Carol I of Romania

Carol I or Charles I of Romania, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (Domnitor) from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He was elected Prince of the Romanian United Principalities on 20 April 1866 after the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup d'état. In May 1877, Romania was proclaimed an independent and sovereign nation. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire (1878) in the Russo-Turkish War secured Romanian independence, and he was proclaimed King on 26 March [O.S. 14 March] 1881. He was the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which ruled the country until the proclamation of a socialist republic in 1947.

20 April 1839

Born on the same birth day (20 April): Alan Arnett McLeod • Alexander Zverev • David Brainerd • George Takei • Irene Lieblich • Jason Behrendorff • Joan Miró • John Carney (American football) • Kakha Bendukidze • Massimo D'Alema • Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha • Rosalynn Sumners • Viacheslav Fetisov

Born in the same month (April 1839): Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì • Nikolay Przhevalsky • Robert Smalls