- 502 King Gundobar of Burgundy delegates royal power
Viking Siege of Paris
845 Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving
Battle of Towton
1461 Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Duke Edward of York defeats the Lancastrian army, deposes King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou and proclaims himself as King Edward IV
Charles II accepts Test Act
1673 English King Charles II accepts Test Act: Roman Catholics excluded from public functions
King Gustav III Dies
1792 King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera just 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
Beethoven's Debut
1795 Ludwig van Beethoven (24) has his debut performance as a pianist at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria
- 1798 Republic of Switzerland forms
- 1799 New York passes gradual abolition law saying children of enslaved mothers are born free but still owe free service to masters until they are 25 if female and 28 if male
- 1804 Thousands of Whites massacred in Haiti
- 1806 Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway
Gustav IV Adolf Abdicates
1809 King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.
Niagara Falls Stops Flowing
1848 Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam in the river upstream
The Colleen Bawn
1860 Dion Boucicault's stage melodrama "The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen" at Laura Keene's Theatre, NYC
- 1864 Great Britain gives the Ionian Islands back to Greece
- 1864 Union General Steeles troops reach Arkadelphia, Arkansas
- 1865 -Apr 9th], Appomattox campaign, Virginia, 7582 killed
- 1865 Battle of Lewis's Farm [alt. Quaker Road, Gravelly Run], in Dinwiddie County, Virginia begins (Union victory)
- 1867 British North America Act (Canadian constitution) is given Royal Assent
- 1867 US Congress first approves building of Lincoln Memorial
Royal Albert Hall
1871 Royal Albert Hall opened by Queen Victoria in London
Music Premiere
1879 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.'s opera "Jevgeni Onegin", based on the novel by Alexander Pushkin, premieres Maly Theatre in Moscow, Russia
First Australian Parliament
1901 Edmund Barton is elected Prime Minister in Australia's first parliamentary election
Scott's Last Entry
1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott, storm-bound in a tent near the South Pole, makes last entry in his diary "the end cannot be far"
- 1924 Bavaria & Vatican reach accord
- 1927 Henry Segrave races his Sunbeam to a record 203.79 mph at Daytona
- 1928 Yeshiva College (now University) chartered (NYC)
- 1929 Stanley Cup Final, Madison Square Garden: Boston Bruins beat New York Rangers, 2-1 for a 2-0 series sweep; Boston's first Championship
Oval Office Telephone
1929 US President Herbert Hoover has 1st telephone installed on the desk at the Oval Office's in the White House
- 1930 Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Chancellor
Jack Benny Debut
1932 Jack Benny debuts on radio, on Ed Sullivan's New York interview program
Requiem Symphony
1941 World premiere performance of Benjamin Britten's "Requiem Symphony" by the New York Philharmonic under John Barbirolli. at Carnegie Hall, New York City
- 1942 Bombing of Lübeck in World War II was the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city
- 1942 British cruiser HMS Trinidad torpedoes itself in the Barents Sea
- 1942 German submarine U-585 sinks
- 1943 Meat (784 gram/week, 2 kilogram for GI's), butter & cheese rationed in US during WW II
James Stewart Made Colonel
1945 Movie star James Stewart promoted to full colonel, one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years
- 1945 World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England
- 1946 1st Test Cricket between Australia & NZ
- 1946 Australian cricket bowlers Bill O'Reilly (5/14) and Ernie Toshack (4/12) rout NZ for 42 in one-off Test in Wellington; Test debuts of greats Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller & Don Tallon
- 1948 Drachtster Boys soccer team forms in Drachten, Netherland
- 1948 New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox tie at 2-2 in 17, spring training game
- 1949 Turkey recognizes Israel
Academy Awards
1951 23rd Academy Awards: "All About Eve", Judy Holliday and José Ferrer win
Event of Interest
1951 American citizens Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union
Some Like It Hot
1959 "Some Like It Hot", American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, premieres at Loew’s Capital Theatre, NYC
Cricket History
1959 West Indian cricket fast bowler Wes Hall dismisses Pakistani batsmen Mushtaq Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood and Nasim-ul-Ghani for a hat-trick in 3rd Test at Lahore
Music Premiere
1960 Darius Milhaud's 9th Symphony, premieres by the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra and with conductor Mario di Bonaventura
- 1961 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution ratified, allowing Washington, D.C. residents to vote in presidential elections
Event of Interest
1961 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria
Appointment of Interest
1961 Economist John Kenneth Galbraith is appointed US Ambassador to India
- 1961 KCPT TV channel 19 in Kansas City, MO (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1962 Argentine President Arturo Frondizi flees from the army
- 1963 Final episode of soap opera "Young Doctor Malone"
Boxing Title Fight
1966 Muhammad Ali beats George Chuvalo in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- 1967 WCMU TV channel 14 in Mt. Pleasant, MI (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1968 Students seize building at Bowie (Maryland) State College
- 1969 Communist New People's Army founded in the Philippines
- 1971 1st Lt William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
- 1971 Chile president Allende nationalizes banks/copper mines
- 1971 Conrad Van Emde Boas becomes West Europe's 1st sexology professor
- 1971 Development of a serum hepatitis vaccine for children announced
- 1971 WSVN (now WSBN) TV channel 47 in Norton, VA (PBS) begins broadcasting
Sports History
1973 Boston Celtic Dave Cowens wins NBA MVP
America’s Agony Is Over: Vietnam War Ends
1973 US troops leave Vietnam, 9 yrs after Tonkin Resolution
Terracotta Army Discovered
1974 Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang
The Great Gatsby
1974 Film adaption of "The Great Gatsby" starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow with costumes by Ralph Lauren first released
- 1974 Mariner 10's, 1st fly-by of Mercury, returns photos
- 1975 "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle reaches #1 on US singles chart
- 1975 Only 2nd time Islanders beat Rangers
Academy Awards
1976 48th Academy Awards: "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", its stars Jack Nicholson & Louise Fletcher, and director Miloš Forman win
- 1976 8 Ohio National Guardsmen indicted for shooting 4 Kent State University students in 1970
Television Finale
1978 Variety TV show "The Carol Burnett Show" last airs on CBS in the US, having won 25 Emmy Awards
- 1979 Andrew Hilditch given out handled the ball v Pakistan at WACA
- 1979 Caryl Churchill's "Cloud Nine" premieres in London
- 1979 Delhi beats Karnataka by 399 runs to win Cricket's Ranji Trophy
- 1979 Last day of Test cricket for Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Mohammad
Event of Interest
1981 Jorge Rafael Videla resigns as President and dictator of Argentina, handing the reins to Roberto Viola
- 1981 Tiina Lehtola ski jumps female record 110m
- 1981 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Academy Awards
1982 54th Academy Awards: "Chariots of Fire", Henry Fonda & Katharine Hepburn win
NHL Record
1985 Wayne Gretzky breaks own NHL season record with 126th assist
- 1986 Beatle records officially go on sale in Russia
Election of Interest
1987 Yitzḥak Shamir re-elected chairman of right wing Likud Party
Academy Awards
1989 61st Academy Awards: "Rain Man" - Best Picture, Actor (Dustin Hoffman), Director (Barry Levinson) and Screenwriting; and Jodie Foster win
Louvre Pyramid
1989 I. M. Pei's pyramidal entrance to the renovated Louvre Museum opens in Paris, France
- 1989 Michael Milken, junk bond king, indicted in NY for racketeering
- 1992 Ice Dance Championship in Oakland, California won by Klimova & Ponomarenko (CIS)
- 1992 Ice Pairs Championship in Oakland, California won by Mishuktienok & Dmitriev (CIS)
- 1992 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Dottie Pepper (Mochrie) wins the first of her 2 major titles in a sudden-death playoff with Juli Inkster with par on the 1st extra hole
Academy Awards
1993 65th Academy Awards: "Unforgiven", Al Pacino & Emma Thompson win
Academy Awards
1993 Actress Elizabeth Taylor presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her AIDS/HIV activism at 65th Academy Awards
- 1993 French government of Édouard Balladur forms
Sports History
1994 Coach Jimmy Johnson quits Dallas Cowboys
Cricket History
1994 Last day of Test cricket for Allan Border
Event of Interest
1994 Serbs & Croats sign a cease-fire to end the war in Croatia
- 1995 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Chicago IL on WCKG 105.9 FM
- 1996 Cleveland Browns choose new name for their relocated team - Baltimore Ravens
- 1996 NY Yankees beats NY Mets 7-3 in an exhibition game
- 1997 1st game at Turner Field Atlanta, Braves beats Yanks 2-0 (exhibition)
- 1997 PBA National Championship Won by Rick Steelsmith
- 1998 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Pat Hurst wins her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Helen Dobson after sinking a 5-foot birdie putt at the final green
- 1998 Vasco da Gama Road bridge opens in Lisbon, Portugal as the longest bridge in Europe
- 1999 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 - above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever
- 2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members
- 2004 The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants
We Belong Together
2005 "We Belong Together" single is released by Mariah Carey (Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance 2006, Billboard Song of the Year 2005)
- 2010 Archaeological site of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza purchased by the Mexican state of Yucatán from a private landowner
- 2010 Two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40
Event of Interest
2012 George Galloway is elected as MP for Bradford West in a by-election
- 2013 10 people are killed and 31 are injured by a blast outside the US consulate in Pakistan
- 2013 23 people are killed by coordinated bombings on Shiite mosques in Iraq
- 2013 36 people are killed after a 16-floor building collapses in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- 2013 American horse, Animal Kingdom, wins the 2013 Dubai World Cup
- 2013 Soyuz TMA-08M sets a new record of 6 hours in orbit before docking with the International Space Station
- 2013 UN regulation of international arms trade is blocked by North Korea, Iran, and Syria
- 2014 Andrej Kiska is elected President of Slovakia
- 2014 First same-sex couples marry in the UK as a result of the passing of The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
- 2015 ICC Men's Cricket ODI World Cup, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia: Australia win their fourth title with 7 wicket win over New Zealand, 101 balls remaining; Player of the Match: James Faulkner (AUS) 3/36
- 2015 Nigerian General Election - voting is extended to a 2nd day. death toll from Boko Haram attacks at 43
Event of Interest
2017 Ivanka Trump (35) assumes an unpaid position as Senior Advisor to the President, Donald Trump (her father)
- 2017 Man's body found inside a 7m long reticulated python in Sulawesi, Indonesia
Treaty of Interest
2017 UK Prime Minister Theresa May sends a letter to the EU invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, formally triggering Brexit
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
2019 34th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Cure; Def Leppard; Janet Jackson; Stevie Nicks; Radiohead; Roxy Music; and The Zombies
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
2019 American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish (17) releases her debut studio album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"
Nigeria Lockdown
2020 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari orders a lockdown in the cities of Lagos and Abuja after the country records 97 COVID-19 cases and one death
COVID-19 Pandemic
2020 US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warns America may see between 100,000 - 200,000 deaths from COVID-19
- 2021 Megaship Ever Given freed after nearly a week stuck in and blocking the Suez Canal, with at least 369 vessels waiting to pass though
Murder of Interest
2021 Trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd begins in Minneapolis
- 2022 BA.2 version of Omicron is now the dominant form of COVID-19 in America according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [1]
- 2022 In a major victory for Ukraine, Russia announces it is withdrawing its badly mauled forces from around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv
- 2022 New study of Pluto finds evidence of cryovolcanoes and ice lava from NASA's New Horizons footage 2015 [1]
- 2022 US FDA authorizes a second Pfizer or Moderna booster shot for people over 50 or immunocompromised [1]
- 2022 US President Joe Biden signs the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law, making lynching a federal hate crime after over 200 attempts to pass similar legislation since 1900 [1]
- 2023 Researchers warn crucial deep Antarctic ocean currents could collapse by 42% by 2050, stopping nutrient-dense water from flowing north, accelerating ice melt and further warming the world's oceans [1]
First State Visit for Charles III
2023 UK King Charles III makes his first state visit abroad to Germany, arriving in Berlin [1]
- 2023 United Arab Emirates leader and ruler of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan names his eldest son Khaled bin Mohamed crown prince of Abu Dhabi [1]
