- 837 Best view of Halley's Comet in 2,000 years
- 989 Battle of Abydos: Byzantine Emperor Basil II defeats and kills rebel general Bardas Phokas, ending his rebellion
- 1012 Ransom of 48,000 pounds is paid to Vikings, led by Thorkell the Tall, for the liberation of Canterbury, after a raid on the city and the capture of Alphege [Aelfheah] Archbishop of Canterbury
Coronation of Henry V
1111 After months of controversy, Pope Paschal II crownsHenry V, King of Germany and Italy, as the Holy Roman Emperor
- 1556 Portuguese converted Christian Marranos who revert to Judaism burned by order of Pope
Execution of Girolamo Cardano's Son
1560 Giovanni, son of Italian mathematicianGirolamo Cardano is executed for poisoning his wife, despite his father's efforts to save him
1st Poet Laureate
1668John Dryden, at age 36, is appointed the first English Poet Laureate by KingCharles II
- 1741 Dutch people protest poor quality of bread
- 1741 Royal Military Academy forms at Woolwich, England
Messiah
1742George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" is performed for the first time at the New Music Hall in Dublin
- 1759 France defeats a European alliance in the Battle of Bergen
Cook Arrives in Tahiti
1769 British ship Endeavour captained byJames Cook, arrives in Matavia Bay, Tahiti, with botanistJoseph Banks on board
- 1796 First elephant arrives in US from India
- 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act passed by the British Parliament; it was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation throughout the UK.
- 1834 HMS Beagle anchors at river mouth of Rio Santa Cruz, Patagonia
- 1840 William Henry Lane ("Juda") perfects tap dance
- 1842 Lord Rosse successfully casts 72" (183-cm) mirror for a telescope
Pony Express
1860 First Pony Express rider reaches Sacramento, California
Battle of Fort Sumter
1861 After 34 hours of bombardment, Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederates (US Civil War)
Ethiopian Emperor Commits Suicide
1868 Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian troops capture Magdala and Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II commits suicide
Steam Brake
1869 Steam power brake patented by American engineerGeorge Westinghouse
El Capitan
1896John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" premieres at the Tremont Theatre in Boston
- 1904 A squadron of the Russian fleet is decoyed out of Port Arthur by Japanese maneuvers, when they realize they are sailing into a trap; their battleship Petropavlovsk hits a mine and sinks, with a loss of 700 men
- 1904 Battle of Oviumbo (in modern Namibia): Herero tribesmen rise up against German colonists
Lewis and Clark Expo Gold Dollar
1904 US Congress authorizesLewis and Clark Exposition $1 gold coin
- 1906 Mutiny on Portuguese battleships Dom Carlos & Vasco da Gama
- 1908 Groundbreaking for Philadelphia's Shibe Park, home of MLB Athletics (AL), 1909-54, MLB Phillies (NL), 1938-70, and NFL Eagles, 1940-57
- 1909 In Constantinople the primarily Albanian First Army Corps seizes the parliament building and telegraphs offices, forcing the Ottoman statesman Hilmi Pasha to resign
Second Labor Government
1910 Australian General Election: the Commonwealth Liberal Party is defeated by the Australian Labor Party, headed byAndrew Fisher, who is able to form a majority government
- 1911 Polo Grounds grandstand & left field bleachers go up in flames in Manhattan, New York City
- 1911 The US House of Representatives votes to institute direct elections of senators to Congress, a step towards direct democracy
- 1912 Royal Flying Corps forms (later Royal Air Force)
- 1914 1st Federal League Game: Baltimore Terrapins beat Buffalo Blues 3-2
- 1918 Electrical fire kills 38 mental patients at Oklahoma State Hospital
- 1919 British troops open fire on demonstrators in Amritsar, India, killing 350
- 1919 Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
- 1920 1st woman US Civil Service Commissioner, Helen Hamilton appointed
- 1921 Foundation of the Spanish Communist Workers' Party.
- 1923 US Army wins 1st college three-weapon fencing championships
- 1924 Greek plebiscite for a republic
- 1925 Virginia Theater (ANTA, Guild) opens at 245 W 52nd St NYC
Johnson's 7th Shutout
1926 At 38,Walter Johnson pitches his 7th opening day shutout
- 1926 Cyclists without bicycle-tax-stamp rounded up in Amsterdam
- 1927 Stanley Cup Final, Ottawa Auditorium, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Senators beat Boston Bruins, 3-1 for a 2-0-2 series win
- 1928 1st trans atlantic flight Europe-US (Fitzmaurice-von Hunefeld-Köhl)
- 1933 1st flight over Mount Everest (Lord Clydesdale)
Stanley Cup Final
1933 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: New York Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-0 in OT for a 3-1 series win; first best-of-4 Finals series
- 1934 4.7 million US families report receiving welfare payments
- 1934 US Congress passes Johnson Debt Default Act
- 1936 Ioannis Metaxas becomes Prime Minister of Greece
- 1938 Clifford Goldsmith's play "What a Life" premieres at The Biltmore Theater, NYC
- 1939 The Hindustani Lal Sena (Indian Red Army) is formed and vows to engage in armed struggle against the British.
- 1939 W Saroyan's "My Heart's in the Highlands" premieres in NYC
- 1940 American athlete Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam, using a bamboo pole, becomes 1st man to pole vault 15 ft, at University of California, Berkeley
- 1940 Second battle of Narvik; 3 German destroyers and one U-boat sunk by the Royal Navy, 5 more German destroyers scuttled
- 1940 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario: New York Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 for 4-2 series victory; Rangers last Cup win for 54 years
- 1941 Heavy German assault on Tobruk
- 1941 Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
- 1943 Catholic University Nijegen closes
Jefferson Memorial
1943FDR dedicates the Jefferson Memorial in honor of former PresidentThomas Jefferson
- 1943 Nazis discover mass grave of Polish officers near Katyn
- 1944 New Zealand and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations
- 1944 South Carolina rejects black suffrage
- 1944 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 in overtime for a 4-0 series sweep; Canadiens' first SC triumph since 1931
- 1945 Canadian soldier Léo Major single-handedly liberates Dutch town of Zwolle by fooling Germans into thinking a raid had begun
- 1945 WWII: Canadian army liberates Teuge & Assen, Netherlands, from Nazis
- 1945 WWII: Russian Red Army occupies Vienna, Austria
- 1945 WWII: US Marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa, Japan
- 1946 Belgian Prime Minister Acker proclaims wage & price freeze ended
- 1946 Eddie Klepp, a white pitcher signed by defending Negro League champ Cleveland Buckeyes, is barred from field in Birmingham, Alabama
- 1948 Hadassah Convoy Massacre: Vehicles bringing Jewish staff and medical supplies to Hadassah Hospital and University on Mount Scopus, Jerusalem attacked by Arab forces; 79 killed by bombs, grenades, and sniper fire
- 1949 During a lecture at the Mayo Clinic, Philip S. Hench reveals positive results of clinical trials using cortisone to treat rheumatoid arthritis
- 1953 1st game of Milwaukee Braves, they beat Cincinnati Reds 2-0
- 1954 Baltimore Orioles 1st game, loses to Tigers in Detroit 3-0
Aaron's 1st Game
1954 Milwaukee Braves'Hank Aaron's 1st game
Oppenheimer Security Hearing
1954Robert Oppenheimer accused of being a communist
- 1955 20.33" (51.64 cm) of rainfall, Axis, Alabama (then state record, eclipsed in 1997)
- 1956 KETA TV channel 13 in Oklahoma City, OK (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1957 11th Tony Awards: "Long Day's Journey into Night" (play) & "My Fair Lady" (musical) win
- 1957 Saturday postal delivery in US is temporarily halted due to lack of funds
- 1958 12th Tony Awards: "Sunrise at Campobello" (play) and "The Music Man" (musical) win
- 1958 American classical pianist Van Cliburn (23) wins the inaugural TInternational chaikovsky Competition in Moscow, USSR
- 1959 USAF launches Discoverer II into polar orbit
- 1959 Vanguard SLV-5 launched for Earth orbit (failed)
- 1959 Vatican edict forbids Roman Catholics from voting for communists
- 1960 US Department of Defense places "Transit 1B", 1st navigational satellite, in orbit around Earth
- 1961 UN General Assembly condemns South-Africa's apartheid
Baseball Record
1962Stan Musial scores his 1,869th run, setting a new National League record
- 1962 US steel industry forced to give up price increases
- 1963 Pirate's Bob Friend balks 4 times in a game
Academy Awards
1964 36th Academy Awards: "Tom Jones" (Best Film),Patricia Neal (Hud), andSidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field) win; Poitier is the first Black actor in a leading role to win a competitive Oscar
- 1964 Ian Smith becomes Prime Minister of Rhodesia
- 1964 New Zealander Colin Bosher shears a record 565 sheep in one workday
- 1965 1st US Senate black page, Lawrence W Bradford Jr, 16, appointed by New York Senator Jacob Javits
- 1965 7th Grammy Awards: "The Girl From Ipanema", The Beatles win
- 1965 The Beatles record their single "Help!"
- 1966 Pan Am places $525,000,000 order for 25 Boeing 747s
- 1969 Closure of the Brisbane tramway network.
- 1970 Apollo 13 announces, "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here" after a Beech-built oxygen tank exploded en route to the Moon
- 1970 Greek composer and counter-revolutionary Mikis Theordorakis freed from Oropos concentration camp, and allowed to be exiled to France
- 1970 Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club's home opener: Rules Committee subsequently bans this innovation
- 1972 1st baseball players' strike ends after 13 days
- 1975 Chad military coup by General Odingar
- 1975 Christian Falange kills 27 Palestinians, begins Lebanese civil war
- 1976 1st NBA playoff game for Cleveland Cavliers, they lose 100-95 to Washington
- 1976 US Federal Reserve begins issuing $2 bicentennial notes
- 1978 Jackson slugs a 3-run HR in the 1st inning, & the field is showered
- 1979 Christian Turks occupy St Jansbasiliek
- 1979 Longest doubles ping-pong match ends after 101 hours
- 1979 Yusuf Lule becomes premier of Uganda
- 1980 US and its allies boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest against Russia's invasion of Afghanistan
- 1981 Pulitzer prize awarded to Beth Henley for "Crimes of the Heart"
- 1981 Washington Post journalist Janet Cooke wins Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing; she later admits story was a hoax and returns the prize
- 1983 Undefeated middleweight boxer Tony Ayala gets 35 years on sex assault
- 1983 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1984 11th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (41C): Challenger 5 returns to Earth
- 1984 India beat Pak by 58 runs to win 1st Asia Cricket Cup in Sharjah
- 1984 Montreal Expos infielderPete Rose becomes 1st NL to get 4,000 hits in a career
- 1985 "TASS" denounces US boycott of Moscow Olympics
- 1985 Katrin Dörre wins 1st female World Cup marathon (2:33:30)
Event of Interest
1985 Ramiz Alia succeedsEnver Hoxha as party leader of Albania
- 1985 Space Shuttle Atlantis ferried to Kennedy Space Center via Ellington AFB, Texas
- 1986 Boston Celtics end season with a 40-1 home win record
Meeting of Interest
1986 PopeJohn Paul II meets Rome's Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff at Rome synagogue
- 1990 NY Rangers beat NY Islanders 6-5, Rangers win preliminary, 4-1
- 1991 BPAA US Open by Pete Weber
- 1992 American Airlines reduce its 1st-class fares 20%-50%
- 1992 Crystal Pepsi begins test marketing in Sacramento, Providence, Denver, Dallas, and Grand Rapids
- 1992 Great Chicago Flood - Chicago's underground tunnels flood
- 1992 Longest 2 undefeated baseball teams to meet (NY Yankees 5-0 vs Toronto Blue Jays 6-0); Yanks score 3 in top of 9th to win 5-2
- 1992 Lou Carnesecca retires as coach of St John's basketball team
- 1992 Magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits Netherlands
Arcadia
1993Tom Stoppard's play "Arcadia" premieres in London directed by Trevor Nunn, starring Rufus Sewell, Felicity Kendal and Bill Nighy
Film & TV History
1994 Asteroid 7373 Takei discovered and named after Star Trek actorGeorge Takei
Sports History
1994Pedro Martínez takes a perfect game through 7+1⁄3 innings until hitting Reggie Sanders with a pitch, leading to a bench-clearing brawl
- 1994 Presidential guard at Kigali, Rwanda, chops 1,200 church members to death
- 1994 Target date for Israeli complete withdrawal, doesn't occur
- 1994 United Arab Emirates' 1st official ODI, losing to India
- 1995 Yankees beat the Mets 2-0
- 1996 En route to NHL record 62 victories Detroit Red Wings win #61
- 1996 Ottawa Senators eliminate Stanley Cup Champs NJ Devils from playoff
- 1997 48th time opposing pitchers hit HRs, Carlos Perez (Mon)/Darren Holmes
- 1997 Hartford Whalers last NHL game
Sports History
1997 NHL Pittsburgh PenguinMario Lemieux's last NHL regular game
- 1997 Rare double doubleheader played in the same city Giants vs Mets & Oakland A's vs Yankees in NY after rain previous day
Film & TV History
2000 "When Louis Met..." documentary byLouis Theroux premieres on BBC2 in the UK featuring Jimmy Saville
Rock for the Rainforest
2000 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include:Sting,Elton John,James Taylor,Stevie Wonder,Ricky Martin,Billy Joel,Gladys Knight, Percy Sledge,Tom Jones, Martha Reeves, Macy Gray, Sam Moore, and The Impressions
- 2002 Pedro Carmona, interim president of Venezuela, resigns one day after taking office
Rock for the Rainforest
2002 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include:Sting,Elton John,James Taylor,Nina Simone,Smokey Robinson, Lulu, Patti Labelle,Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar,Jeff Beck,Wynonna Judd, and Rebecca Del Rio
Baseball Record
2004Barry Bonds hits his 661st career home run, passing his godfather Willie Mays on the MLB all-time list
- 2006 Powerful tornadoes rip through Iowa City, Iowa.
Phil Spector Found Guilty
2009 US record producerPhil Spector is found guilty of second-degree murder of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003
Film & TV History
2011Gary Sinise narrates the audiobook ofJohn Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men"
Love Is a Four Letter Word
2012Jason Mraz's fourth studio album, "Love Is a Four Letter Word", is released
Boxing Title Fight
2014Manny Pacquiao defeats Timothy Bradley to regain his WBO welterweight boxing title
Avengers: Age of Ultron
2015 "Avengers: Age of Ultron", directed byJoss Whedon, starringRobert Downey Jr.,Chris Evans,Chris Hemsworth,Scarlett Johansson,Mark Ruffalo andJeremy Renner, premieres in Los Angeles, California
- 2015 Migrant ship carrying around 550 sinks off the Libyan coast, about 400 drown
- 2019 Australian super-horse Winx ends extraordinary career with a 3rd Queen Elizabeth Stakes win in Sydney; 33 consecutive race wins, a world record 25 Group One victories and $26.4 million prize money
- 2019 Body of 38-year-old Filipino woman discovered in abandoned mine starts the hunt for Cyprus's first serial killer, at least 5 other bodies later discovered
- 2019 Gregg Popovich surpasses Lenny Wilkens to became the all-time winningest coach in NBA history with his 1,413th win as San Antonio Spurs beat Denver Nuggets, 101-96 in Western Conference Playoffs
- 2019 World's largest plane by wingspan at 117m (385 ft), the Stratolaunch, built as a flying launch pad for satellites, takes its first flight from Mojave, California
Event of Interest
2020Bernie Sanders endorses former rivalJoe Biden for president
Music Concert
2020 Italian tenorAndrea Bocelli sings a special Easter concert in the deserted Milan cathedral, accompanied by an organist
COVID-19 Pandemic
2020 NY GovernorAndrew Cuomo says “I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart,” about the COVID-19 pandemic in New York as death toll passes 10,000
- 2021 US, South Africa and the EU authorities temporarily stop administrating Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines after six women developed blood clots (out of 6.8 million)
Film & TV History
2021 Voice actorHank Azaria who is white apologizes for voicing Indian character Apu on "The Simpsons" for 30 years
- 2022 At least 448 people killed after heavy rains and flooding in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, "one of the worst weather storms in the history of our country" according to authorities[1]
- 2023 American F.B.I. arrests 21-year-old member of Massachusetts Air National Guard for leaking classified documents, including national security secrets, on an online gaming chat group[1]
- 2023 Tropical Cyclone Ilsa makes landfall in remote western Australia, between De Grey and Pardoo Roadhouse, as a category five storm, setting a new sustained wind speed record of 218 kph (135 mph)[1]
- 2024 Iran launches a strike on Israel with 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for the bombing of its embassy in Damascus - almost all shot down[1]
- 2024 Six people are killed in a stabbing at a Bondi shopping mall in Sydney, Australia, by an attacker with mental health issues who is shot dead by police[1]
- 2025 Russian missile strike hits Ukrainian city of Sumy, killing at least 34 people and injuring more than 100 in the worst attack on civilians in 2025 so far[1]
- 2025 The MacLean brothers, Ewan (32), Jamie (31), and Lachlan (27) of Scotland depart in a rowboat from Lima, Peru to cross the Pacifiic Ocean, headed for Australia; they hope to raise funds for clean water access in Madagascar through donations[1]
