- 419 [Etalius] ends his reign as Catholic Pope
Edward the Confessor
1043 Edward the Confessor crowned King of England
Battle of Navarrete
1367 An alliance of King Peter of Castile, Edward the Black Prince and John of Gaunt of England, Aquitaine, Majorca and Navarra defeats Count Henry of Castile in the Battle of Navarrete, fought near Nájera in La Rioja, Castile
Halley Meets Hevelius
1679 Edmond Halley meets fellow astronomer Johannes Hevelius in Danzig
1st Lord of the Treasury
1721 Robert Walpole becomes Britain's 1st Lord of the Treasury - effective Prime Minister, although that term was never officially used (indeed, it was considered an insult) until much later
- 1764 Austrian Archduke Jozef crowned himself Holy Roman Emperor Josef II
Washington's Honorary Degree
1776 Harvard College votes to award George Washington an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree
Senator Horace Mann
1848 American education reformer Horace Mann joins the US Senate, representing Massachusetts
Leichhardt Disappears
1848 German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt is seen for the last time at McPherson's Station, Coogoon, before he disappears on the same expedition to reach the Swan River in Australia [1]
- 1848 Thomas Douglas becomes 1st public teacher in San Francisco
- 1856 Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes badly damaged by gunpowder explosion, kills 4,000 on island of Rhodes
Pony Express Begins
1860 Start of the Pony Express, delivers mail by horse and rider relay teams between St Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California
Jesse James Assassinated
1882 American outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back of the head and killed by fellow gang member Robert Ford at home in St. Joseph, Missouri
- 1882 Wood block alarm invented, when alarm rang, it dropped 20 wood blocks
- 1889 Savings Bank of Order of True Reformers opens in Richmond, Virginia
- 1893 1st NSW v Queensland F-C game, at Brisbane Exhibition Ground
- 1908 Frank Gotch wins world heavyweight wrestling championship in 2 hrs
- 1910 Highest mountain in North America, Alaska's Mt McKinley claimed to have been 1st climbed by 4 local men
- 1911 Harry James Smith's "Mrs Bumsted-Leigh" premieres in NYC
Pankhurst Sent to Jail
1913 British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is sentenced to 3 years in jail for incitement to place an explosive in a building at Walton
Stieglitz Shows Georgia O'Keeffe
1917 Alfred Stieglitz opens first one-person show of the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe at 291 art gallery in New York
Lenin Returns to Russia
1917 Vladimir Lenin arrives in Petrograd, returning to Russia from exile in Switzerland [NS=April 16]
Rise of Joseph Stalin
1922 Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party by an ailing Vladimir Lenin
- 1923 2 "Black Sox" sue White Sox (unsuccessfully) for back salary
Topkapi Palace Converted
1924 Istanbul's Ottoman Topkapi Palace is converted into a museum on orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Liquid-Fueled Rocket
1926 Second flight of a liquid-fueled rocket by Robert Goddard
2nd Academy Awards
1930 2nd Academy Awards: "The Broadway Melody", Warner Baxter & Mary Pickford win. First time Academy Awards are broadcast on the radio.
Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins
1930 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 4-3 for a 2-0 series sweep and their 3rd Championship
Churchill Warns Stalin
1941 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warns Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that a German invasion is imminent
- 1941 Rasjid al-Gailani forms pro-German regime in Iraq
- 1941 Walton's overture "Scapino" premieres in Chicago
- 1944 British dive bombers attack German battleship Tirpitz at Kåfjorden, Norway
- 1944 US Supreme Court (Smith v Allwright) "white primaries" unconstitutional
- 1945 World War II: Dutch city of Hengelo freed from Nazi control by the Canadian Army
- 1946 Netherlands-German postal relations resume
Marshall Plan Signed
1948 US President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Western Europe after World War II, granting an initial $5 billion in aid to 16 European countries
Queen Juliana in the US
1952 Dutch Queen Juliana speaks to US Congress
TV Guide
1953 American magazine "TV Guide" publishes 1st issue; cover features photo of Lucille Ball's new born baby boy, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (later professionally known as Desi Arnaz, Jr.)
Howl Obscenity Charges
1955 The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book "Howl" against obscenity charges
- 1956 Bulgarian vice premier Traitsjo Kostov rehabilitated (executed 1949)
- 1956 German war criminals Hinrichsen, Ruhl, Siebens and Viebahn freed
- 1956 Hudsonville-Standale Tornado: The western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan is struck by a deadly F5 tornado
Endgame
1957 Samuel Beckett's play "Endgame" premieres in London as a French language production
- 1957 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
Event of Interest
1958 Fidel Castro's rebels attack Havana
- 1960 Earthquake at Havre, Belgium
Music Recording
1960 Elvis Presley records ‘It's Now Or Never’, ‘Fever’ and ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ at RCA studios in Nashville, Tennessee
- 1961 Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia is sold to J Schleifer Properties
Sports History
1962 American jockey Eddie Arcaro retires after 31 years (24,092 races)
Sports History
1966 Tom Seaver signs with the Mets for a reported $50,000 bonus
Planet of the Apes
1968 Science fiction film "Planet of the Apes", starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowell, opens nationally in the United States
- 1969 Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start a policy of "Vietnamization", reducing American involvement
- 1970 As part of a new 'get tough' policy in Northern Ireland, Ian Freeland of the British Army, warned that those throwing petrol bombs could be shot dead
- 1970 Miriam Hargrave of England passes her drivers test on 40th attempt
- 1971 The Temptations score their second US No. 1 with "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)"
- 1973 1st mobile phone call is made in downtown Manhattan, NYC by Motorola employee Martin Cooper to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey
- 1974 Gold hits record $197 an ounce in Paris
- 1974 The Super Outbreak: 2nd largest tornado outbreak over 24hr period with 148 confirmed tornadoes in 13 US states, killing approximately 315 people and injuring nearly 5,500
Sports History
1975 Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it, title awarded to Russian Anatoly Karpov
Event of Interest
1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's 1st meeting with US President Jimmy Carter
- 1977 Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg adopt summer time
Academy Awards
1978 50th Academy Awards: "Annie Hall", Richard Dreyfuss & Diane Keaton win
- 1978 European market & China signs trade agreement
Radio History
1978 Larry King moves his radio show from Miami, Florida to Washington, D.C.
- 1979 Belgium's Martens government forms
- 1979 Jane M Byrne (D), elected 1st woman mayor of Chicago, Illinois
- 1980 France performs nuclear test
- 1980 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1981 Arnie Boldt of Saskatchewan jumps 6' 8.25," with 1 leg
- 1981 Race riots in London's Brixton area, England
- 1982 Buffalo Sabre Gil Perrault scores his 1,000th NHL point
Theater Premiere
1982 Marco van Basten plays his first match for Ajax, scoring a debut goal in a 5-0 victory over NEC
- 1982 UN Security Council demanded Argentina withdraw from Falkland Islands
Golf Major
1983 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: In strong winds, Amy Alcott wins by 2 strokes ahead of Kathy Whitworth and Beth Daniel; first year tournament regarded as a major title
- 1984 Bombay beat Delhi on 1st innings to win Ranji Trophy
- 1984 Guinea suspends constitution after coup
- 1984 Soyuz T-11 carries 3 cosmonauts (1 Indian-Rakesh Sharma) to Salyut 7
- 1985 French government adopts equal electoral system
- 1985 Players' Association agrees to expand LCS from 5 to 7 games
- 1985 Vic Elliot pockets 15,780 pool balls in 24 hours in London
- 1986 Maureen O'Boyle (future host of "A Current Affair") is raped
- 1986 US national debt hits $2,000,000,000,000
Sports History
1987 Bill Elliott sets NASCAR qualify record of 212.809 mph at Talladega
- 1987 Duchess of Windsor's jewels auctioned for £31,380,197
- 1987 MLB Chicago Cubs trade Dennis Eckersley to Oakland A's for 3 minor league players
- 1987 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Sports History
1988 Mario Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stopping Gretzky's 7 year streak
- 1988 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Amy Alcott wins the 2nd of her 3 DS events, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Colleen Walker
- 1988 NJ Devils beat Blackhawks, 4-3 in OT to join playoffs for 1st time
- 1988 Somalia & Ethiopia sign accord about Ogaden desert
- 1988 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1989 "Sunrise" a Gannett newspaper begins publishing for Bronx
- 1989 Mets win 11th consecutive home opener 8-4 over St Louis at Shea Stad
Contract of Interest
1991 Bo Jackson signs 1-year contract with Chicago White Sox
Film & TV History
1995 Howard Stern gets in trouble for disparaging remarks about Selena
Cricket Debut
1996 Cricketer Rahul Dravid makes his international debut for India in an ODI against Sri Lanka
- 1996 St Francis Fighting Saints scores college baseball run record 71-1
- 1997 Thalit massacre begins in Algeria; all but 1 of the 53 inhabitants of Thalit are killed by guerrillas
- 2004 Islamic terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves
Sports History
2006 Steve Yzerman scores his final NHL goal (#692) against the Calgary Flames
- 2007 Conventional train world speed record: a French TGV train on the LGV Est high speed line sets new official world speed record - 574.8 km/h (357 mph)
Music History
2007 Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards denies saying he smoked his father's ashes in an interview with NME
#1 in the Charts
2008 Mariah Carey overtakes Elvis Presley's record of 17 No. 1 US hits with her 18th ‘Touch My Body’, only The Beatles have more with 20
- 2009 Australia formally adopts the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Film & TV History
2010 Matt Smith's first appearance as the 11th Doctor with Karen Gillan as his companion in BBC program "Doctor Who" during "The Eleventh Hour" episode
- 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Stacy Lewis shoots final round 69 to win her first major, 3 strokes ahead of defending champion Yani Tseng
- 2012 Moscow fire kills 17 migrant workers
Rock for the Rainforest
2012 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Jennifer Hudson, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill, Esperanza Spaulding, Bruno Mars, Bryn Terfel, and Bill Clinton
- 2012 Spanish unemployment reaches record high, youth unemployment stands at 50%
Election of Interest
2012 US President Barack Obama officially secures Democratic presidential nomination
Canonization
2014 Pope Francis canonizes François de Laval, first bishop of Quebec, as a Catholic saint
Cricket History
2016 ICC Men's Cricket T20 World Cup, Kolkata: West Indies beat England by 4 wickets with 2 balls remaining for their second title; Player of the Series: Indian batsman Virat Kohli (273 runs • 1 wicket)
- 2016 ICC Women's Cricket T20 World Cup, Eden Gardens, Kolkata: Hayley Matthews with 66 from 45 balls leads West Indies to 149/2; beat Australia 148/5 by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare
- 2016 Panama Papers published - 11.5 million confidential documents from offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca expose widespread illegal activities including fraud, kleptocracy, tax evasion and the violation of international sanctions by the world's elite in the world's largest ever data leak
- 2017 Bomb on St Petersburg metro kills 11, 2nd bomb defused
Sports History
2018 Alex Puccio ascends Penrose Step V14 (8B+) in Leavenworth, USA
- 2019 Brunei brings into force new Sharia laws punishing gay sex and adultery with death by stoning, prompting widespread condemnation
Trial of Interest
2019 Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak goes on trial for the 1MDB corruption scandal in Kuala Lumpur, pleads not guilty
- 2019 San Antonio coach Geg Popovich is ejected after an NBA record low 63 seconds in the Spurs 113-85 loss in Denver; receives 2 technical fouls in a verbal confrontation with a referee
- 2020 27 people swept off a ferry and feared dead in the Solomon Islands during Cyclone Harold
COVID-19 Pandemic
2020 London's Nightingale hospital opened by Prince Charles (remotely) after nine days with 4,000 beds to treat COVID-19 patients at the ExCeL Centre
- 2020 US aircraft carrier captain Brett Crozier cheered off his ship after being fired for a letter demanding more help for his sailors infected with COVID-19
Grammy Awards
2022 64th Grammy Awards: Jon Batiste wins Album of the Year, Olivia Rodrigo three awards including Best New Artist, Silk Sonic Best Song "Leave the Door Open" [1]
- 2022 Chevron Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: American Jennifer Kupcho wins her first LPGA tournament by 2 strokes over Jessica Korda
Sports History
2022 Pakistan plunges into constitutional crisis after Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolves parliament and calls for new elections, avoiding a no-confidence vote [1]
- 2022 The Taliban government bans cultivation of opium in Afghanistan, with consequences for world supply as it produces 80% [1]
- 2023 NASA announces the four astronauts for 2024 Artemis II lunar mission around the Moon - Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen [1]
- 2024 7.4 magnitude earthquakes hits east coast of Taiwan, south of Hualien, killing at least 9 people and injuring 900 [1]
