Local
2021: The CC Block post office opens a philately park within its complex on April 22. The 1,200sq ft park has replicas of more than 80 stamps mostly themed on birds and nature. There is also a small water body and a bridge built over, along with a birdhouse and a red mailbox.
National
1837: Sikh military leader Hari Singh Nalwa dies in the battlefield fighting the forces of Dost Mohammad Khan of Afghanistan. Nalwa had been instrumental in expanding the Sikh empire beyond the Indus River up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass.
Hari Singh Nalwa
He was nicknamed “Baghmaar” (tiger-killer) for his conquests and courage. Though mortally wounded in his last battle, his leadership ensured the enemy’s retreat.
1886: Mir Osman Ali Khan is born in April to the royal family of Hyderabad. He grows up to become the last Nizam of the princely state till it is annexed by India in 1948.
Mir Osman Ali Khan
The Nizam is one of the richest people of all time thanks to the Golconda mines which, at the time, is the lone supplier of diamonds in the world. He is known as the architect of modern Hyderabad for introducing electricity, railways, airports and founding institutions like Osmania University and Hyderabad High Court.
1901: Catherine Heilman is born in England on April 5. Later in life, she meets Gandhi and is inspired to move to India.
Sarala Behn
Taking on the name Sarala Behn, she works closely with Gandhi in the freedom struggle and also champions environmental conservation in the Himalayas. She empowers women in sustainable forestry and plays a key role in the Chipko movement.
Global
1904: J. Robert Oppenheimer is born on April 22 in New York. He grows up to become a theoretical physicist making key contributions to quantum mechanics and nuclear physics and is director of the secret laboratory established by the government during World War II to build the first atomic bomb.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
After World War II, Oppenheimer, who is remembered as the “father of the atomic bomb,” advocates for nuclear control, but faces political resistance.
1998: Kampuchea dictator Pol Pot dies on April 15. The communist Prime Minister, of what would later be Cambodia, ruled between 1976 and 1979.
Pol Pot
Pot turned the country into an agrarian society and forced the urban crowd to move to villages and work on farms. He abolished the system of money, introduced uniform black clothes for all. Nearly 2 million people died during this Cambodian genocide, from starvation, disease, and execution.
2008: Nujood Ali, a 10-year-old Yemeni girl, escapes on April 2, two months after her wedding. Nujood was married off to a man in his 30s, who raped her and whose parents beat her. The girl goes to court, alone, to seek a divorce.
The judge sends her father and husband into custody and Nujood goes on to become an international symbol against forced and child marriages. She co-authors a book I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced.
Sports
1851: Young Tom Morris is born on April 20 in St Andrews, Scotland, that is known as the home of golf. Morris becomes the first young prodigy of the sport, winning four consecutive titles in the Open Championship by the age of 21.
He also records what is perhaps the first hole-in-one in golf history and since then, hole-in-ones have become sought-after achievements for players. Morris dies of pulmonary hemorrhage at the age of 24.
1983: Painter Edmund Thomas Clint dies on April 15 of kidney failure. He was six. Clint was a child prodigy from Kerala who created over 25,000 paintings, particularly of Hindu festivals happening near his home.
Painter Edmund Thomas Clint
His works have since then been displayed in multiple exhibitions, a road in Kochi has been named after him and a Malayalam movie made on his life.
2018: Swedish DJ and music producer Avicii dies on April 20, at the age of 28. Avicii started gaining attention from the age 16 and scored hits like Wake me up and Levels.
Avicii
But after years of stress and poor mental health, had retired from touring in 2016 and commits suicide while on a holiday in Muscat. His final album, released posthumously, is named Tim, after his real name Tim Bergling.
