Today in History

13th April

1360 Black Monday. A freak hail storm killed over 1,000 English troops during the 100 year war. This terrible storm produced more casualties than any previous battle of the war.

1829 British Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act, lifting restrictions imposed on Catholics at the time of Henry VIII.

1912 The formation of the Royal Flying Corps (later incorporated into the RAF).

1935 Imperial Airways and QANTAS inaugurated their London to Australia air service.
 

1869
steam power brake patented by George Westinghouse
1943
Pres Franklin Roosevelt dedicates the Jefferson Memorial in Washington,DC
1949
Philip S. Hench at the Mayo Clinic announces discovery of cortisone to treat rheumatoid arthritis
1980
U.S. and its allies boycott Moscow Summer Olympics in protest over Russia's invasion of Afghanistan
 
This day in history April 14th

1865 - U.S.A. Lincoln Assassination

President Lincoln is shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. He died the next day.

1906 - Italy Mount Vesuvius Erupted
Mount Vesuvius Erupts on April 14th, 1906, and the eruptions last until April 21st, 1906 during the 7 days the crater rim cracked and lava flowed over wide areas.

1912 - Atlantic Ocean Titanic Strikes Iceberg

The RMS Titanic struck an iceberg just before midnight on 14th April.

1931 - Spain King Alfonso XIII

The Second Spanish Republic is proclaimed forcing King Alfonso XIII of Spain leaves Spain, he lived in Exile in Rome but did not abdicate the throne.

1935 - U.S.A. Black Sunday
Twenty of the worst Black Blizzards that occurred throughout the Dust Bowl years happen on a single day often referred to as Black Sunday which turned day into night.
 

1902
JC{James Cash} Penney opens his 1st store,'The Golden Rule Store' in Kemmerer,Wyoming
1910
Pres.William Taft starts tradition of throwing out the 1st baseball on opening day of baseball season
1945
WWII: U.S. Army,Allied forces capture Nuremberg and Stuttgart in Germany
1985
Jack C.Burcham becomes the 5th person to receive the'Jarvik7' artifical heart,he died 10 days later
 
This day in History April 15th

1912 - Titanic Sinks

The RMS Titanic struck an iceberg just before midnight on 14th April. The Ship with 2,200 passengers and crew on board on its maiden voyage was thought to be unsinkable but it sank after 2 1/2 hours when the ship breaks in two in the Atlantic Ocean, With More than 1,500 people on the ship lost to the sea.

1926 - French Franc
The French Franc dropped again today against the US Dollar to an all time low of 29.73 to the Dollar.

1927 - United States Great Mississippi Flood
15 inches of rainfall in 18 hours causing the Mississippi River to break out of its levee system at 145 locations, more than Twenty-seven thousand square miles of land is flooded in 10 states AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO, TN, TX, OK and KS, Arkansas is the worst affected with 14% of the state flooded.

1937 - Spanish Civil War
Countries around the world are seeking to intervene in the Spanish Civil War and to ask all parties to join peace talks.

1946 - China 30 Million Starving
Nearly 30 million people are close to dying of starvation and the countries of the world are trying to send food to help those starving including the US the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation department is coordinating efforts.
 
1850
city of San Francisco is incorporated
1878
Harley Proctor introduces Ivory Soap
1955
Ray Kroc opens 1st McDonald's fast food restaurant in Des PLaines,Ill
1964
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel opens,its considered one of the world's longest bridge tunnel complex spanning 17.6 miles connecting Virgina Beach,Norfolk VA
1992
Leona Hemsley is sentenced to jail for tax evasion,she spent 18 months in a federal prison
 
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15th April


1901 The first motor hearse appeared on the streets of Britain when it carried the body of William Drakeford to his burial in Coventry. His employer, The Daimler Motor Company, had adapted one of their cars for the occasion.

1941 The Belfast Blitz, during which two hundred bombers of the German Air Force attacked Belfast in Northern Ireland, killing one thousand people.

1942 The people of the British colony of Malta were awarded the George Cross in recognition of their heroic war time struggle against enemy attack.

1953 Reis Leming, a 22 year old US airman stationed in Britain was presented with the George Medal. He had rescued 27 people in East Anglia during winter floods. The award was the first given to a foreginer during peacetime.

2010 All flights in and out of the UK and several other European countries were suspended as ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland moved south. The cloud triggered the UK's worst airspace restriction in living memory and brought much of Europe to a standstill.
 
This day in History April 16th

1922 - U.S.A. Prohibition

The Prohibition Department is to enforce the law making it illegal to manufacture beer or wine in the home for home use, this follows the supreme court that home brewing is illegal.

1935 - U.S.A. Work Fund to Create Jobs
President Roosevelt unveils plans to allocate a work fund and more than $900,000,000 in funds for work-based projects has been received so far, this will help with the mass unemployment and misery caused by the severe depression.

1943 - Switzerland LSD
Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist accidentally consumes LSD-25. After taking the drug, formally known as lysergic acid diethylamide, Dr. Hoffman was disturbed by unusual sensations and hallucinations.

1944 - World War II
Allied Bombers hit Budapest and Belgrade as continued attacks on enemies' lines of communications and Rail Lines were carried out overnight.

1963 - Birmingham, Alabama
Police break up the walk to city hall to register to vote in Birmingham Alabama and arrested the first 15 *****es in the walk to the county courthouse.
 
1705
Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge
1900
U.S. Post Office issues 1st books of postage stamps
1945
Colditz Castle,a high security prisoner of war camp in Germany is liberated by American troops
2003
The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens,admits 10 new member states to European Union
 
This day in History April 17th

1927 - Airship Race From New York to Paris

An airship race scheduled today from New York to Paris has been forced to reschedule due to injuries and problems with an engine on one of the airships.

1932 - U.S.A. Lynching

A mob of western Kansas Farmers today went back to old-fashioned justice when they lynched a man who admitted killing an 8-year-old girl by overpowering the sheriff and hanging the man from a tree in Kansas.

1940 - U.S.A. World War II
Anglo-French purchasing mission announced the purchase of huge quantities of the latest aircraft including Douglas Bombers and Curtiss Pursuit Ships from American Companies.

1969 - U.S.A. Robert Kennedy Assassin
The assassin of Robert Kennedy Sirhan B. Sirhan was found guilty of first-degree murder for assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy.

1973 - Egypt Syria / Israel War
Egypt has warned it may get involved in the Syria Israel War and warned it may fight alongside the Syrians if the Golan Heights becomes threatened.
 
1853
U.S Marine Hosptial at Presido in San Francisco opens
1924
Metro Pictures,Goldwyn&Louis B.Mayer Co merge to become MetroGoldwyn Mayer{MGM} movie studio
1961
1,400 Cuban exiles landed in Bay of Pigs in a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro
1986
author Larry McMurtry wins Pulitzer Prize Fiction for his novel'Lonesome Dove'. Two yrs later,became a TV mini series starring Robert Duvall,Tommy Lee Jones
2012
8th Century St Culbert Gospel,Europe's oldest intact book was purchased by British Library for $9 million pounds.
 
This day in History April 18th

1906 - San Francisco Earthquake

An earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, shook the town of San Francisco, California, and Thirty thousand homes were either partially or wholly destroyed and an estimated 3,000 are reported dead. The earthquake set off a series of fires that swept through the city.

1922 - USA Moonshine Bust
Federal Prohibition Agents find moonshine made in tea kettles by 2 local farmers and confiscate mash in Wisconsin.

1934 - U.S.A. Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping
Some $5000 dollars from the ransom paid in the Lindbergh kidnapping is recovered out of ( $50,000 ) and a man is in custody with ongoing investigations by federal authorities.

1956 - Grace Kelly Marries Prince Rainier of Monaco
Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.

1974 - Worldwide Recession
The secretary of the United Nations warns the world could be heading for a recession caused by the underlying increase of the price of oil causing trade deficits in the western world.
 
1783
fighting stopped in American Revoluntary War 8yrs to the day it began
1906
San Francisco Earthquake&Fire registered 7.9 was a slip on the San Andreas Fault which killed 4,000 people,destroyed 75% of the city.It could be felt from Southern Oregon to Los Angeles.
The Ferry Building which is located near the waterfront was built in 1868 and survived the quake
1946
The International Court of Justice opens in The Hague,Netherlands
1956
actress,Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a small civil ceremony.The couple met the previous yr at the Cannes Film Festival.They had 3 children,Prince Albert,Princesses Stephanie,Caroline.Grace sadly died in a car crash in 1982
 
This day in History April 19th

1927 - Mae West Sentenced

Mae West was sentenced for an obscene stage performance to ten days in a work house and fined $500.

1928 - China Civil War

The combined nationalist Northern Armies under Chiang continue drive onto Peking as part of the Civil war continuing in China.

1936 - German Military

In the biggest show of military strength since World War I Germany pays homage to Hitler with a show of 300 tanks.

1942 - France Vichy Government

The New Vichy Government Headed by Pierre Laval at the bidding of his German masters in an attempt to bring the insurgent french people back into line with Nazi ruling by promising to protect the people from the Nazi Regime by gaining concessions.

1993 - U.S.A. Waco Cult Raid
An assault on the Waco cult headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas ends in a deadly fire (believed to have been started by those inside) and ends with the death of 70 cult members including the cults leader Mr Koresh. The buildings have been surrounded since February when four agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were killed as they attempted to arrest Mr Koresh on firearms charges.
 
19th April

1587 The English naval commander, Sir Francis Drake, sailed a small number of ships into Cadiz harbour and sank most of the Spanish fleet. The incident became known as 'singeing the King of Spain's beard'.

1770 Explorer, Captain James Cook, sighted the eastern coast of what is now Australia.

1824 Lord, Byron, the great English poet died (age36) from malaria on his way to fight for Greek independence.

1883 At a meeting in Liverpool to establish a home for dogs, the proposer, T F Agnew, suggested it should perhaps be turned into a home for children as he had seen the work of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children. On the evening of this day, the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was formed. Later it would become the National Society (NSPCC).
 
1897
the world's oldest annual marathon,the Boston Marathon began,at 24.5 miles.It was the brainchild of John Graham,a member of the Boston Athletic Assoc.John J. McDermot from NY won in a time of 2:55:10.In 1972 women were allowed to compete for the 1st time
1927
Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail,fine of $500 for obscenity charges and 'corrupting youth' in a NYC stage play called' Sex'.The publicity surrounding her case 'jump' started her Hollywood career
1948
American Broadcasting Company{ABC} TV network debuts
1982
Sally Ride named the 1st U.S. woman astronaut
 
Wow.

3 posts regarding today and no mention of what could possibly be considered the single biggest event in American history?
Maybe my New England roots are showing here. However, perhaps it's apropos that we "forget" this day in American history as freedoms are being eroded left and right.



On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord kicked off the colonists’ fight for independence from Great Britain. Just two months after Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion, the brave residents of the colony took up arms and went to battle for independence—eventually leading to the creation of the United States of America.

https://www.history.com/news/what-is-patriots-day
 
This day in History April 20Th

1871 - Third Force Act also known as the "Ku Klux Act" Passed

Congress authorizes President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

1914 - U.S.A. Striking Miners
Men, women and children were killed today when violence broke out between militiamen and striking coal miners in Ludlow, Colorado.

1916 - United States Wrigley Field
First game at Weeghman Park ( renamed Wrigley Field 1926 after William Wrigley bought controlling interest in the Cubs ) home of the Chicago Cubs between Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds.

1929 - US Worlds Tallest Building Planned
Plans were announced to build the tallest building in the world in New York for the bank of Manhattan which will be 63 stories high.

1945 - Germany World War II
The German Army in Leipzig surrendered and U.S. troops now control Leipzig and now continue the march to Munich.
 
Wow.

3 posts regarding today and no mention of what could possibly be considered the single biggest event in American history?
Maybe my New England roots are showing here. However, perhaps it's apropos that we "forget" this day in American history as freedoms are being eroded left and right.



On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord kicked off the colonists’ fight for independence from Great Britain. Just two months after Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion, the brave residents of the colony took up arms and went to battle for independence—eventually leading to the creation of the United States of America.

https://www.history.com/news/what-is-patriots-day
Thank you for your contribution, I found the reading of it wonderful. It's a shame we don't celebrate Patriots day.
 
1918
Manfred von Richtofen aka 'The Red Baron" WW1 fighter ace,shoots down his 79th,80th victims for his last victories. He dies the next day
1977
U.S. Supreme Court rules New Hampshire license plates can be covered with'Live Free or Die"
1999
At Columbine High School in Colorado,2 classmates,Eric Harris,Dylan Klebold kill 13 people,injuring 24,before they commit suicide
2010
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes killing 11,massive discharge of oil into the Gulf of Mexico,134 million gallons.Its the equivalent of 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.It takes 87 days to cap,its the worst environment disaster in U.S. history
 
Wow.

3 posts regarding today and no mention of what could possibly be considered the single biggest event in American history?
Maybe my New England roots are showing here. However, perhaps it's apropos that we "forget" this day in American history as freedoms are being eroded left and right.



On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord kicked off the colonists’ fight for independence from Great Britain. Just two months after Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion, the brave residents of the colony took up arms and went to battle for independence—eventually leading to the creation of the United States of America.

https://www.history.com/news/what-is-patriots-day
I thought about these battles yesterday while I was telling my grandson about the war of 1812, one that's a mere footnote in his history class. I wasn't sure about the date, though - the year, yes, and I remembered it was in the spring but didn't remember what month.
 
This day in History April 21st

1836 - Texas Independence From Mexico

Texans led by Sam Houston defeat the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas' independence.

1937 - Scotland Mrs. Simpson
With the marriage of Mrs. Simpson to the Duke of Windsor planned for June, questions about the validity of Mrs. Wallace Warfield Simpson's divorce from her first husband have been questioned in The Scotsman.


1941 - UK German Bombing Plymouth
German Bombers Bombed with fire and explosives on the South Coast City of Plymouth for many hours overnight causing fires throughout the city.


1945 - Red Army enters Berlin
Russian troops capture outlying suburbs of Berlin at the beginning of what promises to be a bitter battle for control of the city.

1962 - U.S.A. Nevada Nuclear Testing

The US Continued its series of underground nuclear testing in Nevada with its 29th test with a low yield nuclear explosion equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT.
 
I thought about these battles yesterday while I was telling my grandson about the war of 1812, one that's a mere footnote in his history class. I wasn't sure about the date, though - the year, yes, and I remembered it was in the spring but didn't remember what month.
I find the subject absolutely fascinating, I will have to get OneHalf or you to start a thread about it, just not sure, if it will be considered political.
 
1878
First Lady Lucy Hayes begins egg rolling contest on White House lawn
1914
U. S. Marines occupy Vera Cruz,a major Mexican port,stay there for 6 months
1989
thousands of Chinese crowd into Tianamen Square in Beijing,China to cheer on students who are demanding grater political freedom
1995
FBI arrests Timothy McVeigh,charging him with the Oklahoma City bombing at the Alfred P.Murrah Federal building.The bomb killed 168 people including children,injured 500
 
This Day In History April 22nd

1915 - Belgium Poison Gas

Poison gas is used by the Germans for the first time in World War I with devastating effects.


1928 - Greece Major Earthquake
Central Greece is in the grip of a major earthquake the town of Corinth has been virtually destroyed and a number of tremors have been felt in Athens.


1938 - Japan Launches Offensive

Japan has launched a second offensive against China in the Shantung offensive.


1943 - U.S.A. Japanese Prisoners of War

The US War Department has stated publicly that Japanese Prisoners of War will be treated decently.


1952 - U.S.A. Live Atomic Bomb Test
For the first time in history, viewers witnessed live the detonation of an atomic bomb at the U.S. testing site in Yucca Flat, Nevada on Television, The Atomic bomb tested was larger than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
 


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