On This Day In History
This day 108 years ago – 14 April 1912 – the Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean, and sank.
1,514 people – or 68% of those on board – died as a result.
The ship had been built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, and made its last call in Cobh. pic.twitter.com/93YwZst6GJ
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) April 14, 2020
In a famous and tragic case of domestic violence, Charlotte Dymond was murdered on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, by her lover Matthew Weeks on this day in 1844. The case was immortalized in a poem by Charles Causley. https://t.co/DwRmHYKzpg pic.twitter.com/zOpJ4TcRi1
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) April 14, 2022
On this day in 1906, a white mob lynched Horace Duncan and Fred Coker, then lynched Will Allen the next day. All three men were innocent of any offense. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/BxXvRkA87q
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) April 14, 2022
Today we remember composer George Frideric Handel, who died #otd, 14 April 1759.
His influence has lasted long after his death. Find out how he inspired composers like Beethoven to make music:https://t.co/pmOl9NKIFM
— Interlude (@interludeHK) April 14, 2022
April 15th
1755 Samuel Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" published in London
1861 Federal army (75,000 volunteers) mobilized by US President Abraham Lincoln (US Civil War)
1874 First 'Impressionist' exhibition opens in Paris, features Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot
1877 Boston-Somerville installs the world's 1st telephone in Massachusetts
1912 RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the loss of between 1,490 and 1,635 people
Did You Know?
Guy Carawan sings "We Shall Overcome" to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh - popularising the song as a protest anthem
Today in History in 1960
Would You Believe?
Ray Kroc opens first McDonald's Inc. fast food restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois
Today in History in 1955
This day 79 years ago – 15 April 1941 – two hundred aircraft of the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on Belfast, killing 900 people. The attack coincided with Easter Tuesday. Taoiseach Éamon de Valera sent 71 firemen with 13 fire tenders from the Irish state to help extinguish the flames. pic.twitter.com/WKdE0ZEjkt
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) April 15, 2020
#OTD in 1912, Rosalie Ida Straus and her husband died together on the Titanic. As other women joined Lifeboat 8, Rosalie turned back to stay with her husband Isidor; 'We have lived together many years. Where you go, I go.' Her body was not recovered. https://t.co/vAuP4AUh9L pic.twitter.com/iiNaIwx6UD
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) April 15, 2022
On this day in 1903, several thousand white people lynched a Black man and attacked Black neighborhoods in Joplin, Missouri, burning homes and forcing every Black person to flee the city. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/rirzdWv0u7
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) April 15, 2022
Jean-Paul Sartre died #OnThisDay in 1980. Sartre become known as a great existentialist thinker alongside his lifelong friend and lover Simone de Beauvoir. https://t.co/m57tcwSmlU
— Five Books (@five_books) April 15, 2022
15 April 1990. Swedish born film icon Greta Garbo died (aged 84). She was a huge star of the silent era before a successful transition to talkies. She retired from the screen, at the age of 36, and spent the rest of her life living in seclusion, refusing all interviews. pic.twitter.com/GEefWq841J
— Prof Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) April 15, 2021
Haysuse got nailed to a cross a long time ago on a Friday but he managed to escape and make some chocolate eggs by Sunday 😉😊🤗
April 16th
1457 BC Battle of Megiddo: Egyptian forces of Thutmose III defeat a large Canaanite coalition under King of Kadesh. First battle recorded with a reliable account.
1705 Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge
1746 Jacobite Rising 1745: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart
1900 US Post Office issues 1st books of postage stamps
1917 Vladimir Lenin issues his radical "April Theses" calling for Soviets to take power during the Russian Revolution [OS Apr 4]
1948 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris
2003 Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union
Did You Know?
Swiss scientist Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the psychedelic effects of LSD
Today in History in 1943
Would You Believe?
World record for gathering of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes - 662 at Manoir de Ban, Chaplin museum in Vevey, Switzerland
Today in History in 2017
This day 238 years ago – 16 April 1782 – Henry Grattan declared the independence of the Parliament of Ireland, which lasted 18 years, until the Acts of Union.
Grattan famously declared, “Spirit of Swift, spirit of Molyneux, your genius has prevailed! Ireland is now a nation!” pic.twitter.com/htbFrMHWO3
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) April 16, 2020
#otd in 2021, climbers Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, Purnima Shrestha, Dabhuti Sherpa, Sharmila Tamang and Maya Sherpa became the first Nepali women to reach the summit of Mount Annapurna, one of the world's most treacherous mountains. https://t.co/3pBTJdVcvH pic.twitter.com/xj9sPZjpLf
— On This Day She (@OnThisDayShe) April 16, 2022
On this day in 1945, three Black baseball players including Jackie Robinson were attacked during tryouts for the Boston Red Sox. The team refused to sign them and remained segregated until 1959. To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. https://t.co/xlPTypwF9A
— Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) April 16, 2022
Rosalind Franklin | Chemist & X-ray Crystallographer
Best known for her role in the discovery of the structure of DNA; she's not gotten the full scope of credit she richly deserves. She died #OTD in 1958, age 37.
The unsung hero of DNA https://t.co/zd1m0UhLC2#WomenInSTEM pic.twitter.com/YWKT2RsLZc
— Admirable Women (@AdmirableWomen) April 16, 2022
April 17th
1387 Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" characters begin their pilgrimage to Canterbury (according to scholars)
1492 Christopher Columbus signs a contract with the Spanish monarchs to find the "Indies" with the stated goal of converting people to Catholicism. This promises him 10% of all riches found, and the governorship of any lands encountered.
1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki is signed ending the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
1961 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro
1982 Proclamation of the Constitution Act by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Did You Know?
The 8th century St. Cuthbert Gospel, Europe's oldest intact book, is purchased by the British Library for 9 million pounds
Today in History in 2012
Would You Believe?
Modern Snooker invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain, a bored British officer in Jabalpur, India
Today in History in 1875