7" permanent artificial heart
- Apr 15 89th Boston Marathon: Englishman Geoff Smith repeats as men's champion in 2:14:05; American Lisa Larsen Weidenbach takes women's title in 2:34:06
- Apr 15 Challenger moves to launch pad for 51-B missing
- Apr 16 "Grind" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 79 performances
- Apr 18 "Wham!" become the first western pop act to release an album in China
- Apr 19 16th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-D): Discovery 4 returns to Earth
- Apr 19 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Apr 20 ATF raid on The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas
- Apr 20 Carlos Lopes runs world record marathon (2:07:12)
- Apr 20 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Mark Williams
- Apr 20 Karyn Marshall of NYC lifted 303 lbs in a clean & jerk lift
- Apr 21 Bomb attacks in NATO/AEG-Telefunken building in Brussels
- Apr 23 Brooklyn College soccer team wins Nepal's invitational
- Apr 23 New Coke debuts; Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula
- Apr 24 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carolyn Lizer for "Yin"
- Apr 25 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points in a Cup game (3 goals, 4 assists)
Big River
Apr 25 Roger Miller's musical "Big River", based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater, NYC; runs for 1005 performances, wins 3 Tony Awards
- Apr 25 West German Parliament rules it is illegal to deny the Holocaust
- Apr 29 17th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-B): Challenger 7 launches
- Apr 29 Ranger Larry Parrish is 5th to hit 3 HRs in a game in both leagues
- Apr 29 Tony Tubbs beats defending champion Greg Page by unanimous decision in 15 rounds at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo for WBA heavyweight boxing title
- Apr 30 "Shoah", French documentary about the Holocaust, directed by Claude Lanzmann, starring Richard Glazar and Raul Hilberg, premieres in Paris
- Apr 30 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll
- Apr 30 Last edition of Brink Daily Mail and Sunday Express in South Africa
- Apr 30 NFL Draft: Virginia Tech defensive end Bruce Smith first pick by Buffalo Bills
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 1 Beth Tweddle, English gymnast (World C'ship gold 2006, 09, 10; Olympic bronze 2012), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Apr 1 Josh Zuckerman, American actor
- Apr 2 Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater (World C'ship gold men's singles 2005, 06; Olympic silver 2006; Grand Prix Final champion 2005, 07), born in Martigny, Switzerland
- Apr 2 Thom Evans, Scottish rugby union winger (10 caps; London Wasps, Glasgow Warriors), born in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Apr 4 Rudy Fernández, Spanish basketball guard (Olympic silver 2008, 12; bronze 2016; FIBA World Cup gold 2006, 19; Portland TB's, Denver Nuggets; Real Madrid), born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Apr 6 Clarke MacArthur, Canadian-born ice hockey player
- Apr 6 Garrett Zablocki, American rock guitarist (Senses Fail, 2002-11), born in New Jersey
- Apr 7 Humza Yousaf, Scottish politician (SNP leader and Scottish First Leader elect, 1st Muslim to lead a major UK political party), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- Apr 7 Saad Lamjarred, Moroccan pop singer-songwriter ("Lm3allem"), born in Rabat, Morocco
- Apr 9 Yamashita Tomohisa, Japanese singer and actor, born in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
- Apr 10 Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Apr 10 Eddie Castro, Panamanian jockey (record 9 wins in one race meeting 2005), born in Los Santos Province, Panama
- Apr 11 Will Minson, Australian rules footballer (Western Bulldogs), born in South Australia
- Apr 12 Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer (Hangry & Angry), born in Miyoshi, Saitama, Japan
- Apr 12 Jeísa Chiminazzo, Brazilian supermodel (IMG Models), born in Muçum, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- Apr 12 Olga Seryabkina, Russian singer and songwriter (Serebro), born in Moscow, Russia
- Apr 12 Ted Ginn Jr., American football player, born in Ohio
- Apr 15 Aaron Laffey, American baseball player
- Apr 15 John Danks, American baseball player
- Apr 16 Benjamín Rojas, Argentine actor and singer, born in La Plata, Argentina
- Apr 16 Luol Deng, Sudanese-born British basketball player, born in Wau, South Sudan
- Apr 16 Mark Baker, Welsh author and historian
- Apr 17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player (Australian Open 2008 runner-up; Davis Cup 2017; Hopman Cup 2014), born in Le Mans, France
- Apr 17 Luke Mitchell, Australian actor (Home and Away; Blindspot), born in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Apr 17 Rooney Mara, American actress (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Carol), born in Bedford, New York
- Apr 18 Elena Temnikova, Russian disco and Euro-pop singer (Serebro), fashin designer, and television personality, born in Kurgan, Russia
- Apr 18 Karl Reindler, Australian racing driver, born in Perth, Australia
- Apr 18 Łukasz Fabiański, Polish football goalkeeper (Poland national team), born in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland
- Apr 19 Valon Behrami, Swiss footballer (Switzerland national team), born in Mitrovica, Yugoslavia
- Apr 21 Łukasz Trepczyński, Polish classical pianist, born in Radomsko, Poland
- Apr 22 Sam Altman, American entrepreneur (co-founder and CEO OpenAI), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Apr 23 Angel Locsin, Filipina TV and movie actress (Mulawin), born in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines
- Apr 25 Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver, born in Rhenen, Netherlands
- Apr 25 Jonathan Halyalkar, American actor (Billy-Who's the Boss), born in Ramsey, New Jersey
- Apr 26 Nam Gyu-Ri, Korean singer (member of See Ya), born in Seoul, South Korea
Famous Weddings
Famous Deaths
- Apr 1 Douglass Wallop, American novelist and playwright (b. 1920)
- Apr 1 Herman Roelstraete, Belgium composer, dies at 59
- Apr 4 Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (b. 1891)
- Apr 5 Arthur Negus, English antiques expert and broadcaster (Antiques Roadshow), dies at 82
- Apr 5 Tyrell Johnson, West Indian cricketer (WI left-arm quickie, one Test 1939), dies at 68
- Apr 6 Mark Lothar [Lothar Hundertmark], German composer (The Story of the Lazy Bear), dies at 82
- Apr 7 Carl Schmitt, German political theorist and prominent Nazi (Verfassungslehre), dies at 96
- Apr 8 J. Fred Coots, American songwriter ("Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"; "Love Letters In The Sand"), dies at 87
- Apr 11 Bunny Ahearne, British ice hockey promoter, dies at 84

- Apr 14 Noele Gordon, British actress (Crossroads), dies at 65
- Apr 14 Reginald Beane, American pianist (Starlit Time: Once Upon a Tune), dies at 63
- Apr 15 Ben Stroman, Dutch writer (Jomtof & Blue Beard), dies at 82
- Apr 16 Scott Brady [Gerald Tierney], American actor (Shotgun Slade, China Syndrome, Gremlins, Johnny Guitar), dies of pulmonary fibrosis at 60
- Apr 18 Gertrude Caton-Thompson, English archaeologist (Zimbabwe, So Arabia), dies at 97
- Apr 19 Bruce R. McConkie, American LDS apostle and author, dies at 69
- Apr 21 Foster Hewitt, Canadian radio broadcaster (Hockey Night in Canada), dies at 82
- Apr 21 Irving Mills [Isadore Minsky], American jazz music publisher, manager (Duke Ellington, 1926-48), singer and lyricist, dies at 91
- Apr 21 Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer (monokini, miniskirt), dies of cancer at 62
- Apr 21 Tancredo Neves, president-elect of Brazil, dies at 75
- Apr 22 José de Lima Siqueira, Brazilian conductor, and composer, dies at 78
- Apr 22 Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer, dies at 84
- Apr 23 Kent Smith, American actor (Peyton Place, Invaders), dies from heart disease at 78
- Apr 23 Sam Ervin, American politician (U.S. Senator from North Carolina) and Watergate committee chairman, dies at 88
- Apr 24 Sergei Yutkevich, Russian film director, (Otello, Banya), dies at 80
- Apr 25 Murray Matheson, actor (Felix-Banacek), dies at 72
- Apr 25 Richard Haydn, British actor (The Sound of Music; Alice in Wonderland), dies from a heart attack at 80
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