April 20, 1535~ Two-hour atmospheric optical phenomenon observed over Stockholm

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Vädersolstavlan (“The Sun Dog Painting”) by Jacob Elbfas,
based on original by Urban målare (Urban [the] painter)

1535, 1636 / Oil on panel / 64”x43 1/3” / Storkyrkan (The Great Church), Stockholm, Sweden

Previous April 20 posts:

Spring~ April 20

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Odilon Redon: Born April 20, 1840

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/20~

April 18, 1906~ Devastating earthquake followed by fires in San Francisco, CA

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San Francisco’s Magnificent City Hall and Hall of Records,
Destroyed by Fire and Earthquake
Credited to R. E. Steele, Co-Operative View Company, St. Paul, Minnesota

1906-1920 (approx) / Stereograph / 3 1/2”x7 1/10” / Various collections, incl. NYPL Digital Collections

Previous April 18 posts:

Spring~ April 18

Leopold Stokowski: Born on April 18, 1882

April 18, 1956: The “Wedding of the Century”

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/18~

April 16, 1947~ Bernard Baruch coins term “Cold War”

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Area of Agreement by Herblock

1954 / Washington Post; reprinted in Herblock’s Here and Now
The Opper Project, Department of History, Ohio State University

On this day in 1947, Bernard Baruch, the multimillionaire financier and adviser to presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Harry S. Truman, coined the term “Cold War” to describe the increasingly chilly relations between two World War II Allies: the United States and the Soviet Union.
https://www.politico.com/story/2010/04/bernard-baruch-coins-term-cold-war-april-16-1947-035862
A Visual Guide to the Cold War~ https://coldwar.unc.edu/

Previous April 16 posts:

Spring~ April 16

Dorothy P. Lathrop: Born April 16, 1891

Garth Williams: Born on April 16, 1912

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/16~

April 15, 2019~ Notre-Dame de Paris seriously damaged by fire

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Notre-Dame by Maurice Utrillo

1909 / Oil on card / 25 1/2”x19 1/4” / Musée de l’Orangerie, Jardin Tuileries, Paris

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris Cathedral)
Between c.1160 & 1345 / Bearing masonry, cut stone, glass, lead, more
Approx. 226′high x 417’long x 157’wide / Île de la Cité, Paris

Previous April 15 posts:

Spring~ April 15

Leonardo da Vinci: Born April 15, 1452

Bessie Smith: Born on April 15, 1894

Born April 15, 1904: Abstract painter Arshile Gorky

Elizabeth Catlett (April 15, 1915-April 2, 2012)

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/15~

April 13th, 1598~ Henry IV of France signs the Edict of Nantes

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Signed by Henry IV of France at Nantes on April 13th, 1598, the edict put a temporary end to the ferocious religious wars between Roman Catholics and Protestants which had torn France apart since the 1560s.

The Triumph of Henry IV by Peter Paul Rubens

c.1630 / Oil on wood / 19 1/2”x32 7/8” / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Previous April 13 posts:

Spring~ April 13

Louis-Ernest Barrias (April 13, 1841-February 4, 1905)

Edward Bruce: Born April 13, 1879

Lowell George (April 13, 1945-June 29, 1979)

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/13~

April 12, 1877~ Catcher’s mask first used in a baseball game

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A Collegiate Game of Base-Ball By W. P. Snyder

1889 / Wood engraving, hand colored / 16”x22”
Published as double-page litho in Harper’s Weekly, New York issue of August 31, 1889

On April 12, 1877, in a baseball game between Harvard students and the Live Oaks (a semipro team from Lynn, Massachusetts), James Alexander Tyng, A.B. 1876, stepped onto the field wearing a catcher’s mask. According to established history, he was the first man to do so.
https://harvardmagazine.com/2004/07/home-plate-security.html

Previous April 12 posts:

Spring~ April 12

Lily Pons: Born on April 12, 1898

Hardie Gramatky: Born on April 12, 1907

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/12~