On This Day In History
Did You Know?
First known performance of Shakespeare‘s tragedy Macbeth at the Globe Theatre, London, recorded by Simon Forman
Today in History in 1611
Would You Believe?
US President Jimmy Carter is attacked by a swamp rabbit which swam up to his fishing boat in Plains, Georgia
Today in History in 1979
April 21st
753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)
1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India
1792 Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro
1863 Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, enters garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days spent there
1918 World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen “The Red Baron”, shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France, Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown credited with the kill
1989 Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom
Did You Know?
Secretaries’ Day (now Administrative Professionals’ Day) is first celebrated
Today in History in 1952
Would You Believe?
Alf Dean using a rod & reel hooks a 2,664lb, 16′ 10″ great white shark off the coast of Ceduna, Australia
Today in History in 1959
Pope Francis died from stroke and subsequent heart failure, the Vatican has said in statement | Follow live updates
April 22nd
1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal
1915 1st military use of poison gas (chlorine, by Germany) in WW I
1993 Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1994 7,000 Tutsi slaughtered by Hutus in the stadium at Kibuye, Rwanda
2006 243 people are injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.
2016 Paris Agreement on climate change signed in New York binding 195 nations to an increase in the global average temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C
Did You Know?
More than $3.3 million is stolen from the First National Bank of Arizona in Tucson in the then largest US bank robbery in history
Today in History in 1981
Would You Believe?
World’s largest lollipop, weighing 3,011 pounds, made by BonBon, a candy factory in Home-Olstrup, Denmark; record later broken
Today in History in 1994
April 23rd
215 BC A temple, built on the Capitoline Hill, is dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene
1014 King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking forces at Battle of Clontarf, freeing Ireland from foreign control
1597 William Shakespeare‘s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance
1861 Robert E. Lee named commander of Virginia Confederate forces (US Civil War)
1968 1st decimal coins issued in Britain (5 & 10 new pence, replacing shilling and two-shilling pieces)
1984 AIDS-virus identified as HTLV-III (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
Did You Know?
Gamma ray burst (GRB) 090423 is observed for 10 seconds, the most distant object of any kind and also the oldest known object in the universe
Today in History in 2009
Would You Believe?
Wine merchant William Sokolin breaks a bottle of 1787 Château Margaux, possibly belonging to Thomas Jefferson, worth $500,000 at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York
Today in History in 1989
April 24th
1479 BC Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty)
1184 BC The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date)
1877 Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire
Did You Know?
STS-31 launches, the 35th mission of the US Space Shuttle program, carrying the Hubble space telescope
Today in History in 1990
Would You Believe?
Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is dead
Today in History in 1969
April 25th
1660 English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II
1792 Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier
1846 Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War
1915 First landings at Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula by ANZAC forces during WWI
1920 San Remo conference establishes three League of Nations mandates: a French mandate for Syria, and British mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine with effect to the terms of the Balfour Declaration
1945 “Elbe Day” – US and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River during the invasion of Germany in WWII
1953 Francis Crick and James Watson‘s discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in “Nature” magazine
1954 Bell labs announces the 1st Solar Battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.
1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by space shuttle Discovery
Did You Know?
German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller is the first to use the name America on his world map “Universalis Cosmographia”
Today in History in 1507
Would You Believe?
1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed by USS submarine Triton in 60 days, 21 hours
Today in History in 1960
April 26th
1478 Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo de’ Medici and kill Giuliano de’ Medici in Florence
1920 Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold “great debate” on the nature of nebulae, galaxies and size of the universe at US National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
1945 Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of France’s Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II, arrested for treason
1956 First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas
1986 World’s worst nuclear disaster: 4th reactor at Chernobyl nuclear power station in USSR explodes, 31 die, radioactive contamination reaches much of Western Europe
2005 Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.
Did You Know?
Dan Sickles is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity – 1st time this defense used successfully in the US
Today in History in 1859
Would You Believe?
Patty Berg scores 64, best competitive round of golf by a woman
Today in History in 1952