On This Day In History
Did You Know?
Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey is the first African American to vote in the US under provisions of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, in a local election on town’s charter
Today in History in 1870
Would You Believe?
“The New York Times” reviews “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut on its publication saying “”you’ll either love it, or push it back in the science-fiction corner”
Today in History in 1969
April 1st
527 Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne
1748 Ruins of Pompeii rediscovered by Spaniard Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre
1952 Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & George Gamow
1974 Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran
1976 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs found Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs’ parents house in Cupertino, California
2001 Netherlands becomes the first country in the world to make same-sex marriage legal
Did You Know?
Clyde Barrow kills two young highway patrolmen, H. D. Murphy and Edward Bryant Wheeler, at the intersection of Route 114 near Grapevine, Texas. Bonnie Parker‘s role in the murders helps turn public perception against the gang for good
Today in History in 1934
Would You Believe?
Google introduces Gmail: the launch is met with skepticism on account of the launch date
Today in History in 2004
April 2nd
1453 Turkish forces under Sultan Mehmed II begin the siege of Constantinople (İstanbul), which falls May 29
1513 Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain as the first known European to reach Florida
1792 The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint and authorizing the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins & silver dollar, ½ dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime
1801 Napoleonic Wars: The British led by Horatio Nelson destroy the Danish fleet in the naval Battle of Copenhagen
1917 US President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany
1930 Ras Tafari Makonnen becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1982 Several thousand Argentine troops seize the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands from Great Britain
2020 Record 6.6 million Americans filed claims for unemployment in last week according to the US Department of Labor, 10 million over 2 weeks
Did You Know?
“Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theatre in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California
Today in History in 1902
Would You Believe?
The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London.
Today in History in 1962
April 3rd
1367 Battle of Navarrete [Nájera], La Rioja, Castile: An alliance of King Peter of Castile, England, Aquitaine, Majorca and Navarra defeats Count Henry of Castile
1645 English Long Parliament passes the Self-Denying Ordinance, limiting regional armies, significant step toward New Model Army
1860 Start of the Pony Express, delivers mail by horse and rider relay teams between St Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California
1922 Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party by an ailing Vladimir Lenin
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
1973 1st mobile phone call is made in downtown Manhattan, NYC by Motorola employee Martin Cooper to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey
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
Did You Know?
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
Today in History in 1882
Would You Believe?
A Hawaiian surfs on highest wave ever – a 50-foot tidal wave
Today in History in 1868
April 4th
1581 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his galleon “Golden Hind” at Deptford, England
1655 Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates
1789 1st US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington‘s presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ending 1791)
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington, D.C.
1968 US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee
1973 World Trade Center, then the world’s tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.
1975 Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
Did You Know?
1st march against nuclear weapons from London to Aldermaston, England, home of the Defence Ministry’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)
Today in History in 1958
Would You Believe?
Poecilotheria rajaei, a giant tarantula with a 20cm leg span, is discovered in Sri Lanka
Today in History in 2013
April 5th
1242 Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod defeats the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice
1722 Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen is the first European to discover Easter Island / Rapa Nui in the southeastern Pacific
1818 Battle of Maipú: Chile’s independence movement led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead
1847 Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, opens in Birkenhead, England, designed by Joseph Paxton
1879 Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
Did You Know?
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company starts producing inflatable tires
Today in History in 1923
Would You Believe?
Chinese steward Poon Lim is found off the coast of Brazil by a Brazilian fisherman family after being adrift 133 days, after British ship SS Benlomond torpedoed by german U-boat
Today in History in 1943
April 6th
46 BC Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus.
1652 Cape Colony, the 1st European settlement in South Africa, established by Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck
1917 US declares war on Germany, enters World War I
1994 Plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down by surface-to-air missiles, abruptly ending peace negotiations and sparking the Rwandan Genocide. Those responsible have never been identified.
Did You Know?
Catherine the Great Empress of Russia, ends tax on men with beards, enacted by Tsar Peter the Great in 1698
Today in History in 1772
Would You Believe?
First baby born with DNA from 3 parents through mitochondrial transfer in Mexico
Today in History in 2016