History, anything goes, including pictures

9 April 1413 – Henry V is crowned King of England.

Henry V, 1386 – 1422, was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 36 in 1422. He was the second English monarch of the House of Lancaster. After Henry IV died on 20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey. Henry assumed control of the country and asserted the pending English claims to the French throne.

Coronation of Henry V on 9 April 1413. Henry's marriage to Catherine of Valois. 15th-century depictions.
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In 1415, Henry embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and saw him come close to conquering France. Taking advantage of political divisions within France, he conquered large portions of the kingdom, and Normandy became English for the first time in 200 years. After months of negotiation with Charles VI of France, the Treaty of Troyes recognised Henry V as regent and heir apparent to the French throne, and he was subsequently married to Charles's daughter, Catherine of Valois.

Following Henry V's sudden and unexpected death in France two years later, he was succeeded by his infant son, who reigned as Henry VI in England and Henry II in France.
 

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9 April 1860 – Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice on his phonautograph machine.

Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (1817–1879) was a French printer and bookseller who lived in Paris. He invented the earliest known sound recording device, the phonautograph, which was patented in France on 25 March 1857.

The earliest recording ... actual audio.
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In 2008, The New York Times reported the playback of a phonautogram recorded on 9 April 1860. The recording was converted from "squiggles on paper" to a playable digital audio file by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The recording, of part of the French folk song Au clair de la lune was a 20-second recording of a man, probably Scott de Martinville himself, singing the song very slowly. It is now the earliest known recording of singing in existence, predating, by 28 years, several 1888 Edison wax cylinder phonograph recordings of a massed chorus performing Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt.
 
9 April 1914 – Coles, one of Australia's largest supermarket chains, was first opened by founder G.J Coles on Smith Street in Collingwood, Victoria.

Written across the wooden partition at the front of the variety store was the promise: 'Nothing over 2 shillings in this store'. Within the first 10 days of operation the store had brought in 935 pounds, four shillings and one penny - a small fortune at the time and an indication of a bright future. Coles made big strides over the coming decades and not only expanded in location but the size of its stores, so that it needed elevators to take shoppers between its many levels. On top of adding beauty products and jewellery to its inventory, Coles opened the first in-store cafeteria in the 1930s.

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The supermarket and its affordable prices became a saving grace for families during the Great Depression and donated parts of its profits to relief funds, hospitals and nursing homes between 1930 and 1939. By the mid-'50s, Coles stores were converting into the self-service stores which would set the standard for supermarkets into the 21st century. By the end of the decade, the company had shifted course from its origins as a variety store and set its sights on becoming Australia's most significant food retailer.
 

10 April 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 5.1 million kilometres.

Halley's Comet is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 74–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime. Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.

On 10 April 837, Halley's Comet may have passed as close as 5.1 million kilometres from Earth, by far its closest approach. Its tail may have stretched 60 degrees across the sky. It was recorded by astronomers in China, Japan, Germany, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East.

The comet's appearance in 1066 was recorded on the Bayeux Tapestry.
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In 1066, the comet was seen in England and thought to be an omen: later that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who defeated him, William the Conqueror.
 
10 April 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth's climate for the next two years.

Mount Tambora is an active stratovolcano on Sumbawa, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. The large magma chamber under Tambora had been drained by pre-1815 eruptions and underwent several centuries of dormancy as it refilled. Volcanic activity reached a peak that year, when Tambora erupted. The eruptions intensified at about 7 pm on 10 April 1815.

Aerial view of the caldera of Mount Tambora, formed during the colossal 1815 eruption.
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With a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 7, the eruption was the largest since the Taupo eruption in 181 AD, and the largest in recorded history.

The eruption created global climate anomalies in the following years, while 1816 became known as the "year without a summer" due to the impact on North American and European weather. In the Northern Hemisphere, crops failed and livestock died, resulting in the worst famine of the century.
 
10 April 1858 – After the original Big Ben for the London Palace of Westminster cracked during testing, it is recast into the current bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

The original bell was a 16.3-tonne hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard but, during testing it cracked beyond repair and a replacement had to be made.

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The bell was recast on 10 April 1858 at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.76 tonne bell. The second bell was transported from the foundry to the tower on a trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress; it was then pulled 61.0 metres up to the Clock Tower’s belfry, a feat that took 18 hours. The final bill for Big Ben came to £572.
 
April 10
1970 Paul McCartney officially announces the split of The Beatles

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On 10 April 1970, Paul McCartney issued a press release that stated he was no longer working with the group, which sparked a widespread media reaction and worsened the tensions between him and his bandmates. Legal disputes continued long after his announcement, and the dissolution was not formalized until December 29, 1974.
 
RnR said:
10 April 1858 – After the original Big Ben for the London Palace of Westminster cracked during testing, it is recast into the current bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

The original bell was a 16.3-tonne hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard but, during testing it cracked beyond repair and a replacement had to be made.

wuQji5d.jpg


The bell was recast on 10 April 1858 at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.76 tonne bell. The second bell was transported from the foundry to the tower on a trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress; it was then pulled 61.0 metres up to the Clock Tower’s belfry, a feat that took 18 hours. The final bill for Big Ben came to £572.
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I think even when recast the largest bell, (Big Ben), had a crack and somehow they managed to still use it, but the tone or pitch is supposed to be ever so slightly flat, but this became a much loved characteristic.
 
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11 April 1689 – William III (William of Orange) and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Great Britain.

William III, also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672 and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. He inherited the principality of Orange from his father, William II, who died a week before William's birth. His mother, Mary, was the daughter of King Charles I of England.

William and Mary were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on 11 April 1689 by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton.
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They reigned together until her death from smallpox on 28 December 1694, after which William ruled as sole monarch.

In 1677, William of Orange married his fifteen-year-old first cousin, Mary, the daughter of his maternal uncle James, Duke of York. The Duke of York agreed to the marriage, after pressure from chief minister Lord Danby and the King, who incorrectly assumed that it would improve James's popularity among Protestants. When James told Mary that she was to marry her cousin, "she wept all that afternoon and all the following day". William and a tearful 15 year-old Mary were married in St James's Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on 4 November 1677.
 
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11 April 1951 – The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.

The Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone that was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and later the monarchs of England and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Stone of Scone in the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey, 1855. Police carry the returned Stone on a wooden litter, from Arbroath Abbey, 1951.
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On Christmas Day 1950, a group of four Scottish students removed the stone from Westminster Abbey for return to Scotland. During the removal process, the stone broke into two pieces. After burying the greater part of the Stone in a Kent field, where they camped for a few days, they uncovered the buried stone and returned to Scotland. A major search for the stone was ordered by the British Government, but proved unsuccessful. The custodians left the stone on the altar of Arbroath Abbey on 11 April 1951, in the safekeeping of the Church of Scotland. Once the London police were informed of its whereabouts, the stone was returned to Westminster four months after it was removed.
 
12 April 1204 – Sack of Constantinople: Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls and enter the city.

The siege and sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. By the end of March, the combined Crusader armies were besieging Constantinople. On 12 April 1204 weather conditions finally favoured the Crusaders as the weather cleared, a second major assault on the city was ordered and the walls were breached. The sack of Constantinople is a major turning point in medieval history. The Crusaders' decision to attack the world's largest Christian city was unprecedented and immediately controversial, even among contemporaries.

Assault of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, 1204. 15th century miniature. The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople. Eugène Delacroix, 1840.

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Reports of Crusader looting and brutality scandalised and horrified the Orthodox world; relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches were catastrophically wounded for many centuries afterwards, and would not be substantially repaired until modern times.

The Byzantine Empire was left much poorer, smaller, and ultimately less able to defend itself against the Turkish conquests that followed; the actions of the Crusaders thus directly accelerated the collapse of Christendom in the east, and in the long run facilitated the expansion of Islam into Europe.
 
12 April 1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England cause it to collapse.

Broughton Suspension Bridge was an iron chain suspension bridge built in 1826 by John Fitzgerald, the wealthy owner of Castle Irwell House at his own expense. It spanned the River Irwell between Broughton and Pendleton in Greater Manchester, England. The bridge was one of Europe's first suspension bridges when suspension bridges were considered the "new wonder of the age".

The rebuilt Broughton suspension bridge in 1883. In 1924 it was replaced by a Pratt truss footbridge, still in use.
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On 12 April 1831, the 60th Rifle Corps carried out an exercise on Kirsal Moor. As a detachment of 74 men returned to barracks in Salford by way of the bridge, the soldiers, who were marching four abreast, felt it begin to vibrate in time with their footsteps. Finding the vibration a pleasant sensation some of them started to whistle a marching tune, and to "humour it by the manner in which they stepped", causing the bridge to vibrate even more. The head of the column had almost reached the Pendleton side when they heard "a sound resembling an irregular discharge of firearms”.

As a result of the mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step, the vibrations collapsed the bridge throwing about 40 of the soldiers into the water or against the chains. None of the men were killed, but 20 were injured, some severely. Consequently, the British Army issued an order that troops should "break step" when crossing a bridge.
 
13 April 1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

“The Chandos portrait of Georg Friedrich Handel" by James Thornhill, circa 1720. The Great Music Hall in Fishamble Street, Dublin, where Messiah was first performed on 13 April 1742.

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The Royal Choral Society has performed Handel's Messiah on Good Friday at the Royal Albert Hall every year since 1876.

Video: 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's Messiah, Royal Choral Society.
 
13 April 1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the United States. With 7.06 million visitors in 2016, it was the second most visited art museum in the world, and the fifth most visited museum of any kind. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is by area one of the world's largest art galleries.

Opening reception in the picture gallery at 681 Fifth Avenue, wood-engraving published in Frank Leslie's Weekly, March 9, 1872. William the Hippopotamus is the informal mascot of the Met.

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded on 13 April 1870 for the purposes of opening a museum to bring art and art education to the American people. It opened on 20 February 1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue.
 
13 April 1943 – The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth.

The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated to Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), one of the most important of the American Founding Fathers as the main drafter and writer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress, governor of the newly independent Commonwealth of Virginia, American minister to King Louis XVI, and the Kingdom of France, first U.S. Secretary of State under the first President George Washington, the second Vice President of the United States under second President John Adams, and also the third President (1801–1809), as well as being the founder of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated on 13 April 1943, the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth.

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mellowyellow said:
View attachment 159646
Photograph of Princess Diana dancing with John Travolta at a White House dinner for the Prince and Princess of Wales 1985
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Great photo, thanks Mellowyellow.

The "Travolta dress"

Shortly before her death in August 1997, Diana requested that the dress be sold in a charity auction. Florida-based businesswoman Maureen Dunkel bought it for £100,000 in New York in June 1997, along with nine other dresses formerly owned by the Princess. The Travolta dress was the most expensive one sold at the auction. When she went bankrupt in 2011, Dunkel was forced to put them up for auction, but the Travolta dress was one of six that were not sold. It was finally auctioned off by Kerry Taylor in London on 19 March 2013, fetching £240,000 and again being the most expensive auctioned dress. It was bought by "a British gentleman as a surprise to cheer up his wife".

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In 2019, it sold for £264,000 to Historic Royal Palaces, a charity which looks after royal memorabilia including clothing and artifacts. The dress has joined the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection and belongs to the palace. The dress was later displayed for public in Kensington Palace, after 20 years since it first left the place.
 
14 April 1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.

On 14 April 1471 near Barnet, then a small Hertfordshire town north of London, Edward led the House of York in a fight against the House of Lancaster, which backed Henry VI for the throne. Leading the Lancastrian army was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, who played a crucial role in the fate of each king. The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV.

Late 15th-century artistic portrayal of the battle: Edward IV, left, wearing a circlet and mounted on a horse, leads the Yorkist charge and pierces the Earl of Warwick, right, with his lance; in reality, Warwick was not killed by Edward.

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Historians regard the battle as one of the most important clashes in the Wars of the Roses, since it brought about a decisive turn in the fortunes of the two houses. Edward's victory was followed by 14 years of Yorkist rule over England.
 
14 April 1828 – Noah Webster copyrights the first edition of his dictionary.

Noah Webster Jr. (1758–1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education". His blue-backed speller books taught five generations of American children how to spell and read. Webster's name has become synonymous with "dictionary" in the United States, especially the modern Merriam-Webster dictionary that was first published in 1828 by Noah Webster as An American Dictionary of the English Language.

Noah Webster, The Schoolmaster of the Republic. Library of Congress, 1886.

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In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. The following year, he started working on an expanded and comprehensive dictionary. Finally, at the age of seventy, Webster published his dictionary in 1828, registering the copyright on 14 April 1828.
 
14 April 1865 – US President Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth; he died the next day.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth on 14 April 1865, while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Shot in the head as he watched the play, Lincoln died the following day at 7.22 am, in the Petersen House opposite the theatre. He was the first American president to be assassinated; his funeral and burial marked an extended period of national mourning.

The Assassination of President Lincoln. Library of Congress.

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Occurring near the end of the American Civil War, the assassination was part of a larger conspiracy intended by Booth to revive the Confederate cause by eliminating the three most important officials of the United States government. Conspirators Lewis Powell and David Herold were assigned to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, and George Atzerodt was tasked with killing Vice President Andrew Johnson. Beyond Lincoln's death the plot failed: Seward was only wounded and Johnson's would-be attacker lost his nerve. After a dramatic initial escape, Booth was killed at the climax of a 12-day manhunt, and several other conspirators were later hanged.
 
14 April 1927 – The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson, sales manager, and engineer Gustav Larson, the two Volvo founders, decided to start construction of a Swedish car. They intended to build cars that could withstand the rigours of the country's rough roads and cold temperatures. AB Volvo began activities on 10 August 1926. After one year of preparations involving the production of ten prototypes, the firm was ready to commence the car-manufacturing business within the group. The Volvo Group itself considers it started in 1927, when the first car, a Volvo OV 4, rolled off the production line at the factory in Hisingen, Gothenburg. Only 280 cars were built that year.

The first Volvo car, a Volvo OV 4, left the assembly line on 14 April 1927.

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