This Day in History

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 25 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire kills 146 in New York City In one of the darkest moments of America’s industrial history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burns, killing 146 workers, on March 25, 1911. The tragedy led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of factory workers. The... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1950s 1957 Europe’s Common Market founded in major step toward economic unity   Arts & Entertainment 1957 U.S. Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” 2001 Icelandic pop singer Björk makes splash at the Oscars   Colonial America 1634 The settlement of Maryland   Crime 1987 Torture chamber uncovered in Philadelphia   Middle Eastern History 1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia assassinated   Sports 1958 Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Carmen Basilio for middleweight title   Vietnam War 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. leads march against the Vietnam War   World War II 1941 Yugoslavia joins the Axis Powers 1941 Naval warfare gets new weapon

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 26 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announces polio vaccine On March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announces on a national radio show that he has successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes the crippling disease of polio. In 1952—an epidemic year for polio—there were 58,000 new cases reported in the... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel published 1955 Black music gets whitewashed, as Georgia Gibbs hits the pop charts with ‘The Wallflower (Dance With Me, Henry)’   Cold War 1950 Public learns Joseph McCarthy named Owen Lattimore as a Soviet spy   Crime 1997 Heaven’s Gate cult members found dead   Middle Eastern History 1979 Israel-Egypt peace agreement signed   U.S. Presidents 1804 President Jefferson presented with a “mammoth loaf” of bread   Vietnam War 1968 “Wise Men” advise President Johnson to negotiate peace in Vietnam 1969 Antiwar demonstration in Washington   World War II 1945 Fighting on Iwo Jima ends, island declared “secure”

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 27 1912 Japanese cherry trees planted along the Potomac March 27, 1912: In Washington, D.C., Helen Taft, wife of President William Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River, near the Jefferson Memorial. The event commemorated a gift, by the Japanese...  read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1836 Mexican army executes 417 Texas revolutionaries at Goliad   American Revolution 1775 Thomas Jefferson elected to the Continental Congress   Arts & Entertainment 1973 Marlon Brando declines Best Actor Oscar 1979 Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton are married   Civil War 1865 Lincoln, Sherman and Grant plan final stages of Civil War   European History 1958 Khrushchev becomes Soviet premier   Inventions & Science 1952 Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Motor Corporation, dies 1998 FDA approves Viagra   Natural Disasters & Environment 1964 Strongest earthquake in U.S. history rocks Alaska 1977 Jumbo jets collide at Canary Islands airport 1980 Oil workers drown in North Sea   Sports 1939 “March Madness” crowns its first men’s NCAA Champion   U.S. Presidents 1929 Herbert Hoover has telephone installed in Oval Office

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 28 1979 Nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island At 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, one of the worst accidents in the history of the U.S. nuclear power industry begins when a pressure valve in the Unit-2 reactor at Three Mile Island fails to close. Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained from the open valve into adjoining buildings, and the... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1958 W.C. Handy—the “Father of the Blues”—dies 1960 First star laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame   Civil War 1862 Union forces halt Confederates at Battle of Glorieta Pass   Crime 2006 Duke lacrosse team suspended following sexual assault allegations   European History 1814 Funeral held for the man behind the guillotine 1939 Spanish Civil War ends   Sports 1984 Baltimore Colts move to Indianapolis   U.S. Presidents 1834 Congress censures President Jackson 1969 President Eisenhower dies   World War I 1915 First American citizen killed during WWI

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 29 1973 U.S. troops withdraw from Vietnam March 29, 1973: Two months after the signing of the Vietnam peace agreement, the last U.S. combat troops leave South Vietnam as Hanoi frees many of the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. America’s direct eight-year intervention in the Vietnam War was at an end. In Saigon,... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Civil War 1865 Appomattox, the final campaign in the Civil War, begins   Cold War 1951 Rosenbergs convicted of espionage   Crime 1951 The “Mad Bomber” strikes in New York   European History 1974 Exiled writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn reunited with family   Inventions & Science 1958 First reading of the Keeling Curve, which shows carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere   Space Exploration 1974 U.S. space probe Mariner visits Mercury   Sports 1982 Freshman Michael Jordan hits winning shot to give North Carolina NCAA title   Vietnam War 1971 Lt. William Calley found guilty of My Lai murders   World War II 1945 Gen. George Patton takes Frankfurt

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 30 1981 President Reagan shot On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by a drifter named John Hinckley Jr. The president had just finished addressing a labor meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel and was walking with his entourage to his limousine when Hinckley, standing... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1867 U.S. purchase of Alaska ridiculed as “Seward’s Folly”   1970s 1971 Starbucks opens its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market   21st Century 2009 President Obama announces auto industry shakeup   American Revolution 1775 King George endorses New England Restraining Act   Arts & Entertainment 1939 Batman debuts in comics 1974 John Denver has his first #1 hit with “Sunshine On My Shoulders” 1974 The Ramones play their first public gig in Manhattan   Cold War 1948 Henry Wallace criticizes Truman’s Cold War policies   Crime 1949 Actor Robert Mitchum is released after serving time for marijuana possession   European History 1814 Napoleon’s forces defeated in Paris   U.S. Constitution 1870 15th Amendment adopted   U.S. Government and Politics 1855 Violence disrupts first Kansas election   Vietnam War 1965 Bomb explodes outside U.S. Embassy in Saigon

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY March 31 1889 Eiffel Tower opens On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, and attended by French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries and 200 construction workers. In 1889, to honor of the centenary of the French... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT American Revolution 1774 Parliament passes the Boston Port Act 1776 Abigail Adams urges husband to “remember the ladies”   Arts & Entertainment 1943 “Oklahoma!” premieres on Broadway 1999 “The Matrix” released in theaters   Asian History 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa signed with Japan 1959 Dalai Lama begins exile   Cold War 1991 Warsaw Pact’s military union ends   Crime 1995 Pop star Selena murdered by fan club president   Religion 1492 Spain announces it will expel all Jews   World War I 1905 The First Moroccan Crisis

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 01 1945 U.S. troops land on Okinawa On April 1, 1945, after suffering the loss of 116 planes and damage to three aircraft carriers, 50,000 U.S. combat troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Jr., land on the southwest coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa, 350 miles south of Kyushu, the southern main island... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1816 Jane Austen declines royal librarian’s writing advice 1963 Soap operas “General Hospital” and “The Doctors” premiere   Crime 1924 Hitler sentenced for his role in Beer Hall Putsch 1984 Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father   European History 1918 RAF founded   Inventions & Science 1993 The “Polish Prince” killed in plane crash   Natural Disasters & Environment 1946 Alaskan earthquake triggers massive tsunami   Sports 1972 First MLB players’ strike begins 1985 Villanova wins NCAA basketball title in stunning upset   U.S. Government and Politics 1789 First U.S. House of Representatives elects speaker   U.S. Presidents 1970 President Nixon signs legislation banning cigarette ads on TV and radio

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 02 2005 Pope John Paul II dies On April 2, 2005, John Paul II, history’s most well-traveled pope and the first non-Italian to hold the position since the 16th century, dies at his home in the Vatican. Six days later, 2 million people packed Vatican City for his funeral, said to be one of the biggest in history. John Paul II was... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1805 Hans Christian Andersen is born 1968 “2001: A Space Odyssey” has its world premiere   Crime 1979 Deadly anthrax poison released from Soviet bio-weapons plant 1992 Mob boss John Gotti convicted of murder   Latin American & Caribbean History 1982 Argentina invades Falklands   Women’s History 1917 Jeannette Rankin, first woman elected to U.S. Congress, assumes office   World War I 1917 President Wilson asks for declaration of war

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 03 1860 Pony Express debuts On April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Ten days later, on April 13, the westbound rider and mail packet completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento,... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1817 Texas Ranger “Big Foot” Wallace born   American Revolution 1776 Congress authorizes privateers to attack British vessels   Arts & Entertainment 1948 “The Louisiana Hayride” radio program premieres on KWKH-AM Shreveport 1978 “Annie Hall” beats out “Star Wars” for Best Picture   Civil War 1865 Confederate capital of Richmond is captured   Crime 1876 Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force 1882 Jesse James is murdered 1936 Bruno Hauptmann, convicted of kidnapping Lindbergh’s son, executed 1996 Unabomber arrested   Exploration 1513 Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain   Natural Disasters & Environment 1996 U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown, killed in plane crash   U.S. Presidents 1948 President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan   Vietnam War 1969 Nixon administration vows to “Vietnamize” the war

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 04 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated Just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike and was on his way to dinner when a... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1970s 1973 World Trade Center, then the world’s tallest building, opens in New York City   21st Century 2007 Radio host Don Imus makes offensive remarks about Rutgers’ women’s basketball team   American Revolution 1776 General George Washington begins march to New York   Arts & Entertainment 1841 First detective story is published 1928 Maya Angelou is born 1960 “Ben-Hur” wins 11 Academy Awards 2013 Movie critic Roger Ebert dies   Asian History 1884 Isoroku Yamamoto, Japan’s mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack, is born   Cold War 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pact signed   Early 20th Century U.S. 1933 Dirigible crash kills 73 in New Jersey   Inventions & Science 1975 Microsoft founded   Sports 1974 Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth’s home run record   U.S. Presidents 1841 President Harrison dies—32 days into office   Vietnam War 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. speaks out against the war 1975 “Operation Babylift,” transporting South Vietnamese children, starts in tragedy   World War I 1918 Allies drive back Germans in Second Battle of the Somme

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 05 1994 Grunge rock icon Kurt Cobain dies by suicide Modern rock icon Kurt Cobain dies by suicide on April 5, 1994. His body was discovered inside his home in Seattle, Washington, three days later by Gary Smith, an electrician, who was installing a security system in the house. Despite indications that Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, killed... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1970s 1976 Business magnate and famed aviator Howard Hughes dies   American Revolution 1774 Benjamin Franklin writes “An Open Letter to Lord North”   Arts & Entertainment 1859 Charles Darwin sends first three chapters of “On the Origin of Species” to his publisher 1895 Writer Oscar Wilde arrested in England 1968 James Brown calms Boston following the King assassination 1974 Stephen King’s first novel, “Carrie,” is published   Civil War 1862 Siege of Yorktown begins   Cold War 1951 Rosenbergs sentenced to death for spying   European History 1955 Winston Churchill retires as prime minister   Native American History 1614 Pocahontas marries John Rolfe   Sports 1984 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks NBA all-time scoring record   U.S. Presidents 1792 George Washington exercises first presidential veto 1933 FDR creates precursor to Civilian Conservation Corps   Women’s History 1992 Abortion rights advocates march on Washington   World War I 1918 First stage of German spring offensive ends   World War II 1945 Gen. MacArthur and Adm. Nimitz given new commands

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 08 1974 Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers. A crowd of 53,775 people, the largest in the history of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was with Aaron that night to cheer when he hit a 4th inning pitch off the... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1990s 1990 Eighteen-year-old Ryan White, national symbol of the AIDS crisis, dies   African History 1953 Jomo Kenyatta jailed for Mau Mau uprising in Kenya 2009 Somali pirates hijack Maersk Alabama ship   Arts & Entertainment 1990 “Twin Peaks” premieres on ABC 1994 Grunge icon Kurt Cobain is found dead three days after his suicide   Cold War 1987 U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz condemns Soviet spying   Crime 2005 Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty   Great Depression 1935 Works Progress Administration established by Congress as part of FDR’s “New Deal”   Hispanic History 1993 Astronaut Ellen Ochoa becomes the first Hispanic woman in space   Sports 1975 Frank Robinson makes debut as first Black manager in MLB 1989 Pitcher Jim Abbott, born without right hand, makes MLB debut   Women’s History 2013 Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, dies   World War I 1904 Britain and France sign Entente Cordiale   World War II 1944 Russians attack Germans in drive to expel them from Crimea

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 09 1865 Robert E. Lee surrenders In the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving...  read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1859 Mark Twain receives steamboat pilot’s license 1939 Marian Anderson sings on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial   Black History 1947 The Journey of Reconciliation—considered the first Freedom Ride—sets out from D.C.   Crime 1881 Billy the Kid convicted of murder 1984 Man attempts to kill wife for money using car bomb   European History 2005 Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles wed   Hispanic History 1962 Rita Moreno becomes the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar   Middle Eastern History 2003 Baghdad falls to U.S. forces   Space Exploration 1959 NASA introduces America’s first astronauts   U.S. Presidents 1866 Ulysses S. Grant arrested for speeding in his horse buggy, newspaper reports   Vietnam War 1969 “Chicago Eight” plead not guilty to federal conspiracy charges   World War II 1940 Germany invades Norway and Denmark 1942 Troops surrender in Bataan, Philippines, in largest-ever U.S. surrender 1945 Anti-Nazi theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 10 1866 ASPCA is founded On April 10, 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh, 54. In 1863, Bergh had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a diplomatic post at the Russian court of Czar Alexander II. It was... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1953 First color 3-D film opens 1970 Paul McCartney announces his break from the Beatles   Civil War 1865 After surrendering to Union, General Lee gives final address to troops   Cold War 1971 U.S. table tennis team visits communist China   Crime 1834 Arson uncovers torture chamber in mansion of New Orleans enslaver   Inventions & Science 1849 Safety pin is patented, rights sold for just $400   Latin American & Caribbean History 1919 Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata assassinated in Mexico   Natural Disasters & Environment 1815 Indonesian volcano erupts, killing more than 100,000 1963 Atomic submarine USS Thresher sinks in the Atlantic, killing all on board   Sports 1961 South African Gary Player becomes first international Masters champion 1975 Lee Elder becomes first Black golfer to play in Masters   World War II 1941 Croatia declares independence 1942 Bataan Death March begins

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 11 1814 Napoleon abdicates the throne and is exiled to Elba On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. The future emperor was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, 1769. After... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1803 French Foreign Minister Talleyrand offers to sell Louisiana Territory to U.S. 1888 Henry Ford marries Clara Jane Bryant   21st Century 2015 Barack Obama and Raúl Castro meet in Panama   African History 1979 Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown   Arts & Entertainment 1931 Dorothy Parker announces she is resigning as drama critic for “The New Yorker” 1961 Bob Dylan plays his first major gig in New York City 1988 Cher wins Best Actress Oscar for “Moonstruck”   Crime 1870 Lord Muncaster of Britain is kidnapped in Greece, nearly causing war   Space Exploration 1970 Apollo 13 launches to the moon   Sports 1921 First live sporting event broadcast on radio 2004 Phil Mickelson wins first major at Masters   U.S. Presidents 1898 President McKinley asks for declaration of war against Spain 1951 President Truman relieves General MacArthur of duties in Korea 1977 President Carter hosts White House Easter egg roll   World War II 1945 Yugoslavian partisan leader Tito signs “friendship treaty” with Soviet Union 1945 The U.S. army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 12 1861 Civil War begins as Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter Four of the bloodiest years in American history begin when Confederate shore batteries under General Pierre G.T. Beauregard open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861. During the next 34 hours, 50 Confederate guns and mortars launched more than 4,000... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT American Revolution 1770 British king approves repeal of the hated Townshend Acts   Arts & Entertainment 1954 Bill Haley and His Comets record “Rock Around The Clock”   Black History 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. is jailed in Birmingham   Civil War 1864 Hundreds of Union soldiers killed in Fort Pillow Massacre   Renaissance 1633 Galileo goes on trial for heresy   Space Exploration 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space 1981 The space shuttle Columbia is launched for the first time   U.S. Presidents 1945 FDR dies   Vietnam War 1975 U.S. Embassy in Cambodia evacuated   World War I 1917 Canadians capture Vimy Ridge in northern France   World War II 1990 Soviets admit to Katyn Massacre of World War II

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 13 1873 The Colfax Massacre An armed group of white supremacists attacks a courthouse guarded by a mostly-Black militia in the town of Colfax, Louisiana on April 13, 1873. A bloodbath ensues, as the militia surrenders and the white supremacists carry out a day-long campaign of terror that came to be known as the Colfax... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 21st Century 2017 U.S. military drops “Mother of All Bombs” on ISIS tunnel complex   Arts & Entertainment 1742 Handel’s “Messiah” premieres in Dublin 1870 Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City 1964 Sidney Poitier becomes first African American to win Best Actor Oscar   Asian History 1919 British and Gurkha troops massacre hundreds of unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar Massacre   Civil War 1861 Union forces surrender at Fort Sumter   Crime 1984 Serial killer Christopher Wilder dies by suicide   Inventions & Science 1928 First nonstop flight from Europe to North America 2009 Former MLB All-star Mark “The Bird” Fidrych dies in truck accident   Natural Disasters & Environment 1360 Hail storm kills 1,000 English troops in France   Space Exploration 1970 Apollo 13 oxygen tank explodes   Sports 1978 Fans toss candy bars onto field, disrupting MLB game 1997 Tiger Woods wins the Masters Tournament for the first time   U.S. Presidents 1743 Thomas Jefferson is born   World War II 1941 Japan and USSR sign nonaggression pact 1945 Nazis trap more than 1,000 concentration camp prisoners in a burning barn in Gardelegen massacre

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 14 1865 John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. The assassin, actor John Wilkes Booth, shouted, “Sic semper tyrannis! (Ever thus to tyrants!) The South is avenged,” as he jumped onto the stage and fled on horseback. Lincoln died the next... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1980s 1988 Soviets agree to withdraw from Afghanistan   African History 1986 U.S. bombs terrorist and military targets in Libya   American Revolution 1775 First American abolition society founded in Philadelphia   Arts & Entertainment 1828 “Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language” is printed 1932 Loretta Lynn is born 1969 Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tie for Best Actress Oscar   Great Depression 1935 “Black Sunday” Dust Bowl storm strikes   Natural Disasters & Environment 1944 Explosion on cargo ship rocks Bombay, India   Sports 1910 Taft becomes first U.S. president to throw out first pitch at MLB game 1960 Montreal Canadiens win fifth consecutive Stanley Cup 1996 Greg Norman blows six-shot Masters lead in epic collapse   World War I 1918 American pilots engage in first dogfight over the western front

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 15 1947 Jackie Robinson becomes first African American player in Major League Baseball On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball’s modern era when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years.... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1990s 1998 Pol Pot, leader of Cambodia’s genocidal government, dies in his sleep   Arts & Entertainment 1894 Bessie Smith is born in Chattanooga, Tennessee   Cold War 1959 Castro visits the United States   Crime 2013 Three people killed, hundreds injured in Boston Marathon bombing   Natural Disasters & Environment 1912 Titanic sinks   Sports 1997 MLB retires Jackie Robinson’s number   U.S. Presidents 1865 President Lincoln dies

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 16 2007 Virginia Tech shooting leaves 32 dead On April 16, 2007, 32 people died after being gunned down on the campus of Virginia Tech by Seung-Hui Cho, a student at the college who later died by suicide. The Virginia Tech shooting began around 7:15 a.m., when Cho, a 23-year-old senior and English major at Blacksburg-based Virginia Polytechnic... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1889 Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin born 2018 Kendrick Lamar becomes the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize   Black History 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. writes “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”   Cold War 1947 Bernard Baruch popularizes the term “Cold War”   Crime 1881 Western gunslinger, Bat Masterson, fights in last shootout   European History 1917 Lenin returns to Russia from exile   Inventions & Science 1943 Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered 1946 Arthur Chevrolet dies by suicide   Natural Disasters & Environment 1947 Fertilizer explosion kills more than 500 in Texas   Space Exploration 1972 Apollo 16 departs for moon   Sports 1929 Cleveland becomes first MLB team to play with numbers on back of jerseys   World War II 1945 Hitler calls for last stand on the Eastern front

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 17 1970 Apollo 13 returns to Earth With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth on April 17, 1970. On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L.... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT Arts & Entertainment 1960 Eddie Cochran dies, and Gene Vincent is injured, in a UK car accident 2002 “General Hospital” airs 10,000th episode   Asian History 1989 Chinese students protest against government   Cold War 1945 Americans seize 1,100 pounds of uranium in effort to prevent Soviets from developing A-bomb 1961 The Bay of Pigs invasion begins 1969 Architect of Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring forcibly resigns   Early U.S. 1790 Benjamin Franklin dies   Inventions & Science 1964 Ford Mustang debuts at World’s Fair   Vietnam War 1975 Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge   World War I 1917 Second Battle of Gaza begins   World War II 1941 Yugoslavia surrenders to the Nazis 1942 General Henri Giraud makes his great escape from the Nazis

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 18 1906 The Great San Francisco Earthquake topples buildings, killing thousands On April 18, 1906, at 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close to 8.0 on the Richter scale strikes San Francisco, California, killing an estimated 3,000 people as it topples numerous buildings. The quake was caused by a slip of the San Andreas Fault over a segment about 275 miles long, and shock... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT American Revolution 1775 Revere and Dawes warn of British attack   Arts & Entertainment 1958 Federal court decides to release poet Ezra Pound from hospital for criminally insane 2012 Dick Clark, host of “American Bandstand” and “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” dies   European History 1689 Siege of Derry begins   Middle Eastern History 1983 Suicide bomber destroys U.S. embassy in Beirut   Natural Disasters & Environment 2014 Avalanche kills 16 Sherpas on Mt. Everest   Religion 1521 Martin Luther defiant at Diet of Worms   Sports 1983 Joan Benoit wins Boston Marathon, besting women’s record by almost three minutes   World War II 1942 Doolittle leads air raid on Tokyo 1945 War correspondent Ernie Pyle killed

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 19 1775 American Revolution begins at Battle of Lexington April 19, 1775: At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1990s 1993 Waco Siege ends; Branch Davidian compound burns   Arts & Entertainment 1824 Lord Byron dies in Greece 1956 Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco marry in “wedding of the century”   Civil War 1861 First blood in the Civil War 1863 Union Colonel Abel Streight’s raid into Alabama and Georgia begins   Crime 1989 Central Park jogger attack shocks New York City 1995 Oklahoma City bombing   Sports 1897 First Boston Marathon held   U.S. Presidents 1809 Thomas Jefferson sells indentured servant to newly elected President James Madison 1947 President Truman inaugurates White House bowling alley   Vietnam War 1971 Vietnam Veterans Against the War demonstrate   World War I 1919 Discussion of Italian claims begins at Paris peace conference   World War II 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY April 20 1999 Teen gunmen kill 13 at Columbine High School On April 20, 1999, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, south of Denver. At approximately 11:19 a.m., Dylan Klebold, 17, and Eric Harris, 18, dressed in trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1970s 1978 Korean Air Lines jet forced down over Soviet Union   American Revolution 1777 New York adopts state constitution   Black History 1971 Supreme Court declares desegregation busing constitutional   Civil War 1861 Robert E. Lee resigns from U.S. Army after Virginia secedes from Union   Early U.S. 1914 Militia slaughters strikers at Ludlow, Colorado   Great Depression 1933 FDR suspends the gold standard for U.S. currency   Immigration 1980 Fidel Castro announces Mariel Boatlift, allowing Cubans to emigrate to U.S.   Natural Disasters & Environment 2010 Massive oil spill begins in Gulf of Mexico   Sports 1986 Michael Jordan scores 63 points in playoff game 2008 Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Indy race   U.S. Government and Politics 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act passed by Congress   Vietnam War 1971 Pentagon announces a rise in “fragging” among U.S. military units