Louis-Napolon Bonaparte (d. 09 January 1873) was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napolon Bonaparte. Elected President by popular vote in 1848, he initiated a coup d'tat in 1851, becoming dictator before ascending the throne as Napoleon III on 2 December 1852, the forty-eighth anniversary of Napoleon I's coronation. He ruled as Emperor of the French until 4 September 1870. He holds the unusual distinction of being both the first titular president and the last monarch of France.
Napoleon III is primarily remembered for several military ventures, including the French participation in the Crimean War, the conquest of Senegal, the Second Opium War, the Cochinchina Campaign, the Second Italian War of Independence, the Franco-Mexican War, the Taiping Rebellion, the 1866 campaign against Korea, the Boshin War, and the Franco-Prussian War. Domestically, Napoleon's reign was a major period of industrialisation for the French economy. He also oversaw a major renovation of Paris that created the outline of the modern city. The Second French Empire was overthrown three days after Napoleon's disastrous surrender at the Battle of Sedan in 1870, which resulted in both the proclamation of the French Third Republic and the cession of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine to the newly-formed German Empire.
( ( ( #09 b. 1889 ) ) )
Adolf Hitler (d. 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and, after 1934, also head of state as Fhrer und Reichskanzler, ruling the country as an absolute dictator.
A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the precursor of the Nazi Party (DAP) in 1919 and became leader of NSDAP in 1921. He attempted a failed coup called the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923, for which he was imprisoned. Following his imprisonment, in which he wrote his book, Mein Kampf, he gained support by promoting German nationalism, anti-semitism, anti-capitalism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor in 1933, and quickly transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideals of national socialism.
Hitler ultimately wanted to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in continental Europe. To achieve this, he pursued a foreign policy with the declared goal of seizing Lebensraum ("living space") for the Aryan people; directing the resources of the state towards this goal. This included the rearmament of Germany, which culminated in 1939 when the Wehrmacht invaded Poland. In response, the United Kingdom and France declared war against Germany, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.
Within three years, Germany and the Axis powers had occupied most of Europe, and most of Northern Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. However, with the reversal of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the Allies gained the upper hand from 1942 onwards. By 1945, Allied armies had invaded German-held Europe from all sides. Nazi forces engaged in numerous violent acts during the war, including the systematic murder of as many as 17million civilians, including an estimated six million Jews targeted in the Holocaust and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Roma, Poles, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents.
In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun and, to avoid capture by Soviet forces less than two days later, the two committed suicide on 30 April 1945.
( ( ( #08 b. 1913 ) ) )
Dick Wessel (d. April 20, 1965) was an American film actor. Born in Wisconsin, Wessel appeared in over 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his chilling portrayal of the ruthless strangler Harry "Cueball" Lake in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball.
Modern viewers will remember Wessel for his numerous appearances in the Three Stooges short subjects Punchy Cowpunchers and as Chopper Kane in Fright Night and its remake, Fling in the Ring. In 1959, he appeared as police captain Bob Rattigan in the episode "Rattigan and the Cat" of the syndicated Border Patrol television series, starring Richard Webb.
Wessel died of a sudden heart attack at his home on his 52nd birthday. He had just finished his role as Eddie the garbage man in the Disney film The Ugly Dachshund. Voice artist Paul Frees dubbed Wessel's voice in during post-production.
( ( ( #07 b. 1921 ) ) )
Janine Sutto, is a Quebec actress.
Born in Paris, the daughter of Lopold Sutto and Rene Mamert, she immigrated to Canada in the 1930s with her family settling in Montreal.
In 1986 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1991. In 1998, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
( ( ( #06 b. 1937 ) ) )
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, best known for his role in the television series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USSEnterprise. He is an outspoken proponent of gay rights and active in state and local politics as well as continuing his acting career. He has won several awards and accolades in his work on human rights and Japanese-American relations, including his work with the Japanese American National Museum.
Michael Brandon is an American actor who resides in the United Kingdom and United States.
Brandon was born Michael Feldman in Brooklyn, New York to Miriam (ne Tumen) and Sol Feldman. At age nine, he and his family moved to Valley Stream, New York where he attended Memorial Junior High and then Valley Stream Central High School.
Brandon starred in the TV series Dempsey and Makepeace and Dinotopia, the movies Quattro mosche di velluto grigio (1971), F.M. (1978), and A Change of Seasons (1980), and the plays Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and Jerry Springer - The Opera.
Since moving to the UK, Brandon has worked in TV on such shows as The Bill, Trial and Retribution, and Dead Man Weds. In 2004, he began narrating the American version of Thomas and Friends and Abe and the Amazing Promise of Veggie Tales. In February 2008 he began his talk radio show on City Talk, a new local radio station in Liverpool. In 2008 he appeared in the Series 4 finale of the BBC's Doctor Who, as General Sanchez, a UNIT officer. Also in 2008 he appeared in the Bones, as Clive Frampton, an American millionaire.
From 1976 to 1979, Brandon was married to actress Lindsay Wagner (best known as Jaime Sommers in the Bionic Woman series). He is currently married to actress Glynis Barber, with whom he co-starred in Dempsey & Makepeace, and the two have settled in the United Kingdom. Brandon and Barber have a son called Alexander Max Brandon, (born November 1992)
( ( ( #04 b. 1967 ) ) )
Michael Stephen Portnoy is an American drummer primarily known as the former drummer and backing vocalist for the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Known for his drumming prowess and technical skill, Portnoy has won 23 awards from the Modern Drummer magazine. He has co-produced the last six Dream Theater albums with guitarist John Petrucci, starting from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. From A Change of Seasons onwards, Portnoy had been writing a substantial amount of Dream Theater's lyrics, filling the void left by Kevin Moore, who left the band after the band's release of Awake. He is the second youngest person (after Neil Peart) to be inducted into the Modern Drummer's Hall of Fame (at 37 years of age). On September 8 2010, Portnoy announced he would be leaving Dream Theater, many fans speculating he wanted to fill the void left by Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and join band Avenged Sevenfold full time.
( ( ( #03 b. 1972 ) ) )
Tara Leigh Patrick, professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, on the TV series Baywatch, and dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, and has since had roles in the parody films Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie.
( ( ( #02 b. 1976 ) ) )
Joseph "Joey" Lawrence is an American actor, singer, and television host. In television he is best known for his roles in television series Gimme a Break! and Blossom.
( ( ( #01 b. 1983 ) ) )
Miranda May Kerr is an Australian model best known as one of the Victoria's Secret Angels since mid-2007. She is the first Australian to participate in the Victoria's Secret campaign, and also represents Australian fashion chains Portmans and David Jones Limited. Kerr began modeling in the fashion industry when she was 13, starting at Chaay's Modelling Agency, and soon after winning a 1997 Australian nationwide model search hosted by Dolly magazine and Impulse fragrances. She is married to actor Orlando Bloom.
Discover 10 Famous People Born April 20; Louis-Napolon Bonaparte, George Hosato Takei Altman, Mike Portnoy, and many others!
