Today in History, April 20
HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE
1534 - Elizabeth Barton, the Maid of Kent, is executed in England for criticising the matrimonial practices of Henry VIII.
1653 - Oliver Cromwell expels the Long Parliament in England for trying to pass the Perpetuation Bill, which would have kept parliament in the hands of a few members only.
1657 - Jews in New Amsterdam (now New York City) are granted the rights and privileges of citizens.
1792 - France declares war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1827 - Copper is discovered in Tasmania.
1859 - The Dutch conclude a treaty granting Portugal the right to govern the northern part of Timor, Atauro Island and Oecussi.
1887 - The first motor race is scheduled in Paris: it results in a walkover for Georges Bouton, the only competitor.
1902 - Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium.
1908 - 44 die when trains collide at Sunshine, Victoria.
1914 - First loop-the-loop flown in Australia over Sydney by Maurice Guillaux in a Bleriot monoplane.
1939 - Robert Menzies becomes Australian prime minister, succeeding Joseph Lyons, who died earlier in the month.
1943 - The massacre of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto begins.
1945 - Soviet forces penetrate Berlin defences and allies take control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
1949 - Scientists at the Mayo Clinic announce they have synthesised a hormone, forming a substance called cortisone.
1972 - US Apollo 16 astronauts land safely on Moon.
1984 - Britain announces its administration of Hong Kong will cease in 1997.
1987 - PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat calls for sovereign Palestinian state "with Jerusalem as its capital".
1988 - 31 hostages aboard a Kuwaiti jumbo jet are released after 16 days held captive by gunmen seeking the release of 17 Arab militants held in Kuwait for a 1983 series of bombings.
1993 - Heavy fighting between Croat and Muslim troops spreads from central to southwestern Bosnia on the fifth day of a battle that has killed more than 200 people.
1994 - Israeli and PLO negotiators wrap up an agreement transferring civilian government powers to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1996 - Israel's air force hammers Hezbollah strongholds across south Lebanon and guerrillas unleash fresh rocket assaults on Israel as world diplomats converged on the Middle East to try to end 10 days of fighting.
1996 - Ukraine reluctantly confirms, a decade after the Chernobyl disaster, that it will close down the plant by the year 2000.
1997 - Israeli prosecutors decide not to charge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a corruption scandal because of insufficient evidence.
1999 - Two teenage students go on a rampage at Columbine High School in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, shooting 13 dead before taking their own lives.
2005 - Ecuador's congress removes President Lucio Gutierrez from office after a week of escalating street protests, and swears in Vice President Alfredo Palacio as the new president.
2006 - Tamil Tiger rebels pulled out of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, saying the island was heading for war.
2010 - An oil rig leased by BP explodes and later sinks in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people and releasing millions of litres of crude oil.
2011 - About 100 detainees riot and protest on the roof at Sydney's Villawood immigration detention centre, angry over long asylum application processing times.
2013 - Champion Australian mare Black Caviar retires after a record 25 wins from as many starts.
2014 - Neville Wran, NSW Labor premier from 1976 to 1986 and famous as "Nifty Nev", dies aged 87.
2015 - British police say they have arrested a 14-year-old youth who is linked to an alleged terrorist plot to attack Anzac Day commemorations in Melbourne.
2016 - British comedian and actor Victoria Wood dies from cancer at the age of 62.
2017 - A gunman opens fire on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him.
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III), French statesman (1808-1873); Adolf Hitler, German Nazi leader (1889-1945); Harold Lloyd, US comedian (1893-1971); Joan Miro, Spanish artist (1893-1983); Max Rowley, Australian broadcaster (1937-); Betty Cuthbert, Australian Olympic champion athlete (1938-); Ryan O'Neal, US actor (1941-); Jessica Lange, US actor (1949-); Sebastian Faulks, British novelist (1953-); Nicholas Lyndhurst, British actor (1961-); Andy Serkis, British actor (1964-); Julia Morris, Australian comedian and television presenter (1968-); Carmen Electra, US actor (1972-); Miranda Kerr, Australian model (1983-).
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. - Soeren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813-1855).
