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Today (April 20)
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April 20 The Nicoll Highway collapse occurred in Singapore on 20 April 2004 when a Mass Rapid Transit tunnel construction site caved in near the highway next to the Merdeka Bridge. Four workers were killed and three were injured, delaying the construction of the Circle Line. The collapse was caused by a poorly designed strut-waler support system, a lack of monitoring and proper management of data caused by human error, and organisational failures of the construction contractors and the Land Transport Authority. Following the incident, the collapsed site was refilled, and the highway was reinstated and reopened to traffic on 4 December 2004. The authorities revised their construction safety measures to be above industry standards. The Circle Line tunnels were realigned (map pictured), with Nicoll Highway station rebuilt underneath Republic Avenue, to the south of the original site. The station and tunnels opened on 17 April 2010, three years later than planned. (Full article...)
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April 20: First day of Ridván (Baháʼí Faith, 2024); 420 (cannabis culture)
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Tomorrow (April 21)
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April 21 The 1984 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place between 21 April and 7 May at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, and was the eighth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible since the 1977 event. It featured 94 participants, of which 78 players competed in a qualifying event held at the Redwood Lodge in Bristol. The defending champion was English player Steve Davis (pictured), who had won the title twice previously. He met Jimmy White in the final, which was played as a best-of-35-frames match. Davis won 18–16, becoming the first player to retain the title at the Crucible. Rex Williams secured the championship's highest break, scoring a 138 in the 12th frame of his first-round loss to White. Eight century breaks were made during the competition, the fewest since the 1978 event. (Full article...)
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In two days (April 22)
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April 22 Kathleen Ferrier (22 April 1912 – 8 October 1953) was an English contralto who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist. During the Second World War she performed regularly with the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts. In 1946 she made her stage debut as Lucretia in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, and a year later she appeared as Orfeo in Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. As a recitalist, Ferrier's repertoire included works by Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Elgar. Forming working relationships with the conductors John Barbirolli and Bruno Walter and the accompanist Gerald Moore, she became known internationally through her three tours of the United States and her many visits to continental Europe. She continued to perform and record after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1951. Among her many memorials, the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship Fund makes annual awards to aspiring young singers. (Full article...)
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April 22: First day of Passover (Judaism, 2024)
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April 22 Seventeen people have held the office of President and Chancellor of New York University (NYU), a private research university in New York City. The president of New York University is its chief executive officer and is elected by the university's board of trustees, of which the president is a member ex officio. From NYU's foundation by Albert Gallatin in 1831 until 1956, the head of NYU was the chancellor. That year, the office became known as "president and chancellor", or "president" for short. The president recommends persons to fill senior offices, including the provost, executive vice president, general counsel, and deans, who are then appointed by the board. The president also presides over the university senate and confers all degrees, with the board's authorization and upon certification of a student by the faculty. The incumbent president, Linda G. Mills (pictured), assumed office on July 1, 2023 and became NYU's first female president. (Full list...)
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In three days (April 23)
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April 23 Stanley Price Weir (23 April 1866 – 14 November 1944) was a public servant and Australian Army officer. During World War I, he commanded the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force during the landing at Anzac Cove and the Gallipoli campaign against the Ottoman Turks, and during the battles of Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France. Weir returned to Australia at his own request at the age of 50 in late 1916, when he was appointed as the first public service commissioner of South Australia. In 1917 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was mentioned in despatches for his performance at Pozières and Mouquet Farm. On his retirement from the Australian Military Forces in 1921, he was given an honorary promotion to brigadier general, only the second officer born in South Australia to reach this rank. Before his retirement from public service in 1931, Weir was the chairman of both the Central Board of Health and the Public Relief Board. (Full article...)
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April 23: National Sovereignty and Children's Day in Turkey; Third Month Fair begins in China (2024)
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In four days (April 24)
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April 24 Blair Peach died on 24 April 1979 after an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, London, England. Peach, a New Zealand teacher and activist born in 1946, had taken part in an Anti-Nazi League demonstration against a National Front election meeting in Southall Town Hall. An investigation by Commander John Cass of the Metropolitan Police Service concluded that Peach had been fatally hit on the head by an officer of the service's Special Patrol Group, and that other officers had obstructed the investigation. Excerpts from a leaked copy of the report were published in early 1980. In 1988 the Metropolitan Police paid £75,000 compensation to Peach's family. The full report was not released to the public until 2009, after a newspaper vendor died from being struck from behind by a member of the Territorial Support Group, the Special Patrol Group's successor organisation. An award in Peach's honour was set up by the National Union of Teachers, and a school in Southall is named after him. (Full article...)
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April 24: Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (1915); Administrative Professionals Day in various countries (2024)
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In five days (April 25)
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April 25 Vance Drummond (1927–1967) was a New Zealand–born Australian pilot who fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Posted to No. 77 Squadron in Korea, he flew Gloster Meteor jet fighters and earned the US Air Medal for his combat skills. He was shot down in 1951 and imprisoned for almost two years. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1965 after leading the Black Diamonds aerobatic team of No. 75 Squadron. Drummond was promoted to acting wing commander in 1965 and posted to South Vietnam on staff duties with the US Air Force. He joined their 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, operating Cessna Bird Dog aircraft, as a forward air controller in July 1966. That month he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in rescuing a company of soldiers surrounded by Viet Cong forces. He took command of No. 3 Squadron in February 1967. His Dassault Mirage IIIO crashed into the sea during a training exercise in May; neither Drummond nor the aircraft was found. (Full article...)
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April 25: Liberation Day in Italy (1945)
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April 25
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In six days (April 26)
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April 26 Into Temptation is an independent drama film written and directed by Patrick Coyle. It tells the story of a prostitute—played by Kristin Chenoweth (pictured)—who confesses to a Catholic priest (Jeremy Sisto) that she plans to kill herself. The priest attempts to find her, and in doing so involves himself in the darker side of society. Partially inspired by Coyle's impressions of his father, the film's themes include temptation, sin, good and evil, redemption and celibacy, and the boundaries between providing counsel and getting personally involved in events. It was filmed and set in Coyle's hometown of Minneapolis. Into Temptation was optioned, but talks fell through due to complications from the 2008 global recession. It officially premiered on April 26, 2009, at the Newport Beach Film Festival, where Sisto won the "Outstanding Achievement in Acting" award. The film received generally positive reviews. (Full article...)
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April 26 Avengers: Infinity War, a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, won twenty-two awards from seventy-eight nominations, with particular recognition for its acting (mainly that of Josh Brolin – pictured) and visual effects. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 91st Academy Awards. The film received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production at the 46th Annie Awards. At the 72nd British Academy Film Awards, Avengers: Infinity War was nominated for Best Special Visual Effects. It received two nominations at the 24th Critics' Choice Awards. Composer Alan Silvestri received a nomination for Best Instrumental Composition at the Grammy Awards' 61st ceremony. The film won one of two nominations at the 45th Saturn Awards. (Full list...) | |||
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In seven days (April 27)
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April 27 After the Deluge is an oil painting by English artist George Frederic Watts. Completed in 1891, it shows a scene from the story of Noah's Flood, in which Noah opens the window of his Ark to see that after 40 days the rain has stopped. The Symbolist painting is a stylised seascape, dominated by a bright sunburst breaking through clouds. Watts intended to evoke a monotheistic God in the act of creation, without depicting the Creator directly. The unfinished painting was exhibited at a church in Whitechapel in 1886, under the intentionally simplified title of The Sun. The completed version was shown for the first time at the New Gallery in 1891 and was admired by Watts's fellow artists. It influenced many painters who worked in the two decades following. Between 1902 and 1906 the painting was exhibited around the United Kingdom. It is now in the collection of the Watts Gallery in Compton, Guildford, Surrey. (Full article...)
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April 27: Koningsdag in the Netherlands
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