This Day in History

Mben · Apr 3, 2011

PMM2008 wrote: <em class="date"> Apr 3, 1996: </h2>Unabomber arrested</h2> At his small wilderness cabin near Lincoln, Montana, Theodore John Kaczynski is arrested by FBI agents and accused of being the Unabomber, the elusive terrorist blamed for 16 mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 during an 18-year period .

Took them long enough!

omeg · Apr 4, 2011

Dr. King is assassinated</h2>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 bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1933: Man who took NASCAR mainstream is born</h2> Bill France Jr., the leading force behind the transformation of the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) from a regional sport into a multibillion-dollar industry with fans worldwide, is born on this day in 1933 in Washington, D.C. France's father, William France Sr. (1909-92), founded NASCAR in 1948. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1933: Dirigible crash kills 73</h2> On this day in 1933, a dirigible crashes in New Jersey, killing 73 people in one of the first air disasters in history. The Akron was the largest airship built in the United States when it took its first flight in August 1931. In its short life of less than two years, it was involved in two fatal accidents. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1841: President Harrison dies after one month in office</h2> Only 31 days after assuming office, William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, dies of pneumonia at the White House. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1928: Maya Angelou is born</h2> Poet and novelist Maya Angelou-born Marguerite Johnson-is born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she and her brother went to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. When she was eight, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. When she revealed what happened, her uncles kicked the culprit to death. Frightened by the power of her own tongue, Angelou chose not to speak for the next five years. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1960: Ben-Hur wins 11 Academy Awards</h2> Clocking in at three hours and 32 minutes, William Wylers Technicolor epic Ben-Hur is the behemoth entry at the 32nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, held on this day in 1960, at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Setting an Oscar record, the film swept 11 of the 12 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston). <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1913: Muddy Waters is born</h2> When Bob Dylan picked up an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, he permanently alienated a portion of his passionate fan base. When Muddy Waters went electric roughly 20 years earlier, he didn't have a fan base to be concerned about, and those who did go to his shows probably had no quarrel with his motivation for plugging in, which was simply to play loud enough to be heard inside a raucous nightclub. Little could those lucky Chicagoans have known that they were hearing the birth of a style of blues that would become a fundamental part of their city's cultural identity. Out of all the bluesmen plying their trade in the clubs of the Windy City in the late 40s and early 50s, none did more than Muddy Waters to create the Chicago Bluesthe hard-driving, amplified, distinctly urban sound with roots in the rural Mississippi Delta, where Waters was born on this day in 1913. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1865: Lincoln dreams about a presidential assassination</h2> According to the recollection of one of his friends, Ward Hill Lamon, President Abraham Lincoln dreams on this night in 1865 of the subdued sobs of mourners and a corpse lying on a catafalque in the White House East Room. In the dream, Lincoln asked a soldier standing guard Who is dead in the White House? to which the soldier replied, the President.he was killed by an assassin. Lincoln woke up at that point. On April 11, he told Lamon that the dream had strangely annoyed him ever since. Ten days after having the dream, Lincoln was shot dead by an assassin while attending the theater. <em class="date"> Apr 4, 1982: Gretzky finishes season with 212 points</h2> On this day in 1982, hockey sensation Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers finishes the NHL season with 212 points, the first and only player in NHL history to break the 200-point barrier. history.com

omeg · Apr 5, 2011

Pocahontas marries John Rolfe </h2> Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, marries English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years. NASCAR legend Lee Petty dies </h2> On April 5, 2000, Lee Petty, an early star of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the patriarch of a racing dynasty that includes his son, NASCAR legend Richard Petty, dies at the age 86 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Lee Petty won more than 50 races during his career, including three NASCAR championships, the first driver to rack up that many championship titles. He also won the first-ever Daytona 500, held in 1959. Rosenbergs sentenced to death for spying </h2> The climax of the most sensational spy trial in American history is reached when a federal judge sentences Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. Although the couple proclaimed their innocence, they died in the electric chair in June 1953. Kurt Cobain commits suicide </h2> Modern rock icon Kurt Cobain commits suicide on this day in 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 suburban house. Despite indications that Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, killed himself, several skeptics questioned the circumstances of his death and pinned responsibility on his wife, Courtney Love. Tornadoes devastate Tupelo and Gainesville </h2> On this day in 1936, two small towns in Mississippi and Georgia are devastated by tornadoes, killing 200 people in one of the deadliest spates of tornadoes in United States history. A total of 466 people were killed over four days of nearly continuous twisters. Another 3,500 people were injured. Winston Churchill resigns </h2> Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, retires as prime minister of Great Britain. Abortion rights advocates march on Washington </h2> A march and rally in support of abortion rights for women draws several hundred thousand people to demonstrations in Washington, D.C. One of the largest protest marches on the nation's capital, the pro-choice rally came as the U.S. Supreme Court was about to consider the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania state law that limited access to abortions. Many abortion rights advocates feared that the high court, with its conservative majority, might endorse the Pennsylvania law or even overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortion legal. Charlton Heston dies </h2> Best known in his later years as the outspoken president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the actor Charlton Heston first earned a reputation in Hollywood for playing larger-than-life figures in epic movies such as The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur. He died on this day in 2008, at the age of 84. <em class="date"> Apr 5, 1968: James Brown calms Boston following the King assassination </h2> On the morning after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., city officials in Boston, Massachusetts, were scrambling to prepare for an expected second straight night of violent unrest. Similar preparations were being made in cities across America, including in the nation's capital, where armed units of the regular Army patrolled outside the White House and U.S. Capitol following President Johnson's state-of-emergency declaration. But Boston would be nearly alone among America's major cities in remaining quiet and calm that turbulent Friday night, thanks in large part to one of the least quiet and calm musical performers of all time. On the night of April 5, 1968, James Brown kept the peace in Boston by the sheer force of his music and his personal charisma. <em class="date"> Apr 5, 1976: Howard Hughes dies </h2> Howard Robard Hughes, one of the richest men to emerge from the American West during the 20th century, dies while flying from Acapulco to Houston. <em class="date"> Apr 5, 1984: Abdul-Jabbar breaks points record </h2> On this day in 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores the 31,420th point of his career, breaking the NBA's all-time scoring record, which had been held by Wilt Chamberlain. history.com

omeg · Apr 6, 2011

First modern Olympic Games</h2>On April 6, 1896, the Olympic Games, a long-lost tradition of ancient Greece, are reborn in Athens 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. At the opening of the Athens Games, King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 nations to the international competition. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1970: Sam Sheppard dies</h2> On this day in 1970, Sam Sheppard, a doctor convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in a trial that caused a media frenzy in the 1950s, dies of liver failure. After a decade in prison, Sheppard was released following a re-trial. His story is rumored to have loosely inspired the television series and movie The Fugitive. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1950: Train falls off bridge in Brazil</h2> A train drops off a bridge in Tangua, Brazil, killing 110 people on this day in 1950. Twenty-two cars made up the Leopoldina Railways train that departed Rio de Janeiro for Victoria, Espirito Santo. The passenger cars were filled with people vacationing over the Easter holidays. The train left after midnight and had gone almost 60 miles when it approached the bridge over the Indios River at about 1:30 a.m. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1830: Mormon Church established</h2> In Fayette Township, New York, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion, organizes the Church of Christ during a meeting with a small group of believers. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1917: America enters World War I</h2> Two days after the U.S. Senate voted 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the U.S. House of Representatives endorses the declaration by a vote of 373 to 50, and America formally enters World War I. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey released</h2> On this day in 1968, Stanleys Kubricks science-fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey makes its debut in movie theaters. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1974: The Eurovision song contest launches a bona fide star</h2> In Brighton, England, on April 6, 1974, the judges of the 19th Eurovision Song Contest crushed the hopes of tiny Luxembourg by denying that nation in its bid for a historic third straight victory at the pan-European musical event. Those judges did the rest of the world a favor, however, by selecting the Swedish entry as the winner instead. Which is not to say anything against the song Bye Bye I Love You as performed by Luxembourg's Irene Sheer. It's just that Sweden's entry was a song called Waterloo, performed by a group called ABBA, which went on to become something of a sensation. ABBA's win at the annual Eurovision Song Contest on this day in 1974 launched the group on its monumental international career, marking the first and still only time that the Eurovision Song Contest crowned a previously unknown winner destined for legitimate superstardom. <em class="date"> Apr 6, 1841: Tyler is inaugurated as 10th president</h2> On this day in 1841, John Tyler is sworn in as president. Tyler was elected as William Harrison's vice president earlier in 1841 and was suddenly thrust into the role of president when Harrison died one month into office. He was the first vice president to immediately assume the role of president after a sitting president's untimely exit and set the precedent for succession thereafter. history.com

omeg · Apr 7, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 7, 1994: Civil war erupts in Rwanda</h2> On this day in 1994, Rwandan armed forces kill 10 Belgian peacekeeping officers in a successful effort to discourage international intervention in the genocide that had begun only hours earlier. In approximately three months, the Hutu extremists who controlled Rwanda brutally murdered an estimated 500,000 to 1 million innocent civilian Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the worst episode of ethnic genocide since World War II. <em class="date"> Apr 7, 1947: Auto pioneer Henry Ford dies</h2> On this day in 1947, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, which developed the first affordable, mass-produced car--the Model T--and also helped pioneer assembly-line manufacturing, dies at his estate in Dearborn, Michigan, at the age of 83 <em class="date"> Apr 7, 1990: Twin ferry accidents on opposite ends of world</h2> In a tragic coincidence, two separate ferry accidents in different areas of the world take the lives of a reported 325 people on this day in 1990. The first took place in Myanmar (formerly Burma) on the Gyaing River. Later in the day, Scandinavia was also rocked by tragedy. <em class="date"> Apr 7, 1970: John Wayne wins Best Actor Oscar</h2> On this day in 1970, the legendary actor John Wayne wins his first--and only--acting Academy Award, for his star turn in the director Henry Hathaways Western True Grit. <em class="date"> Apr 7, 1805: Lewis and Clark depart Fort Mandan</h2> After a long winter, the Lewis and Clark expedition departs its camp among the Mandan Indians and resumes its journey West along the Missouri River. <em class="date"> Apr 7, 1961: JFK lobbies Congress to help save historic sites in Egypt</h2> On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy sends a letter to Congress in which he recommends the U.S. participate in an international campaign to preserve ancient temples and historic monuments in the Nile Valley of Egypt. The campaign, initiated by UNESCO, was designed to save sites threatened by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. <em class="date"> Apr 7, 1873: John McGraw, second all-time winningest baseball manager, is born</h2> On April 7, 1873, John McGraw, one of the winningest managers in Major League Baseball history, is born in Truxton, New York. McGraws career total of 2,763 wins ranks second only to Connie Mack. history.com

omeg · Apr 8, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 8, 1974: Aaron sets new home run record</h2> On this day in 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 Los Angeles Dodgers' Al Downing. However, as Aaron was an African American who had received death threats and racist hate mail during his pursuit of one of baseball's most distinguished records, the achievement was bittersweet. <em class="date"> Apr 8, 2005: Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty</h2> Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty to a series of bombings, including the fatal bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, in order to avoid the death penalty. He later cited his anti-abortion and anti-homosexual views as motivation for the bombings. Eric Robert Rudolph was born September 19, 1966, in Merritt Island, Florida . He served a brief stint in the U.S. Army and later supported himself by working as a carpenter. On July 27, 1996, a 40-pound pipe bomb exploded in Atlantas Centennial Olympic Park, killing one woman and injuring over 100 people. A security guard named Richard Jewell was initially considered the prime suspect in the case. Then, on January 16, 1997, two bombs went off at an Atlanta-area medical clinic that performed abortions, injuring seven people. In February of that same year, a bomb detonated at a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, injuring four people. On January 29, 1998, a bomb exploded at a Birmingham, Alabama , womens health clinic, killing a security guard and critically injuring a nurse. <em class="date"> Apr 8, 1916: California road race kills five</h2> On this day in 1916, at the Boulevard Race in Corona, California , an early racing car careens into a crowd of spectators, killing the driver and two others. At the time, racing events were still a relative rarity and the fatal accident helped encourage organizers to begin holding races on specially built tracks instead of regular streets. The first organized race of horseless carriages, as they were then called, was held in France in 1894. The winning speed was less than 10 miles per hour and the winner was disqualified because his steam-driven tractor was deemed not to be a practical vehicle. The first Grand Prix was held 12 years later. <em class="date"> Apr 8, 1935: WPA established by Congress</h2> On April 8, 1935, Congress votes to approve the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a central part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal . <em class="date"> Apr 8, 1994: Kurt Cobain is found dead</h2> On April 8, 1994, rock star Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home outside Seattle, Washington, with fresh injection marks in both arms and a fatal wound to the head from the 20-gauge shotgun found between his knees. Cobain's suicide brought an end to a life marked by far more suffering than is generally associated with rock superstardom. But rock superstardom never did sit well with Kurt Cobain, a committed social outsider who was reluctantly dubbed the spokesman of his generation. Success to him seemed like, I think, a brick wall, said friend Greg Sage, a musical hero of Cobain's from the local punk rock scene of the 1980s . There was nowhere else to go but down. <em class="date"> Apr 8, 1935: FDR signs Emergency Relief Appropriation Act</h2> President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizes almost $5 million to implement work-relief programs on this day in 1935. Hoping to lift the country out of the crippling Great Depression , Congress allowed the president to use the funds at his discretion. The act was unprecedented and remains the largest system of public-assistance relief programs in the nation's history. history.com

omeg · Apr 9, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 9, 1865: Robert E. Lee surrenders</h2> At Appomattox, Virginia , Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 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 Confederate force in North Carolina , and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 2009: Honda wins World Green Car award</h2> On this day in 2009, the Honda FCX Clarity, a four-door sedan billed as the planet's first hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicle intended for mass production, wins the World Green Car award at the New York Auto Show. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 1984: A husband attempts murder for money in England</h2> Margaret Backhouse turns the ignition of her husband's car, setting off a pipe bomb filled with nitroglycerine and shotgun pellets in the small farming community of Horton, England. Hundreds of pellets lacerated her body and practically tore away her legs, but she was relatively lucky in that most of the bomb's force was deflected away from her. Passersby found Backhouse and brought her to a local hospital, where she was treated and later recovered. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 1947: Tornado reduces Oklahoma town to rubble</h2> The town of Woodward, Oklahoma , is nearly wiped off the map by a powerful tornado on this day in 1947. More than 100 people died in Woodward, and 80 more lost their lives elsewhere in the series of twisters that hit the U.S. heartland that day. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 1959: First astronauts introduced</h2> On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduces America's first astronauts to the press: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil Gus Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr., and Donald Slayton. The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury, America's first manned space program. NASA planned to begin manned orbital flights in 1961. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 2005: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles wed</h2> Nearly eight years after Princess Diana's death in a car crash was mourned the world over, Prince Charles, her widower and heir to the British throne, weds his longtime mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. The marriage, a private civil ceremony, took place at Windsory Guildhall, 30 miles outside of London. The ceremony was originally supposed to take place on April 8, but had to be rescheduled so as not to conflict with the funeral of Pope John Paul II. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 1962: Sophia Loren wins Best Actress Oscar for Two Women</h2> On this day in 1962, the 34th annual Academy Awards ceremony is held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California . In addition to the overwhelming triumph of the musical West Side Story, which won 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, one of the big victors of the night was the Italian actress Sophia Loren, who took home the Best Actress statuette for her star turn in Two Women (La ciociara in Italian). <em class="date"> Apr 9, 1881: Billy the Kid convicted of murder</h2> After a one-day trial, Billy the Kid is found guilty of murdering the Lincoln County, New Mexico , sheriff and is sentenced to hang. <em class="date"> Apr 9, 1962: Kennedy throws first pitch at new D.C. stadium</h2> On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy throws out the ceremonial first pitch in Washington D.C.s new stadium, called simply D.C. Stadium. In doing so, he continued a long-standing tradition that began in 1910 when President William H. Taft threw out Major League Baseballs first opening-day pitch in Washington D.C.s old Griffith Stadium. history.com

omeg · Apr 10, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 10, 1866: ASPCA is founded</h2> 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. <em class="date"> Apr 10, 1834: A torture chamber is uncovered by arson</h2> On this day in 1834, a fire at the LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana, leads to the discovery of a torture chamber where slaves are routinely brutalized by Delphine LaLaurie. Rescuers found a 70-year-old black woman trapped in the kitchen during the fire because she was chained up while LaLaurie was busy saving her furniture. The woman later revealed that she had set the fire in an attempt to escape LaLaurie's torture. She led authorities up to the attic, where seven slaves were tied with spiked iron collars. <em class="date"> Apr 10, 1942: Bataan Death March begins</h2> The day after the surrender of the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula begin a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan. During this infamous trek, known as the Bataan Death March, the prisoners were forced to march 85 miles in six days, with only one meal of rice during the entire journey. By the end of the march, which was punctuated with atrocities committed by the Japanese guards, hundreds of Americans and many more Filipinos had died. <em class="date"> Apr 10, 1953: First color 3-D film opens</h2> On this day in 1953, the horror film The House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, opens at New York s Paramount Theater. Released by Warner Brothers, it was the first movie from a major motion-picture studio to be shot using the three-dimensional, or stereoscopic, film process and one of the first horror films to be shot in color. <em class="date"> Apr 10, 1970: Paul McCartney announces the breakup of the Beatles</h2> The legendary rock band the Beatles spent the better part of three years breaking up in the late 1960s , and even longer than that hashing out who did what and why. And by the spring of 1970, there was little more than a tangled set of business relationships keeping the group together. Each of the Beatles was pursuing his musical interests outside of the band, and there were no plans in place to record together as a group. But as far as the public knew, this was just a temporary state of affairs. That all changed on April 10, 1970, when an ambiguous Paul McCartney self-interview was seized upon by the international media as an official announcement of a Beatles breakup. <em class="date"> Apr 10, 1933: FDR creates Civilian Conservation Corps</h2> On this day in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an innovative federally funded organization that put thousands of Americans to work during the Great Depression on projects with environmental benefits. <em class="date"> Apr 10, 2005: Tiger Woods wins fourth Masters</h2> Tiger Woods wins his fourth Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club after a 15-foot birdie on the first hole of the sudden-death playoff against Chris DiMarco on April 10, 2005. The victory was Woods ninth major championship on the PGA tour. history.com

omeg · Apr 11, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 11, 1814: Napoleon exiled to Elba</h2> On this day in 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. <em class="date"> Apr 11, 1968: Last survivors of ferry accident rescued</h2> Rescue workers pick up the last survivors of the Wahine ferry accident on this day in 1968. The ferry had capsized after hitting sharp rocks off the coast of Wellington, New Zealand, the previous day. Fifty-one of the more than 800 passengers and crew on board perished in the accident. <em class="date"> Apr 11, 1970: Apollo 13 launched to moon</h2> On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida , carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The spacecraft's destination was the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon , where the astronauts were to explore the Imbrium Basin and conduct geological experiments. After an oxygen tank exploded on the evening of April 13, however, the new mission objective became to get the Apollo 13 crew home alive. <em class="date"> Apr 11, 1988: Cher wins Best Actress Oscar for Moonstruck</h2> On this day in 1988, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles , the actress and singer Cher collects the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Moonstruck (1988). <em class="date"> Apr 11, 1961: Bob Dylan plays his first major gig in New York City</h2> Who knows how many other young men arrived in New York City in the winter of 1961 looking like James Dean and talking like Jack Kerouac? It would have been difficult to pick Bob Dylan out of the crowd at first, considering how much he had in common with the other Bohemian kids kicking around Greenwich Village. Artistic ambition? Check. Antipathy toward mainstream culture? Yes. A desire to put his middle-class identity behind him? Definitely. But the singular creative vision that would separate Dylan from the rest of his peers and change the face of popular music wasn't really in evidence yet. What Bob Dylan did have, though, in addition to his guitar and harmonica, was a unique stage presence and a vast library of American folk songs in his repertoire. On April 11, 1961, he got his first real chance to put those on display with his first major gig in New York City , opening for bluesman John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City. <em class="date"> Apr 11, 1803: Talleyrand offers to sell Louisiana</h2> In one of the great surprises in diplomatic history, French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand makes an offer to sell all of Louisiana Territory to the United States . <em class="date"> Apr 11, 1977: President Carter hosts White House Easter egg roll</h2> On this day in 1977, President Jimmy Carter , along with first lady Rosalynn Carter , hosts local children at the traditional White House Easter egg roll. <em class="date"> Apr 11, 2004: Phil Mickelson wins first major at Masters</h2> On this day in 2004, Phil Mickelson wins the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, his first major championship in nearly 12 years as a professional golfer. history.com

omeg · Apr 11, 2011

Just found this piece of history, and thought it worth noting.</h3>1921</h3>Iowa imposed the first state cigarette tax.

omeg · Apr 12, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 12, 1861: The Civil War begins</h2> The bloodiest four years in American history begin when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina 's Charleston Bay. During the next 34 hours, 50 Confederate guns and mortars launched more than 4,000 rounds at the poorly supplied fort. On April 13, U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. Two days later, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern insurrection. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies</h2> While on a vacation in Warm Springs, Georgia , President Roosevelt suffers a stroke and dies. His death marked a critical turning point in U.S. relations with the Soviet Union , as his successor, Harry S. Truman, decided to take a tougher stance with the Russians. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1908: Fire threatens Massachusetts oil refineries</h2> A fire in Chelsea, Massachusetts , leaves 12 dead, 85 missing and presumed dead and more than 17,000 homeless on this day in 1908. The fire nearly spread to nearby Boston and its large Standard Oil refinery, but was stopped just in time. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1864: The Fort Pillow Massacre</h2> During the American Civil War , Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest 's Confederate raiders attack the isolated Union garrison at Fort Pillow, Tennessee , overlooking the Mississippi River . The fort, an important part of the Confederate river defense system, was captured by federal forces in 1862. Of the 500-strong Union garrison defending the fort, more than half the soldiers were African-Americans. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1961: First man in space</h2> On April 12, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. During the flight, the 27-year-old test pilot and industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet, a feat accomplished by his space capsule in 89 minutes. Vostok 1 orbited Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles and was guided entirely by an automatic control system. The only statement attributed to Gagarin during his one hour and 48 minutes in space was, Flight is proceeding normally; I am well. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1981: First launching of the space shuttle</h2> The space shuttle Columbia is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida , becoming the first reusable manned spacecraft to travel into space. Piloted by astronauts Robert L. Crippen and John W. Young, the Columbia undertook a 54-hour space flight of 36 orbits before successfully touching down at California 's Edwards Air Force Base on April 14. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1949: Legal thriller writer Scott Turow is born</h2> Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent (1987), is born on this day in Chicago. <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1954: Bill Haley and the Comets record Rock Around The Clock </h2> On April 12, 1954 Bill Haley and the Comets recorded (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock. If rock and roll was a social and cultural revolution , then (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock was its Declaration of Independence . And if Bill Haley was not exactly the revolution's Thomas Jefferson , it may be fair to call him its John Hancock . <em class="date"> Apr 12, 1981: Lawrence Taylor drafted by NY Giants</h2> On April 12, 1981, the New York Giants draft University of North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor as their first-round pick and the second selection overall in the NFL Draft. Taylor went on to revolutionize the linebacker position and revitalize the Giants football franchise. history.com

omeg · Apr 13, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 13, 1997: Tiger Woods wins first major</h2> On April 13, 1997, in Augusta, Georgia , 21-year-old Tiger Woods wins the prestigious Masters Tournament by a record 12 strokes. It was Woods' first victory in one of golf's four major championships--the U.S. Open, the British Open, the PGA Championship, and the Masters--and the greatest performance by a professional golfer in more than a century. <em class="date"> Apr 13, 1984: Mass murderer Wilder commits suicide</h2> Christopher Wilder dies after a month-long crime spree involving at 11 young women who have disappeared or been killed. Police in New Hampshire attempted to apprehend Wilder, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, but Wilder apparently shot himself to death in a scuffle with state troopers to avoid capture. <em class="date"> Apr 13, 1941: Japan and USSR sign nonaggression pact</h2> During World War II , representatives from the Soviet Union and Japan sign a five-year neutrality agreement. Although traditional enemies, the nonaggression pact allowed both nations to free up large numbers of troops occupying disputed territory in Manchuria and Outer Mongolia to be used for more pressing purposes. <em class="date"> Apr 13, 1970: Apollo 13 oxygen tank explodes</h2> On April 13, 1970, disaster strikes 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blows up on Apollo 13, the third manned lunar landing mission. Astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise had left Earth two days before for the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon but were forced to turn their attention to simply making it home alive. <em class="date"> Apr 13, 1866: Butch Cassidy is born</h2> Butch Cassidy, the last of the great western train-robbers, is born on this day in Beaver, Utah Territory. <em class="date"> Apr 13, 1743: Thomas Jefferson is born</h2> Future President Thomas Jefferson , drafter of the Declaration of Independence and the nation's preeminent political theorist, is born on this day in 1743. history.com

omeg · Apr 14, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 14, 1865: Lincoln is shot</h2> On this day in 1865, John Wilkes Booth , an actor and Confederate sympathizer, fatally shoots President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House , Virginia , effectively ending the American Civil War . <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1944: Explosion on cargo ship rocks Bombay, India</h2> The cargo ship Fort Stikine explodes in a berth in the docks of Bombay, India, killing 1,300 people and injuring another 3,000 on this day in 1944. As it occurred during World War II , some initially claimed that the massive explosion was caused by Japanese sabotage; in fact, it was a tragic accident. <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1912: RMS Titanic hits iceberg</h2> Just before midnight in the North Atlantic, the RMS Titanic fails to divert its course from an iceberg, ruptures its hull, and begins to sink. <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1969: Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tie for Best Actress Oscar</h2> On this day in 1969, the 41st annual Academy Awards are broadcast live to a television audience in 37 nations. It was the first time the awards had been televised worldwide, as well as the first Oscar ceremony to be held in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center. <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1818: Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language is printed</h2> Noah Webster, a Yale-educated lawyer with an avid interest in language and education, publishes his American Dictionary of the English Language. <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1935: Country legend Loretta Lynn is born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky</h2> If there's one thing nearly everyone knows about country-music legend Loretta Lynn, it's what her father, Ted Webb, did for a living. Like any man struggling to provide for a family during the Great Depression , he took work wherever he could find it, but his primary job was in the mines of the Consolidation Coal Company in the rugged mountains of eastern Kentucky . Ted and his wife, Ramey, raised eight children in their small wooden house in Johnson County, including the most famous coal miner's daughter in the world, who was born on this day in 1935. <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1935: A major Dust Bowl storm strikes</h2> In what came to be known as Black Sunday, one of the most devastating storms of the 1930s Dust Bowl era swept across the region on this day. High winds kicked up clouds of millions of tons of dirt and dust so dense and dark that some eyewitnesses believed the world was coming to an end. <em class="date"> Apr 14, 1960: Montreal Canadiens win fifth consecutive Stanley Cup</h2> On April 14, 1960, the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup for a record fifth year in a row. history.com

omeg · Apr 15, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 15, 1947: Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier </h2> On this day in 1947, Jackie Robinson , age 28, becomes the first African-American player in Major League Baseball 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. Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Robinson's groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number, 42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New York City 's Shea Stadium. Robinson's was the first-ever number retired by all teams in the league. <em class="date"> Apr 15, 1912: Race car driver goes down with the Titanic </h2> On this day in 1912, Washington Augustus Roebling II, a 31-year-old race car engineer and driver, dies in the sinking of the RMS Titanic in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Roebling was named for his uncle, a civil engineer who helped build the Brooklyn Bridge . <em class="date"> Apr 15, 1865: President Lincoln dies </h2> President Abraham Lincoln , the 16th president of the United States , dies from an assassins bullet. Shot by John Wilkes Booth at Fords Theater in Washington the night before, Lincoln lived for nine hours before succumbing to the severe head wound he sustained. <em class="date"> Apr 15, 1912: Unsinkable Titanic sinks </h2> The RMS Titanic, billed as unsinkable, sinks into the icy waters of the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage, killing 1,517 people. <em class="date"> Apr 15, 1990: Greta Garbo dies </h2> On this day in 1990, the beautiful, enigmatic Swedish film star Greta Garbo dies at the age of 84, in New York City . <em class="date"> Apr 15, 1894: Bessie Smith is born in Chattanooga, Tennessee </h2> Despite the immense influence her records had on the shape and course of American popular music in the 20th century, the recorded legacy of Bessie Smith only captures part of her historical significance. Yes, her first recording, Downhearted Blues (1923) sold a then-astonishing 800,000 copies, and her subsequent Columbia Records releases throughout the 1920s earned her the title Empress of the Blues and influenced countless important musicians in the decades that followed. But by the time Bessie Smith made her first record, she was already a seasoned show-business veteranan actress, dancer, singer, all-around force of nature and, eventually, the highest-paid African-American performer in the world, by many accounts. A monumental figure in her own time and beyond, the great Bessie Smith was born on this day in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee . <em class="date"> Apr 15, 1912: Molly Brown avoids sinking with the Titanic </h2> A 20th century version of the strong and resourceful women of the Wild West, Molly Brown wins lasting fame by surviving the sinking of the Titanic. history.com

omeg · Apr 16, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 16, 1943: Hallucinogenic effects of LSD discovered</h2> In Basel, Switzerland, Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory, accidentally consumes LSD-25, a synthetic drug he had created in 1938 as part of his research into the medicinal value of lysergic acid compounds. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations. In his notes, he related the experience: <em class="date"> Apr 16, 1946: Arthur Chevrolet commits suicide</h2> On this day in 1946, Arthur Chevrolet, an auto racer and the brother of Chevrolet auto namesake Louis Chevrolet, commits suicide in Slidell, Louisiana . <em class="date"> Apr 16, 2007: Massacre at Virginia Tech leaves 32 dead</h2> On this day in 2007, in one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history, 32 students and teachers die after being gunned down on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University by Seung Hui Cho, a student at the school who later dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. <em class="date"> Apr 16, 1947: Fertilizer explosion kills 581 in Texas</h2> A giant explosion occurs during the loading of fertilizer onto the freighter Grandcamp at a pier in Texas City, Texas , on this day in 1947. Nearly 600 people lost their lives and thousands were injured when the ship was literally blown to bits <em class="date"> Apr 16, 1972: Apollo 16 departs for moon</h2> From Cape Canaveral, Florida , Apollo 16, the fifth of six U.S. lunar landing missions, is successfully launched on its 238,000-mile journey to the moon . On April 20, astronauts John W. Young and Charles M. Duke descended to the lunar surface from Apollo 16, which remained in orbit around the moon with a third astronaut, Thomas K. Mattingly, in command. Young and Duke remained on the moon for nearly three days, and spent more than 20 hours exploring the surface of Earth's only satellite. The two astronauts used the Lunar Rover vehicle to collect more than 200 pounds of rock before returning to Apollo 16 on April 23. Four days later, the three astronauts returned to Earth, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. <em class="date"> Apr 16, 1889: Charlie Chaplin born</h2> On April 16, 1889, future Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin is born Charles Spencer Chaplin in London, England. <em class="date"> Apr 16, 1977: David Soul, of Starsky & Hutch, has the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts</h2> On April 16, 1977, David Soul's smash-hit single Don't Give Up On Us Baby reaches the top of the U.S. pop charts. But the story of a tough-but-sensitive TV detective's journey to crossover success began a full 10 years earlier. <em class="date"> Apr 16, 1940: Bob Feller throws no-hitter</h2> On April 16, 1940, the Cleveland Indians Bob Feller pitches his first no-hitter. He went on to throw two more no-hitters in his career; only two other pitchers in baseball history have recorded more no-hitters. history.com

omeg · Apr 17, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 17, 1970: Apollo 13 returns to Earth </h2> 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. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1964: Ford Mustang debuts at Worlds Fair </h2> The Ford Mustang, a two-seat, mid-engine sports car, is officially unveiled by Henry Ford II at the Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York , on April 17, 1964. That same day, the new car also debuted in Ford showrooms across America and almost 22,000 Mustangs were immediately snapped up by buyers. Named for a World War II fighter plane, the Mustang was the first of a type of vehicle that came to be known as a pony car. Ford sold more than 400,000 Mustangs within its first year of production, far exceeding sales expectations. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1961: The Bay of Pigs invasion begins </h2> The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA-financed and -trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro . The attack was an utter failure. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1815: Volcanic eruption kills 80,000 </h2> Heavy eruptions of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia are letting up by this day in 1815. The volcano, which began rumbling on April 5, killed almost 100,000 people directly and indirectly. The eruption was the largest ever recorded and its effects were noted throughout the world. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1790: Benjamin Franklin dies </h2> On April 17, 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 2002: General Hospital airs 10,000th episode </h2> On this day in the 2002, ABC airs the 10,000th episode of the daytime drama General Hospital, the networks longest-running soap opera and the longest-running program ever produced in Hollywood . <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1960: Eddie Cochran dies, and Gene Vincent is injured, in a UK car accident </h2> Eddie Cochran, the man behind Summertime Blues and C'mon Everybody, was killed on this day in 1960 when the taxi carrying him from a show in Bristol, England, crashed en route to the airport in London, where he was to catch a flight back home to the United States . A raw and exciting rocker with a cocky, rebellious image, Eddie Cochran was very different from the polished and packaged idols being heavily marketed to American teenagers in the years between the rise of Elvis Presley and the arrival of the Beatles. And while he may have faded from popular memory in the years since his tragic and early death, his biggest hits have not. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1976: Mike Schmidt hits four consecutive homers </h2> On this day in 1976, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits four consecutive home runs in a game against the Chicago Cubs. Schmidt was only the fourth player in the history of Major League Baseball to accomplish this feat. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1972: First antiwar protest of the year is conducted </h2> The first major antiwar protest of 1972 is held. The demonstration, held at the University of Maryland , was organized to protest the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Hundreds of students were arrested and 800 National Guardsmen were ordered onto the campus. Significant protests continued across the country in reaction to the increased bombing of North Vietnam, which had been initiated in response to the new communist offensive in South Vietnam. <em class="date"> Apr 17, 1945: Americans seize 1,100 tons of uranium </h2> On this day in 1945, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash commandeers over half a ton of uranium at Strassfut, Germany, in an effort to prevent the Russians from developing an A-bomb. history.com -- Edited by PMM2008 on Sunday 17th of April 2011 07:47:04 AM

omeg · Apr 18, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 18, 1906: The Great San Francisco Earthquake </h2> At 5:13 a.m., an earthquake estimated at close to 8.0 on the Richter scale strikes San Francisco , California , killing hundreds of 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 waves could be felt from southern Oregon down to Los Angeles . <em class="date"> Apr 18, 2009: Fifty-year-old Mark Martin wins NASCAR race </h2> On this day in 2009, driver Mark Martin wins the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at the Phoenix International Speedway in Avondale, Arizona , and becomes the first 50-year-old to claim victory at a National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) Sprint Cup race since Morgan Shepherd did so at a race in Atlanta in 1993. Besides Martin and Shepherd, only two other drivers age 50 or older have won Sprint Cup events. <em class="date"> Apr 18, 1880: Missouri is ravaged by tornadoes </h2> Missouri is hit by a string of deadly tornadoes on this day in 1880. Statewide, 151 people were killed by the twisters, including 99 in the town of Marshfield. <em class="date"> Apr 18, 1983: Suicide bomber destroys U.S. embassy in Beirut </h2> The U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, is almost completely destroyed by a car-bomb explosion that kills 63 people, including the suicide bomber and 17 Americans. The terrorist attack was carried out in protest of the U.S. military presence in Lebanon. <em class="date"> Apr 18, 1956: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier marry </h2> American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a spectacular ceremony on this day in 1956. <em class="date"> Apr 18, 1961: JFK denies U.S. military intervention in Cuba </h2> On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy heats up Cold War rhetoric in a letter responding to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's claim that the U.S. was engaging in armed aggression against the communist regime in Cuba. Kennedy denied the allegations, told Kruschev he was under a serious misapprehension and stated that the U.S. intends no military intervention in Cuba. However, Kennedy insisted that he would support Cubans who wish to see a democratic system in an independent Cuba and that the U.S. would take no action to stifle the spirit of liberty. history.com

omeg · Apr 19, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 19, 1897: First Boston Marathon held </h2> On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10. <em class="date"> Apr 19, 1775: The American Revolution begins </h2> 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 Patriots to disperse, and after a moment's hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the shot heard around the world was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun. <em class="date"> Apr 19, 1995: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building explodes </h2> A massive explosion at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma , kills 168 people and injures hundreds more. The bomb, contained in a Ryder truck parked outside the front of the building, went off at 9:02 a.m. as people were preparing for the workday. Among the victims of America's worst incident of domestic terrorism were 19 children who were in the daycare center on the first floor of the building. <em class="date"> Apr 19, 1902: Earthquake rocks Guatemala </h2> The last and most powerful in a series of earthquakes rocks Western Guatemala on this day in 1902. More than 2,000 people were killed and 50,000 left homeless by the destruction. <em class="date"> Apr 19, 1993: Branch Davidian compound burns </h2> At Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas , the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launches a tear-gas assault on the Branch Davidian compound, ending a tense 51-day standoff between the federal government and an armed religious cult. By the end of the day, the compound was burned to the ground, and some 80 Branch Davidians, including 22 children, had perished in the inferno. <em class="date"> Apr 19, 1975: The Captain and Tennille bring wedded bliss to the pop charts with their first hit record </h2> With divorce rates skyrocketing and the sexual revolution in full bloom, it seemed like dark days ahead for the American marriage in the mid-1970s . Even Sonny and CherAmerica's favorite husband and wifewere coming apart at the seams on national television, making an institution as old as society itself look very vulnerable indeed. And then along came the Captain and Tennille, just at the moment when it seemed America needed reminding that such a thing as wedded bliss might actually exist. Like a walking, talking, singing advertisement for the rewards of settled monogamy, Captain & Tennille burst onto the scene when their debut single, Love Will Keep Us Together, began its rapid climb up the U.S. pop charts on this day in 1975. history.com

omeg · Apr 20, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 20, 1980: Castro announces Mariel Boatlift </h2> On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 2008: Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Indy race </h2> On April 20, 2008, 26-year-old Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Montegi in Montegi, Japan, making her the first female winner in IndyCar racing history. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 1861: Lee resigns from U.S. Army </h2> Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States army two days after he was offered command of the Union army and three days after his native state, Virginia , seceded from the Union. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 1999: A massacre at Columbine High School </h2> Two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado . At about 11:20 a.m., Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, dressed in long trench coats, began shooting students outside the school before moving inside to continue their rampage. By the time SWAT team officers finally entered the school at about 3:00 p.m., Klebold and Harris had killed 12 fellow students and a teacher, and had wounded another 23 people. Then, around noon, they turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 1906: San Francisco firefighters halt massive blaze </h2> On this day in 1906, firefighters finally halt the spread of flames in San Francisco after an earthquake two days earlier caused a substantial part of the city to burn. Nearly 700 people lost their lives from the earthquake and fires and 200,000 were left homeless. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 1926: New sound process for films announced </h2> On this day in 1926, Western Electric, the manufacturing arm of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), and the Warner Brothers film studio officially introduce Vitaphone, a new process that will enable the addition of sound to film. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 1841: First detective story is published </h2> Edgar Allen Poe's story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, first appears in Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine. The tale is generally considered to be the first detective story. <em class="date"> Apr 20, 1986: Jordan scores 63 points in playoff game </h2> On April 20, 1986, the Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan scores 63 points in an NBA playoff game against the Boston Celtics, setting a post-season scoring record. Despite Jordans achievement, the Bulls lost to the Celtics in double overtime, 135-131. Boston swept the three-game series and went on to win the NBA championship. history.com

omeg · Apr 21, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 21, 0753: Rome founded </h2> According to tradition, on April 21, 753 B.C., Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, found Rome on the site where they were suckled by a she-wolf as orphaned infants. Actually, the Romulus and Remus myth originated sometime in the fourth century B.C., and the exact date of Rome's founding was set by the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in the first century B.C. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1967: GM celebrates 100 millionth U.S.-made car </h2> On April 21, 1967, General Motors (GM) celebrates the manufacture of its 100 millionth American-made car. At the time, GM was the world's largest automaker. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1992: Executions resume in California </h2> Robert Alton Harris is executed in California 's gas chamber after 13 years on death row. This was California's first execution since former Chief Justice Rose Bird and two other state supreme court justices, Joseph Grodin and Cruz Reynoso, had been rejected by California voters. From 1979 to 1986, the Bird court had reversed 64 out of the 68 death penalty cases on appeal. Supporters of capital punishment initiated a campaign against Bird, Grodin, and Reynoso, successfully ousting them from the court in 1986. Republican Governor George Deukmejian then appointed three justices in favor of the death penalty to take their places. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1930: Prisoners left to burn in Ohio fire </h2> A fire at an Ohio prison kills 320 inmates, some of whom burn to death when they are not unlocked from their cells. It is one of the worst prison disasters in American history. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1918: Red Baron killed in action </h2> In the skies over Vauz sur Somme, France, Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German flying ace known as The Red Baron, is killed by Allied fire. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1989: Chinese students begin protests at Tiananmen Square </h2> Six days after the death of Hu Yaobang, the deposed reform-minded leader of the Chinese Communist Party, some 100,000 students gather at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate Hu and voice their discontent with China's authoritative communist government. The next day, an official memorial service for Hu Yaobang was held in Tiananmen's Great Hall of the People, and student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall, demanding to meet with Premier Li Peng. The Chinese government refused such a meeting, leading to a general boycott of Chinese universities across the country and widespread calls for democratic reforms. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1895: First movie projector demonstrated in United States </h2> On this day in 1895, Woodville Latham and his sons, Otway and Gray, demonstrate their Panopticon, the first movie projector developed in the United States . <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1973: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree tops the U.S. pop charts and creates a cultural phenomenon. </h2> The yellow ribbon has long been a symbol of support for absent or missing loved ones. There are some who believe that the tradition of the yellow ribbon dates back as far as the Civil War era, when a yellow ribbon in a woman's hair indicated that she was taken by a man who was absent due to service in the United States Army Cavalry. But research by professional folklorists has found no evidence to support that story. The Library of Congress itself traces the cultural ubiquity of this powerful symbol to the well-known song by Tony Orlando and Dawn: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree, which topped the U.S. pop charts on this day in 1973. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1865: Lincoln's funeral train leaves D.C. </h2> On this day in 1865, a train carrying the coffin of assassinated President Abraham Lincoln leaves Washington, D.C. on its way to Springfield, Illinois , where he would be buried on May 4. <em class="date"> Apr 21, 1980: Rosie Ruiz fakes Boston Marathon win </h2> Rosie Ruiz, age 26, finishes first in the womens division of the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:31:56 on April 21, 1980. She was rewarded with a medal, a laurel wreath and a silver bowl; however, eight days later Ruiz is stripped of her victory after race officials learned she jumped into the race about a mile before the finish line. history.com

omeg · Apr 22, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 22, 1970: The first Earth Day </h2> Earth Day , an event to increase public awareness of the world's environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches, and educational programs. <em class="date"> Apr 22, 1934: An FBI agent is killed in a gangster raid </h2> George Baby Face Nelson kills Special Agent W. Carter Baum during an FBI raid in northern Wisconsin . Nelson was holed up with notorious bank robber John Dillinger's gang at the Little Bohemia resort but didn't follow the planned escape route. As he was stealing a car to escape, he blasted several agents with two handguns. The famed gangster was born Lester Gillis but wanted to be known as Big George Nelson. Unfortunately for him, his youthful looks caused everyone to call him Baby Face, although one had to be careful about using the nickname within earshot of the gangster. After a typical teenage criminal career, Nelson joined Al Capone 's gang in 1929, where he was known for his particularly brutal strong-arm tactics. In fact, his unpredictable violence got so out of hand that it eventually led to his expulsion from the gang. <em class="date"> Apr 22, 1992: Sewers explode in Guadalajara </h2> Dozens of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico , kill more than 200 people and damage 1,000 buildings on this day in 1992. The series of explosions was caused by a gas leak, the warning signs of which were ignored by the Mexican government and the national oil company. <em class="date"> Apr 22, 1915: Germans introduce poison gas </h2> On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres, Belgium. This was the first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied line. <em class="date"> Apr 22, 1978: The Blues Brothers make their world premiere on Saturday Night Live </h2> It was Marshall Checker, of the legendary Checker brothers, who first discovered them in the gritty blues clubs of Chicago 's South Side in 1969 and handed them their big break nine years later with an introduction to music-industry heavyweight and host of television's Rock Concert,Don Kirshner. Actually, none of that is true, but it's the story that Saturday Night Live's Paul Shaffer told on April 22, 1978 as he announced the worldwide television debut of that night's musical guest, the Blues Brothersthe not-quite-real, not-quite-fake musical creation of SNL cast members Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. <em class="date"> Apr 22, 1889: The Oklahoma land rush begins </h2> At precisely high noon, thousands of would-be settlers make a mad dash into the newly opened Oklahoma Territory to claim cheap land. <em class="date"> Apr 22, 2004: Pat Tillman killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan </h2> Pat Tillman, who gave up his pro football career to enlist in the U.S. Army after the terrorist attacks of September 11 , is killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. The news that Tillman, age 27, was mistakenly gunned down by his fellow Rangers, rather than enemy forces, was initially covered up by the U.S. military. history.com

omeg · Apr 23, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 23, 1564: William Shakespeare born </h2> According to tradition, the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. Shakespeare's date of death is conclusively known, however: it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 years old and had retired to Stratford three years before. <em class="date"> Apr 23, 1987: Chrysler buys luxury automaker Lamborghini </h2> On this day in 1987, the Chrysler Corporation purchases Nuova Automobili F. Lamborghini, the Bologna, Italy-based maker of high-priced, high-performance cars. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the media reported that Chrysler paid $25 million for Lamborghini, which at the time was experiencing financial difficulties. <em class="date"> Apr 23, 1969: Sirhan Sirhan receives death penalty </h2> On this day in 1969, Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to the death penalty after being convicted in the assassination of politician Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972, Sirhan's sentence was commuted to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty. <em class="date"> Apr 23, 1967: Soviet cosmonaut is killed </h2> On this day in 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute fails to deploy during his spacecraft's landing. <em class="date"> Apr 23, 1961: Judy Garland plays Carnegie Hall </h2> She was one of the biggest and most popular movie stars of all time, making her first film appearance at the age of seven and earning the first of three Oscar nominations at 17 for her starring role in what may well be the best-loved American movie of all time, The Wizard of Oz. She was also a prolific recording star, selling millions of records and winning five Grammy awards in a single year nearly three decades after starting out as one of the youngest performers ever signed to a major record label. These accomplishments alone would be enough to impress anyone who was somehow unfamiliar with her work, but to experience Judy Garland's full power, as the PBS series American Masters put it, one had to be in the auditorium when she brought her God-given gifts to bear on a suddenly unified collection of strangers. Never did Judy Garland so unify a collection of strangers than on this day in 1961 during the famous Carnegie Hall performance often called the greatest night in showbiz history. <em class="date"> Apr 23, 1954: Hank Aaron hits first home run of his MLB career </h2> On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron knocks out the first home run of his Major League Baseball career. Twenty years later, Aaron becomes baseballs new home run king when he broke Babe Ruths long-standing record of 714 career homers. history.com

omeg · Apr 24, 2011

<em class="date"> <em class="date-loc">Easter, which celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, is Christianity's most important holiday. It has been called a moveable feast because it doesn't fall on a set date every year, as most holidays do. Instead, Christian churches in the West celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox on March 21. Therefore, Easter is observed anywhere between March 22 and April 25 every year. Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar to calculate when Easter will occur and typically celebrate the holiday a week or two after the Western churches, which follow the Gregorian calendar. <em class="date"> <em class="date"> <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1916: Easter Rebellion begins </h2> On this day in 1916, on Easter Monday in Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization of Irish nationalists led by Patrick Pearse, launches the so-called Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule. Assisted by militant Irish socialists under James Connolly, Pearse and his fellow Republicans rioted and attacked British provincial government headquarters across Dublin and seized the Irish capital's General Post Office. Following these successes, they proclaimed the independence of Ireland, which had been under the repressive thumb of the United Kingdom for centuries, and by the next morning were in control of much of the city. Later that day, however, British authorities launched a counteroffensive, and by April 29 the uprising had been crushed. Nevertheless, the Easter Rebellion is considered a significant marker on the road to establishing an independent Irish republic. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1922: Forensic evidence is introduced in Australia </h2> Colin Ross is hanged to death in Australia for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Alma Tirtschke. Ross was one of the first criminals in Australia to be convicted based on forensic evidence. On December 30, 1921, Tirtschke was reported missing in Melbourne. The next day, a constable patrolling Gun Alley, a well-known area for prostitutes, found the young schoolgirl's body bundled up in a blanket. Strangely, despite evidence of a brutal rape, there was no trace of blood found on her body. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1908: Tornado flattens towns in Louisiana and Mississippi </h2> A single tornado travels 150 miles through Louisiana and Mississippi , leaving 143 dead in its wake. In total, 311 people lost their lives to twisters during the deadly month of April 1908 in the southeastern United States . Another 1,600 were seriously injured. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1800: Library of Congress established </h2> President John Adams approves legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress, thus establishing the Library of Congress. The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801 and were stored in the U.S. Capitol, the library's first home. The first library catalog, dated April 1802, listed 964 volumes and nine maps. Twelve years later, the British army invaded the city of Washington and burned the Capitol, including the then 3,000-volume Library of Congress. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1980: Hostage rescue mission ends in disaster </h2> On April 24, 1980, an ill-fated military operation to rescue the 52 American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight U.S. servicemen dead and no hostages rescued. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1953: Churchill knighted </h2> Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II , is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1982: Jane Fondas first Workout video released </h2> Hollywood royalty, fashion model, Oscar-winning actress, controversial anti-war activist. Jane Fonda fit all of these descriptions by the late 1970s and 1980s , when she emerged in her latest incarnation--exercise guru. On April 24, 1982, Fonda extended her reach into the home-video market with the release of Workout, the first of her many bestselling aerobics tapes. <em class="date"> Apr 24, 1962: Patti LaBelle makes her debut on the pop charts, sort of </h2> Blessed with a fine voice and an engaging stage presence, Patti LaBelle has earned countless hits on the R&B charts as a solo artist, as well as a pair of crossover #1 pop hits in On My Own (1986, sung with Michael McDonald) and the timeless Lady Marmalade (1975, with the group Labelle). If there is any asterisk that belongs in an assessment of a career that began when her first single hit the pop charts nearly five decades ago, it is this: Patti LaBelle and her group the Blue Belles had never even been in a recording studio when their debut single, I Sold My Heart to the Junkman, entered the Billboard Hot 100 on this day in 1962. In a move that was far from unprecedented at this timethe same thing happened with The Crystals' He's A Rebel (1961), for instancePatti and her cohorts were credited with a hit record they had nothing to do with creating. history.com -- Edited by PMM2008 on Sunday 24th of April 2011 06:47:00 AM

omeg · Apr 25, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 25, 1983: Andropov writes to U.S. student </h2> On this day in 1983, the Soviet Union releases a letter that Russian leader Yuri Andropov wrote to Samantha Smith, an American fifth-grader from Manchester, Maine , inviting her to visit his country. Andropov's letter came in response to a note Smith had sent him in December 1982, asking if the Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war. At the time, the United States and Soviet Union were Cold War enemies. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 2001: Italian Formula One driver dies in crash </h2> On this day in 2001, 44-year-old Italian race car driver Michele Alboreto is killed on a track in Germany during a test drive. Alboreto collected five Grand Prix wins on the Formula One (F1) circuit, where he competed during the 1980s and early 1990s, and also claimed victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1997. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1989: A father is exonerated after 21 years </h2> James Richardson walks out of a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of killing his seven children. Special prosecutor Janet Reno agreed to the release after evidence showed that the conviction resulted from misconduct by the prosecutor. In addition, neighbor Betsy Reese had confessed to the crime to a nursing home employee. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1980: Air tragedy hits Canary Islands </h2> A Dan-Air Boeing 727 carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands crashes and kills all 146 on board on this day in 1980. This terrible crash came just three years after another even deadlier accident at the Canary Islands airport. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1859: Ground broken for Suez Canal </h2> At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1990: Space telescope in orbit </h2> The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1995: Ginger Rogers dies </h2> On this day in 1995, the actress Ginger Rogers, best known for the 10 films she made with her dance partner Fred Astaire, dies at the age of 83. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1719: Robinson Crusoe is published </h2> Daniel Defoe's fictional work The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is published. The book, about a shipwrecked sailor who spends 28 years on a deserted island, is based on the experiences of shipwreck victims and of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who spent four years on a small island off the coast of South America in the early 1700s. <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1917: Ella Fitzgerald is born </h2> On April 25, 1917, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport News, Virginia . <em class="date"> Apr 25, 1964: Maple Leafs win third Stanley Cup in a row </h2> On April 25, 1964, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-0, and win the National Hockey Leagues Stanley Cup championship, four games to three. The victory marked the Maple Leafs third consecutive Stanley Cup victory. history.com

omeg · Apr 26, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 26, 1954: <em class="date"> Polio vaccine trials begin</h2><em class="date"> <em class="date"> <em class="date"> On this day in 1954, the Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 million children, begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia . Children in the United States , Canada and Finland participated in the trials, which used for the first time the now-standard double-blind method, whereby neither the patient nor attending doctor knew if the inoculation was the vaccine or a placebo. On April 12, 1955, researchers announced the vaccine was safe and effective and it quickly became a standard part of childhood immunizations in America. In the ensuing decades, polio vaccines would all but wipe out the highly contagious disease in the Western Hemisphere. <em class="date"> Apr 26, 2009: Chrysler and autoworkers' union agree to a deal </h2> On this day in 2009, Chrysler and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union reach a tentative deal that meets government requirements for the struggling auto manufacturer to receive more federal funding. <em class="date"> Apr 26, 1865: Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth dies </h2> John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln . <em class="date"> Apr 26, 1986: Nuclear explosion at Chernobyl </h2> On this day in 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident to date occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. The full toll from this disaster is still being tallied, but experts believe that thousands of people died and as many as 70,000 suffered severe poisoning. In addition, a large area of land may not be livable for as much as 150 years. The 18-mile radius around Chernobyl was home to almost 150,000 people who had to be permanently relocated. <em class="date"> Apr 26, 1986: Maria Shriver marries Arnold Schwarzenegger </h2> Almost a decade after they met at a celebrity tennis tournament, the television news reporter Maria Shriver marries the movie actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger on this day in 1986. <em class="date"> Apr 26, 1977: Studio 54 opens </h2> The crowd outside 254 West 54th Street in New York City on this day in 1927 would have been waiting for the curtain of a Puccini opera. On this day in 1957 or 67, they would have been waiting for a filming of an episode of Password or maybe Captain Kangaroo. On this day in 1977, however, the crowd gathered outside that Midtown address was waiting and hoping for a chance to enter what would soon become the global epicenter of the disco craze and the most famous nightclub in the world: Studio 54, which opened its doors for the very first time on April 26, 1977. <em class="date"> Apr 26, 1918: Olympic track star Fanny Blankers-Koen is born </h2> On April 26, 1918, Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four Olympic gold medals in track and field events at the 1948 Summer Games, is born in the Netherlands. Blankers-Koens Olympic achievements are all the more remarkable because they came at a time when many people believed women shouldnt compete in sports. <em class="date"> Apr 26, 1972: Nixon announces additional troop withdrawals </h2> President Nixon, despite the ongoing communist offensive, announces that another 20,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Vietnam in May and June, reducing authorized troop strength to 49,000. Nixon emphasized that while U.S. ground troops were being withdrawn, sea and air support for the South Vietnamese would continue. In fact, the U.S. Navy doubled the number of its fighting ships off Vietnam. history.com

omeg · Apr 27, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 27, 4977: Universe is created, according to Kepler </h2> On this day in 4977 B.C., the universe is created, according to German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, considered a founder of modern science. Kepler is best known for his theories explaining the motion of planets. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 2009: GM announces plans to phase out Pontiac </h2> On this day in 2009, the struggling American auto giant General Motors (GM) says it plans to discontinue production of its more than 80-year-old Pontiac brand. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1978: Afghan president is overthrown and murdered </h2> Afghanistan President Sardar Mohammed Daoud is overthrown and murdered in a coup led by procommunist rebels. The brutal action marked the beginning of political upheaval in Afghanistan that resulted in intervention by Soviet troops less than two years later. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1865: Civil War vets are caught in steamboat explosion </h2> On this day in 1865, an explosion on a Mississippi River steamboat kills an estimated 1,547 people, mostly Union soldiers returning home after the Civil War . Although this disaster near Memphis took a huge toll, it was barely noticed against the backdrop of the end of the Civil War, a conflict in which tens of thousands had died. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1994: South Africa holds first multiracial elections </h2> More than 22 million South Africans turn out to cast ballots in the country's first multiracial parliamentary elections. An overwhelming majority chose anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to head a new coalition government that included his African National Congress Party, former President F.W. de Klerk 's National Party, and Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party. In May, Mandela was inaugurated as president, becoming South Africa's first black head of state. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1993: D.A. announces negligence caused Brandon Lees death </h2> As a nearly month-long police investigation draws to a close, North Carolina District Attorney Jerry Spivey announces on this day in 1993 that the death of 28-year-old Brandon Lee on March 31 of that same year during filming of The Crow was due to negligence on the part of the films crew, not foul play. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1963: High school freshman Little Peggy March earns a #1 hit with I Will Follow Him </h2> On April 27, 1963, Margaret Annemarie Battavio's very first single, I Will Follow Him, reached #1 on the U.S. pop charts. With her 15th birthday only six weeks behind her, and three more years of high school ahead of her, the singer better known as Little Peggy March became the youngest female performer ever to top the Billboard Hot 100, but she'd never crack the top 10 again. Financial exploitation by an unscrupulous manager and a string of disappointing singles thwarted Peggy's efforts to capitalize on her early success, but if this sounds like the familiar start of a depressing episode of VH1's Behind the Music, think again. Her domestic career may have peaked while she was still in pigtails, but Little Peggy March pulled herself up by her bootstraps to build a career of impressive proportions in the parallel universe of Europop. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1822: President Grant is born </h2> Ulysses S. Grant , Civil War leader and 18th president of the United States , is born on this day in 1822. <em class="date"> Apr 27, 1956: Rocky Marciano retires as world heavyweight champion </h2> On April 27, 1956, world heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano retires from boxing at age 31, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. Marciano ended his career as the only heavyweight champion with a perfect record--49 wins in 49 professional bouts, with 43 knockouts. history.com

omeg · Apr 28, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 28, 1945: Benito Mussolini executed </h2> On this day in 1945, Il Duce, Benito Mussolini , and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland. <em class="date"> Apr 28, 1916: Ferruccio Lamborghini born </h2> On April 28, 1916, Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the company that bears his name and is known for stylish, high-performance cars, is born in Italy. <em class="date"> Apr 28, 1995: Gas pipe explodes in South Korea </h2> A gas explosion beneath a busy city street in Taegu, South Korea, kills more than 100 people on this day in 1995. Sixty children, some on their way to school, were among the victims of the blast. <em class="date"> Apr 28, 1789: Mutiny on the HMS Bounty </h2> Three weeks into a journey from Tahiti to the West Indies, the HMS Bounty is seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master's mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small, open boat, and the Bounty set course for Tubuai south of Tahiti. <em class="date"> Apr 28, 2004: Comcast abandons bid to buy Disney </h2> On this day in 2004, Comcast, Americas largest cable operator, abandons its $54 billion hostile takeover bid for the Walt Disney Company in the face of faltering stock prices and Disneys continued refusal to entertain the proposal. <em class="date"> Apr 28, 1965: My Name is Barbra is Barbra Streisand's debut television special </h2> Barbra Streisand's breakout year as a singer came in 1963, when she released her first two albums, won her first two Grammys and began appearing live in some of the most prominent nightclubs in the country. By the following year, she was a showbiz phenomenon, earning further nominations from the Grammys and Tonys after wowing Broadway critics and audiences in her first leading role, as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. Yet even then, in a Time magazine cover article in 1964, it was noted that Many people still say Who when they hear her name. That probably changed once and for all on April 28, 1965, when millions of American television viewers tuned in to a solid primetime hour of the 22-year-old Streisand in her first-ever TV special, the triumphant My Name Is Barbra. <em class="date"> Apr 28, 1967: Muhammad Ali refuses Army induction </h2> On April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service. history.com

omeg · Apr 29, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 29, 2004: World War II monument opens in Washington, D.C. </h2> On April 29, 2004, the National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C. , to thousands of visitors, providing overdue recognition for the 16 million U.S. men and women who served in the war. The memorial is located on 7.4 acres on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The Capitol dome is seen to the east, and Arlington Cemetery is just across the Potomac River to the west. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 2004: The end of the road for Oldsmobile </h2> On this day in 2004, the last Oldsmobile comes off the assembly line at the Lansing Car Assembly plant in Michigan , signaling the end of the 106-year-old automotive brand, America's oldest. Factory workers signed the last Oldsmobile, an Alero sedan, before the vehicle was moved to Lansing's R.E. Olds Transportation Museum, where it went on display. The last 500 Aleros ever manufactured featured Final 500 emblems and were painted dark metallic cherry red. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1992: Rodney King trial verdict announced </h2> An jury of 10 whites, one Hispanic, and one Filipina in the Los Angeles suburb of Simi Valley acquits four police officers who had been charged with using excessive force in arresting black motorist Rodney King a year earlier. The announcement of the verdict, which enraged the black community, prompted widespread rioting throughout much of the sprawling city. It wasn't until three days later that the arson and looting finally ended. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1991: Cyclone kills 135,000 in Bangladesh </h2> On this day in 1991, a devastating cyclone hits Bangladesh, killing more than 135,000 people. Even though there had been ample warning of the coming storm and shelter provisions had been built in the aftermath of a deadly 1970 storm, this disaster was one of the worst of the 20th century. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1854: First African-American college chartered </h2> By an act of the Pennsylvania legislature, Ashmun Institute, the first college founded solely for African-American students, is officially chartered. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1992: Riots erupt in Los Angeles </h2> In Los Angeles , California , four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught beating an unarmed African-American motorist in an amateur video are acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest. Hours after the verdicts were announced, outrage and protest turned to violence, as rioters in south-central Los Angeles blocked freeway traffic and beat motorists, wrecked and looted numerous downtown stores and buildings, and set more than 100 fires. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1974: Nixon announces release of White House Watergate tapes </h2> On this day in 1974, President Richard Nixon announces to the public that he will release transcripts of 46 taped White House conversations in response to a Watergate trial subpoena issued in July 1973. The House Judiciary committee accepted 1,200 pages of transcripts the next day, but insisted that the tapes themselves be turned over as well. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1986: Roger Clemens strikes out 20 batters in single game </h2> On April 29, 1986, in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park, Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox becomes the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game. Ten years later, Clemens repeats the feat, the only player in baseball history to do so. <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1971: New casualty figures released. </h2> U.S. casualty figures for April 18 to April 24 are released. The 45 killed during that time brought total U.S. losses for the Vietnam War to 45,019 since 1961. These figures made Southeast Asia fourth in total losses sustained by the U.S. during a war, topped only by the number of losses incurred during the Civil War , World War I , and World War II . <em class="date"> Apr 29, 1975: Operation Frequent Wind begins </h2> Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation on record, begins removing the last Americans from Saigon. history.com

Mben · Apr 29, 2011

And now we can add The Royal Wedding of William and Kate to this day in history.

omeg · Apr 30, 2011

<em class="date"> Apr 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide </h2> On this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a 1,000-year Reich. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1948: Original Land Rover debuts at auto show </h2> The Land Rover, a British-made all-terrain vehicle that will earn a reputation for its use in exotic locales, debuts at an auto show in Amsterdam on April 30, 1948. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1927: The first federal prison for women opens </h2> The Federal Industrial Institution for Women, the first women's federal prison, opens in Alderson, West Virginia. All women serving federal sentences of more than a year were to be brought here. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1888: Orange-sized hail reported in India </h2> A hail storm devastates the farming town of Moradabad, India, killing 230 people and many more farm animals on this day in 1888. Sixteen others died in nearby Bareilly. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1789: The first presidential inauguration </h2> In New York City , George Washington , the great military leader of the American Revolution , is inaugurated as the first president of the United States . <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1939: New York World's Fair opens </h2> On April 30, 1939, the New York World's Fair opens in New York City . The opening ceremony, which featured speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and New York Governor Herbert Lehman, ushered in the first day of television broadcasting in New York. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1933: Willie Nelson is born </h2> Willie Nelson's sound and his look revolutionized country music, making him one of that genre's most recognizable faces, and if his winning personality weren't enough reason to like him, then his good-natured struggles with the IRS would be. But before Willie Nelson became a legend or an icon, he was simply one of the most talented singer-songwriters of his generation. He began his musical training at the age of six and wrote his first song at the age of seven in Abbott, Texas , where he was born on this day in 1933. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1993: Tennis star Monica Seles stabbed </h2> Top womens tennis player Monica Seles is stabbed by a deranged German man during a match in Hamburg. The assailant, a fan of German tennis star Steffi Graf, apparently hoped that by injuring Seles his idol Graf would be able to regain her No. 1 ranking. <em class="date"> Apr 30, 1975: South Vietnam surrenders </h2> By dawn, communist forces move into Saigon, where they meet only sporadic resistance. The South Vietnamese forces had collapsed under the rapid advancement of the North Vietnamese. The most recent fighting had begun in December 1974, when the North Vietnamese had launched a major attack against the lightly defended province of Phuoc Long, located due north of Saigon along the Cambodian border, overrunning the provincial capital at Phuoc Binh on January 6, 1975. Despite previous presidential promises to provide aid in such a scenario, the United States did nothing. By this time, Nixon had resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford , was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon's earlier promises to rescue Saigon from communist takeover. history.com

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