Today in History

April 20

1792 - France declares war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.

1854 - Austria and Prussia conclude defensive alliance against Russia.

1902 - Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium.

1908 - Some 44 people die when trains collide at Sunshine, Victoria, Australia.

1920 - Tornadoes kill 219 in Alabama and Mississippi.

1923 - Egyptian constitution is adopted.

1945 - Soviet forces penetrate Berlin defences in Second World War.

1957 - Japan protests to Soviet Union over nuclear tests.

1968 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau is sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister.

1970 - Bruno Kreisky becomes first socialist chancellor of Austria.

1972 - US Apollo 16 astronauts make safe landing on Moon.

1978 - Soviet fighter planes force off-course South Korean airliner down in Soviet Union near Arctic Circle. 1980 - The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reach Florida.

1986 - Giant irrigation reservoir bursts and floods Sri Lanka town, killing at least 100.

1987 - Palestine Liberation Organisation Chairman Yasser Arafat calls for a sovereign Palestinian state.

1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit South Korea.

1994 - Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organisation wrap up an agreement transferring civilian government powers to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.

1995 - Egyptian aircraft begin a UN-approved shuttle service for Muslim pilgrims from Libya to Saudi Arabia.

1998 - An Ecuadorean airliner slams into a mountainside in Colombia, killing all 53 people aboard.

2012 - A passenger plane belonging to Bhoja Air crashes near Islamabad, Pakistan, while trying to land, killing all 127 people on board. 2017 - Pakistan’s Supreme Court reprieves Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case.