Portal:Belgium/Anniversaries/April

These are the selected anniversaries for April that appear on the Belgium portal. The "edit" links edit the portal subpages that are displayed as sections here.

April 1

• 1688: birth of Maurus Dantine, monk and chronologist
• 1905: birth of Gaston Eyskens, six times Prime Minister of Belgium between 1949 and 1950, between 1958 and 1961, and between 1968 and 1973, and father of later prime minister Mark Eyskens
• 1924: First revenue flight for Belgium's Sabena Airlines
• 1941: death of Hippolyte Delehaye, hagiographer, president of the Bollandists between 1912 and 1941
• 1983: start of Studio Brussel, the alternative radio station of the VRT
• 1994: death of Léon Degrelle, founder of Rex, Nazi, and Holocaust denier

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April 2

• 1527: birth of Abraham Ortelius, cartographer, creator of the first modern atlas

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April 3

• 1812: birth of Louise-Marie of France, first Queen of the Belgians, wife of Leopold I
• 1818: birth of Jean-François Portaels, orientalist painter
• 1863: birth of Henry van de Velde, architect and interior designer, pioneer of the Art Nouveau
• 1891: death of Constantine Bruno, Baron Kervyn de Lettenhove, historian and minister in the Belgian federal government in 1870
• 1953: birth of Pieter Aspe, writer of detective stories
• 1979: Wilfried Martens becomes Prime Minister of Belgium
• 2005: cyclist Tom Boonen wins the 89th edition of the Tour of Flanders

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April 4

• 1609: death of Charles de l'Écluse, known as Clusius, early botanist
• 1826: birth of Zénobe Gramme, inventor of the Gramme machine, an improvement of earlier dynamos
• 1905: death of Constantin Meunier, sculptor
• 1942: birth of Michel Fourniret, serial killer
• 1990: King Baudouin of Belgium is declared "unable to reign" for one day when he refuses to give his Royal Assent to a law liberalising Belgium's abortion laws
• 2004: death of Briek Schotte, cyclist, twice World Champion and Tour of Flanders winner

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April 5

• 1252: death of Juliana of Liège, saint
• 1822: birth of Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye, economist
• 1831: death of Pierre Léonard Vander Linden, entomologist
• 1885: the first Socialist party in Belgium, the Belgian Labour Party (POB-BWP), is founded in Brussels
• 1923: birth of Ernest Mandel, Trotskyist, essayist, and survivor of the Holocaust
• 1929: birth of Hugo Claus, writer and poet
• 1943: American bombers attack the town of Mortsel killing near a thousand Belgian civilians.

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April 6

File:Ules bordet.jpg

• 1692: death of Emmanuel Schelstrate, theologian
• 1961: death of Jules Bordet, immunologist and microbiologist, received the 1919 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1969: birth of Joël Smets, motocross rider
• 1998: death of Rudy Dhaenens, cyclist, World Champion in 1990

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April 7

• 1841: birth of Alfred Cogniaux, botanist
• 1981: birth of Stijn Stijnen, footballer currently playing for Club Brugge

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April 8

• 1514: death of Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg, philanthropist
• 1605: birth of Philip IV of Spain, King of Spain and ruler over most of the current territory of Belgium
• 1816: death of Saint Julie Billiart, founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
• 1870: death of Charles de Bériot, violinist
• 1875: birth of Albert I of Belgium, third King of Belgium between 1909 and 1934
• 1898: birth of Achille Van Acker, politician, Prime Minister of Belgium between 1945 and 1946, and between 1954 and 1958

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April 9

• 688: death of Waltrude, patron saint of Mons
• 1835: birth of Leopold II, King of the Belgians (pictured)
• 1895: birth of Clément Doucet, pianist
• 1918: start of the Battle of the Lys during World War I
• 1973: birth of Bart Goor, soccer player with 67 appearances for the Belgium national football team

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April 10

• 1008: death of Notker of Liège, first prince-bishop of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège
• 1952: birth of Hugo Broos, soccer player and coach, as coach three times winner of the First division
• 1961: birth of Rudy Dhaenens, cyclist, World Champion in 1990
• 1986: birth of Vincent Kompany, footballer, winner of the Belgian Golden Shoe in 2004 and of the Belgian Ebony Shoe in 2004 and 2005, currently plays for Hamburger SV

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April 11

• 1612: death of Emanuel van Meteren, historian
• 1953: birth of Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium since 1999 (pictured)
• 1974: birth of Natacha Régnier, actress

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April 12

• 1555: death of Joanna of Castile, mother of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1794: birth of Germinal Pierre Dandelin, French-Dutch-Belgian mathematician and engineer
• 1831: birth of Constantin Meunier, sculptor
• 1893: a massive general strike breaks out in Belgium over the issue of restricted voting rights
• 2003: marriage of Prince Laurent of Belgium to Claire Coombs
• 2006: Joe Van Holsbeeck is murdered in broad daylight at the Central Station in Brussels for his iPod

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April 13

• 1830: birth of Eduard Lassen, composer
• 1860: birth of James Ensor, early expressionist and surrealist painter
• 1987: birth of Jonathan Legear, football midfielder currently playing for R.S.C. Anderlecht
• 2005: death of Philippe Volter, actor in Three Colors and Double Life of Veronique

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April 14

• 1578: birth of Philip III of Spain, ruler over most of the current territory of Belgium
• 1941: an anti-Jewish pogrom occurs in Antwerp, led by Belgian collaborators
• 1969: birth of Luc Van Lierde, triathlete, twice winner of the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii and World Champion in 1997

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April 15

• 1388: death of William I, Duke of Bavaria, Count of Hainaut
• 1889: death of Father Damien, priest, missionary who dedicated his life to the service of the lepers in Molokai
• 1916: death of Alfred Cogniaux, botanist
• 1943: an Allied bomber attack misses the Minerva automobile factory and hits the Belgian town of Mortsel instead, leaving 936 dead civilians in its wake
• 1960: birth of Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, oldest son of King Albert II of Belgium and heir apparent to the Belgian throne

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April 16

• 1838: birth of Ernest Solvay, chemist and businessman, creator of the Solvay Conferences and the Solvay Business School
• 1922: birth of Leo Tindemans, former Prime Minister of Belgium
• 1923: death of Isidore Jacques Eggermont, photographer and writer

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April 17

• 1427: death of John IV, Duke of Brabant, founder of the Catholic University of Leuven
• 1833: birth of Jean-Baptiste Accolay, composer
• 1923: birth of Jacques Sternberg, science fiction writer
• 1958: opening of the Expo '58, the first World's Fair after World War II, attracting more than 42 million visitors
• 1964: birth of Bart van den Bossche, singer and TV presenter

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April 18

• 1915: birth of Edmond Leburton, politician, Prime Minister of Belgium between 1973 and 1974
• 1947: birth of Guy Goffette, poet, awarded with the Prix Mallarmé and the Grand Prix de l'Académie française

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April 19

• 1044: death of Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine and margrave of Antwerp
• 1839: the Treaty of London recognises the independence and neutrality of Belgium and defines its borders
• 1936: birth of Wilfried Martens, politician, Prime Minister of Belgium for nine times between 1979 and 1992, chairman of the European People's Party since 1992
• 1943: The Belgian Resistance manages to rescue over 200 Jews from a train during the Holocaust

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April 20

• 1920: opening ceremony of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp
• 1932: death of Edgard Colle, chess player, known for the Colle System opening
• 1976: birth of Big Ben, world champion show jumping horse, inducted in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame
• 2006: the law allowing adoption by same-sex couples, which had already been passed by the Chamber of Representatives, is passed by the Senate with 34 votes in favour, 33 votes against and two abstentions

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April 21

• 1951: birth of Jean-Pierre Dardenne, film director, twice winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
• 1958: birth of Michael Lafosse, self-proclaimed heir to the Scottish throne

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April 22

• 1854: birth of Henri La Fontaine, lawyer, president of the International Peace Bureau, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1913, between 1907 and 1943
• 1915: the first use of poison gas in a war happened during World War I when the Germans released chlorine in Langemark
• 1930: birth of Georges Schoeters, one of the founders and a leader of the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group
• 1950: birth of Thierry Zéno, controversial film director, known from Vase de Noces
• 1972: birth of Sabine Appelmans, tennis player, winner of 7 tournaments in the WTA Tour
• 1977: death of Edward Van Dijck, cyclist, winner of the 1947 Vuelta a España

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April 23

• 711: death of Childebert III, King of the Franks
• 1918: the Zeebrugge Raid is a partly successful operation by the troops of the United Kingdom to block the port of Zeebrugge, occupied by the Germans
• 2003: birth of Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, daughter of Archduke Lorenz of Austria-Este and Princess Astrid of Belgium

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April 24

• 1736: death of Prince Eugene of Savoy, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
• 1971: birth of Mauro Pawlowski, musician with dEUS and Evil Superstars

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April 25

• 1690: death of David Teniers the Younger, Baroque painter
• 1802: birth of Victor Scheppers, founder of the Congregation of the Brothers of Scheppers
• 1928: death of Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Lieutenant General of the White movement in Russia, in his house in Brussels
• 1961: birth of Frank De Winne, second Belgian man in space

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April 26

• 1444: death of Robert Campin, considered the first great master of Flemish painting
• 1922: birth of Pol Bury, sculptor
• 1930: birth of Roger Moens, athlete, 800 meter runner, broke the world record and won the silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome
• 1947: birth of Marc Otte, special representative of the European Union to the Middle East peace process
• 1956: birth of François Schuiten, comics author of Les Cités Obscures
• 1962: birth of Erik Van Looy, TV show presenter and film director of The Alzheimer Case

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April 27

• 1404: death of Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, the first to join Flanders to the Duchy of Burgundy by his marriage to Margaret III, Countess of Flanders
• 1846: birth of Charles Joseph Van Depoele, inventor and electrical engineer

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April 28

• 1829: birth of Charles Bourseul, sometimes credited as the inventor of the telephone
• 1907: birth of Raymond Braine, soccer player, the first Belgian professional player from 1930 on, when he played for Sparta Prague; he played 54 times for the Belgium national football team
• 1908: death of Jean-Baptiste Moens, the so-called "Father of Philately"
• 1944: birth of Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, politician, Minister-President of the Walloon Region between 2000 and 2005

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April 29

• 1899: Camille Jenatzy sets the land speed record at 105.88 km/h in his third and final record race of the year, and is the first to break the 100 km/h barrier
• 1918: end of the Battle of the Lys during World War I
• 1922: birth of Toots Thielemans, called the greatest jazz harmonica player of the century
• 1928: birth of Jan Pieter Schotte, Roman Catholic cardinal and official of the Roman Curia
• 1930: birth of Rik Coppens, siccer player with 47 appearances for the Belgium national football team
• 1933: birth of Mark Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium in 1981 and son of former prime minister Gaston Eyskens
• 1937: birth of Wannes Van de Velde, singer
• 1942: birth of François-Xavier de Donnéa, politician, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region between 2000 and 2003
• 1942: birth of Jean-Baptiste Baronian, writer
• 1970: birth of Piet Goddaer, musician known as Ozark Henry

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April 30

• 1632: death of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, one of the two chief commanders of the Holy Roman Empire's forces in the Thirty Years' War
• 1847: death of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, last Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
• 1874: birth of Cyriel Verschaeve, clergyman and writer who was condemned for collaboration during World War II.
• 1961: birth of Franky Van Der Elst, soccer player, is the second most capped player of the Belgium national football team with 86 appearances, and was selected as one of the 125 greatest living footballers by Pelé
• 1964: birth of Lorenzo Staelens, soccer player with 70 appearances for the Belgium national football team

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