Today in History
1st April
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1st April |
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| 1064 Body of bishop Eleutherius of Blandain moved to Doornik | ||
| 1204 Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and of England, died; she led troops in the Second Crusade. | ||
| 1283 Ludwig IV of Baveria, Roman Catholic Bavarian emperor (1314-47) was born | ||
| 1504 English guilds/corp goes under state control | ||
| 1572 Bloys van Treslong conquers Brielle | ||
| 1581 Portugese Cortes subjects himself on Philip II | ||
| 1582 Gaspar de Crayer, Flemish painter was born | ||
| 1621 The first colonial treaty with American Indians was signed between Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags and English pilgrims on behalf of King James I at Strawberry Hill, Massachusetts. | ||
| 1663 Gemert fines unwed motherhood (50 guilder penalty) | ||
| 1697 Abbe Prevost, French writer and journalist, was born; he was best known for his "Manon Lescaut," which was turned into operas by Jules Massenet and Giacomo Puccini. | ||
| 1724 Henry Pelham becomes English minister of War | ||
| 1724 Jonathan Swift publishes Drapier's letters | ||
| 1748 Ruins of Pompeii found | ||
| 1778 Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, creates "$" symbol | ||
| 1789 The U.S. House of Representatives was able to transact business when a quorum of its members was present for the first time. | ||
| 1792 Gronings feminist Etta Palm demands women's right to divorce | ||
| 1793 Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000 | ||
| 1815 Prince Otto von Bismarck, German statesman, was born. Appointed first German chancellor of a unified Germany in 1871, he presided over the Congress of Berlin (1878) and was known as the "Iron Chancellor." | ||
| 1826 Samuel Mory patents internal combustion engine | ||
| 1836 Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reaches Cocos Islands | ||
| 1847 Jules-Nicolas Crevaux, French explorer (South America) was born | ||
| 1850 SF County Govt established | ||
| 1852 Edward Austin Abbey, US, painter (Quest of the Holy Grail) was born | ||
| 1853 Cincinnati became 1st US city to pay fire fighters a regular salary | ||
| 1858 Arnold Aletrino, Dutch physician-criminologist/author (From Life) was born | ||
| 1858 Gaetano Mosca, Italian sociologist (Circulation of Elite) was born | ||
| 1863 1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect | ||
| 1865 In the U.S. Civil War, the battle of Five Forks ended with the defeat of the Confederate Army. | ||
| 1866 Ferruccio D M B Busoni, Italy, pianist/composer/conductor (Arlecchino) was born | ||
| 1867 Blacks vote in municipal election in Tuscumbia, Alabama | ||
| 1867 International Exhibition opens in Paris | ||
| 1867 Singapore, Penang & Malakka become British crown colonies | ||
| 1868 Edmond Rostand, France, poet/playwright (Cyrano de Bergerac) was born | ||
| 1872 1st edition of The Standard | ||
| 1873 British White Star steamship Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, 547 die | ||
| 1873 Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and virtuoso pianist, was born. Best known for his preludes and his music for piano and orchestra, including "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." | ||
| 1875 Edgar Wallace, England, novelist/playwright/journalist (Terror) was born | ||
| 1875 The Times of London became the first newspaper to print a daily weather chart. | ||
| 1881 Anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem | ||
| 1881 Kingdom post office in Netherlands opens | ||
| 1883 Lon Chaney, U.S. dramatic actor and film star, was born; known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces" for his effective makeup while playing characters in the films of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Phantom of the Opera." | ||
| 1885 Wallace Beery, U.S. film star and character actor, was born. Famed for his roles in "Grand Hotel" and "Dinner at Eight," he won an Oscar for his portrayal of a boxer in the film "The Champ." | ||
| 1888 Soccer team Sparta forms in Rotterdam | ||
| 1889 1st dishwashing machine marketed (Chicago) | ||
| 1891 Painter Gauguin leaves Marseille for Tahiti | ||
| 1900 1st edition of Dutch newspaper "The People" | ||
| 1905 British East African Protectorate becomes colony of Kenya | ||
| 1910 Dumitru Dan (Romania) completes a 62,137 mile (100,000 m) walk | ||
| 1917 Scott Joplin, U.S. jazz musician famous for his ragtime pieces, notably "The Entertainer," died. | ||
| 1918 In Britain, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Force merged to form the Royal Air Force. | ||
| 1924 Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from British South Africa Co | ||
| 1924 Hitler sentenced to 5 years labor but Gen Ludendorff acquitted | ||
| 1924 Imperial Airways forms in Britain | ||
| 1924 A court sentenced Adolf Hitler to five years in jail for high treason after his abortive 1923 putsch; he was released December 20. | ||
| 1925 1st transmission of Danish state radio | ||
| 1928 Chiang Kai-shek's army crosses Yang-tse | ||
| 1929 Austrian govt of Ignaz Seipel falls | ||
| 1929 Louie Marx introduces Yo-Yo | ||
| 1930 "Blue Angel," starring unknown Marlene Dietrich, premieres in America | ||
| 1931 Earthquake devastate Managua Nicaragua, kills 2,000 | ||
| 1933 Heinrich Himmler becomes Police Commander of Germany | ||
| 1933 In Germany, the state ordered a boycott of businesses belonging to Jewish people and seized their bank accounts. | ||
| 1934 Bonnie & Clyde kill 2 police officers | ||
| 1936 Orissa constituted a province of British India | ||
| 1937 Aden becomes British crown colony | ||
| 1939 Pope Pius XII congratulates Generalissimo Franco's victory in Spain | ||
| 1939 US recognizes Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war | ||
| 1941 Pro-German Rashid Ali al-Ghailani grabs power in Iraq | ||
| 1942 Allied air raid on harbor city Kupang Timor | ||
| 1942 Mexico changes from 3 time zones to 2 | ||
| 1944 German Abwehr ends England spiel, after 132 killed | ||
| 1944 Japanese troops conquer Jessami, East-India | ||
| 1945 1st edition of Indonesia Merdeka publishes | ||
| 1945 Canadian troop free Doetinchem, Enschede, Borculo & Eibergen | ||
| 1945 An assault by 50,000 U.S. troops led by Gen. Buckner on the Japanese-held island of Okinawa heralded the beginning of the last major battle of the Pacific. It ended on July 2 with 7,000 U.S. and 100,000 Japanese dead. | ||
| 1946 400,000 US mine workers strike | ||
| 1946 Tsunamis generated by a quake in Aleutian Trench strike Hilo Hawaii | ||
| 1946 Van Acker forms Belgian govt (without CVP) | ||
| 1946 Weight Watchers forms | ||
| 1947 King George II of Greece died; he was king from 1922-1924 and restored twice to the throne. He was succeeded by his brother, Paul I. | ||
| 1947 1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat | ||
| 1948 The blockade of Berlin started when the Russians began checking all road and rail traffic between Berlin and the Western Zones. | ||
| 1950 Italy assumed trusteeship of Somaliland, taking over from the British administration. | ||
| 1954 1st Dutch motorway, Amsterdam-Utrecht, opens | ||
| 1954 Earthquake/tsunami ravage Aleutians, 200 killed | ||
| 1954 US Air Force Academy forms | ||
| 1955 EOKA-bomb attacks against British govt buildings in Cyprus | ||
| 1956 Violent clashes in Algeria, kills at least 380 | ||
| 1958 Marshal Boelganin becomes director of Russian Staatsbank | ||
| 1960 2nd French atom bomb explodes (Sahara) | ||
| 1960 Tiros I, the world's first meteorological satellite which transmitted cloud cover pictures, was launched from the United States. | ||
| 1962 In a referendum the Swiss people rejected a proposed amendment to the Constitution prohibiting manufacture of atomic weapons on Swiss territory. | ||
| 1965 South Africa worker's union leader Henry Fazzie sentenced to 10 years | ||
| 1965 King Hussein of Jordan appointed his younger brother Prince Hassan as his heir. | ||
| 1966 China premier Tsjoe en-Lai starts "Cultural revolution" | ||
| 1967 1st British ombudsman sir Edward Compton begins work | ||
| 1971 US/Canada ISIS 2 launched to study ionosphere | ||
| 1971 United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership | ||
| 1973 Japan allows its citizens to own gold | ||
| 1974 Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran | ||
| 1975 Cambodian President Lon Nol, leader of the U.S.-backed government, fled to Indonesia as Khmer Rouge guerrillas closed in on the capital, Phnom Penh. | ||
| 1976 Stephen Wozniak & Steven Jobs founded Apple Computer | ||
| 1976 Max Ernst, German painter and sculptor and founder of the Dada group, died. He was also involved in the Surrealist movement and invented the frottage technique (pencil rubbings on canvas). | ||
| 1977 Attempt for Moslem state in Chad fails | ||
| 1979 Iran proclaimed an Islamic Republic following fall of Shah | ||
| 1980 Failed assassination attempt on Iraqi vice-premier Tariq Aziz | ||
| 1981 Heavy fighting broke out in Beirut and Zahle between an Arab peace-keeping force and Lebanese right-wing militia. | ||
| 1982 Anguilla (dependent territory of UK) adopts constitution | ||
| 1982 US formally transfers Canal Zone to Panam | ||
| 1983 Anti-nuke demonstrators link arms in 14-mile human chain in England | ||
| 1984 U.S. singer Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father during a violent argument. | ||
| 1986 Delhi beat Haryana by innings & 141 to win Ranji Trophy | ||
| 1986 US sub Nathaniel Green runs aground in Irish Sea | ||
| 1986 World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel | ||
| 1991 Iran releases British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years | ||
| 1991 Warsaw Pact officially dissolves | ||
| 1993 Stephane Powers weds Patrick de la Chenais | ||
| 1995 Irma Hadzimuratovic, the Bosnian girl whose plight came to symbolize the tragedy of Sarajevo, died in a London hospital. | ||
| 1996 In Japan, the world's largest bank was created when the merger of the Mitsubishi Bank and the Bank of Tokyo was completed. | ||
| 1998 World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Minn | ||
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