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Historical Events

04 Apr 1541
Ignatius of Loyola becomes 1st superior-general of Jesuits
04 Apr 1552
Mauritius van Saksen begins alliance with Karel Anikita Stroganov
04 Apr 1558
Tsar Ivan IV gives parts of North-Russia to fur traders
04 Apr 1588
Christian IV succeeds Frederik II as king of Denmark
04 Apr 1655
Battle at Postage Farina Tunis English fleet beats Barbary pirates
04 Apr 1655
The miraculous statue entitled the Infant of Prague is solemnly crowned by command of Cardinal Harrach
04 Apr 1686
English King James II publishes Declaration of Indulgence
04 Apr 1687
King James II orders his declaration of indulgence read in English churches
04 Apr 1737
Anthony van Heim installed as Dutch pension advisor
04 Apr 1818
Congress decides on the US flag 13 red & white stripes & 20 stars
04 Apr 1828
Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder (Amsterdam)
04 Apr 1859
Bryants Minstrels debut Dixie in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show
04 Apr 1862
Siege of Yorktown fought in York County and Newport News Virginia begins (Yorktown campaign) inconclusive result (US Civil War)
04 Apr 1862
Peninsular Campaign launched in southeastern Virginia aimed at capturing Richmond during US Civil War begins Confederate victory (US Civil War)
04 Apr 1864
Skirmish at Elkins Ford (Little Missouri River) Arkansas
04 Apr 1887
Susanna Madora Salter elected 1st US woman mayor in Argonia Kansas
04 Apr 1899
South Africa all out 35 vs England (Trott 4-19 Haigh 6-11)
04 Apr 1900
Assassination attempt on Prince of Wales later British King Edward VII when shot by Jean-Baptiste Sipido in protest over Boer war
04 Apr 1900
British garrison of Reddersberg surrenders to Boer general De Wet
04 Apr 1911
Hugh Chalmers automaker suggests idea of baseball MVP
04 Apr 1912
Army fires on striking mine workers at Lena-gold fields in Siberia
04 Apr 1913
Greek aviator Emmanuel Argyropoulos becomes the first pilot victim of the Hellenic Air Force when his plane crashes
04 Apr 1913
75th Grand National Percy Woodland wins aboard 1009 chance Covertcoat owner Sir Charles Assheton-Smiths 2nd straight GN victory and 3rd overall
04 Apr 1914
Film serial Perils of Pauline shown for the first time in Los Angeles
04 Apr 1915
Germany protests vigorously to the US claiming it must insist that Britain lifts its blockade and assert American neutrality
04 Apr 1921
Stanley Cup Final Denman Arena Vancouver BC Ottawa Senators (NHL) beat Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA) 2-1 for a 3-2 series victory
04 Apr 1922
WAAB (Baton Rouge La) becomes 1st US radio station with W calls
04 Apr 1926
Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos elected president
04 Apr 1929
1st AAU Greco-Roman wrestling championships held
04 Apr 1930
Andrew Sandham makes Test Cricket 1st triple century
04 Apr 1930
Les Ames makes the 1st Test Cricket century by a wicketkeeper (149)
04 Apr 1932
Vitamin C 1st isolated CC King Univ of Pittsburgh
04 Apr 1933
US Dirigible Akron crashes off coast of NJ 73 die
04 Apr 1938
5th US Masters Tournament Augusta National GC Henry Picard wins his only Masters 2 strokes ahead of runners-up Harry Cooper and Ralph Guldahl
04 Apr 1940
R RodgersLorenz Harts Higher & Higher premieres in NYC
04 Apr 1944
De Gaulle forms new regime in exile with communists
04 Apr 1944
Allied Bucharest bombings targeting railroads kills 5000
04 Apr 1945
Hungary liberated from Nazi occupation (National Day)
04 Apr 1945
US forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany
04 Apr 1947
Convention on International Civil Aviation goes into effect
04 Apr 1947
UNs International Civil Aviation Organization forms
04 Apr 1949
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington D.C.
04 Apr 1949
WKRC TV channel 12 in Cincinnati OH (ABC) begins broadcasting
04 Apr 1953
KFDA TV channel 10 in Amarillo TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
04 Apr 1955
British government signs military treaty with Iraq
04 Apr 1956
Enid Bagnolds Chalk Garden premieres in London
04 Apr 1957
Heitor Villa-Lobos 10th Symphony premieres in Paris
04 Apr 1958
1st march against nuclear weapons (Aldermaston England)
04 Apr 1958
Eugene Ionescos Tueur sans Gages premieres in Darmstadt
04 Apr 1958
The CND Peace Symbol displayed in public for the first time in London
04 Apr 1959
Mali Federation founded consisting of Senegal & French Sudan (dissolved 1960)
04 Apr 1959
France beats Wales 11-3 at Stade Colombes to win the Five Nations Rugby Championship outright for the first time
04 Apr 1960
Oscar awarded to Netherlands director Bert Haanstra
04 Apr 1960
Project Ozma begins at Green Bank radio astronomy center
04 Apr 1964
Anyone Can Whistle opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 9 performances
04 Apr 1964
Beatles Cant Buy Me Love single goes 1 & stays 1 for 5 weeks
04 Apr 1965
The first model of the new Saab Viggen fighter aircraft plane is unveiled.
04 Apr 1966
Pirate Radio Scotland changes name to Radio Ireland
04 Apr 1967
Amsterdam Marines chase Nozems or rebellious youth out of Central Station
04 Apr 1968
Education of Hyman Kaplan opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 28 performances
04 Apr 1969
Haskell Karp receives the 1st temporary artificial heart implanted by surgeon Denton Cooley at Texas Heart Institute in Houston
04 Apr 1970
Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Don Johnson
04 Apr 1970
124th Grand National 151 chance Gay Trip wins by 20 lengths giving Irish jockey Pat Taaffe his second GN winner
04 Apr 1971
Stephen Sondheims Follies opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 524 performances then most expensive broadway musical
04 Apr 1971
Marine clay under houses liquefies in St-Jean-Vianney Quebec 31 die
04 Apr 1972
1st electric power plant fueled by garbage begins operating
04 Apr 1973
World Trade Center then the worlds tallest building opens in New York (110 stories)
04 Apr 1975
130 killed as USAF plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crashes
04 Apr 1975
Steve Miller is arrested for burning his girlfriends clothes
04 Apr 1975
USAF transport carrying orphans from Saigon crashes killing 155
04 Apr 1975
British sitcom The Good Life starring Richard Briers Felicity Kendal Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith debuts on BBC One
04 Apr 1976
Seni Pramojs Democratic Party wins elections in Thailand
04 Apr 1979
Ex-President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan is executed.
04 Apr 1981
Henry Cisneros becomes 1st Mexican-American mayor (San Antonio)
04 Apr 1981
135th Grand National Bob Champion aboard 101 hope Aldaniti wins by 4 lengths from 81 favourite Spartan Missile
04 Apr 1981
26th Eurovision Song Contest Bucks Fizz for United Kingdom wins singing Making Your Mind Up in Dublin
04 Apr 1983
45th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship North Carolina State beats Houston 54-52
04 Apr 1983
6th space shuttle mission Challenger 1 launched
04 Apr 1984
Michael Frayns Benefactors premieres in London
04 Apr 1984
Winston Smith in Orwells begins his secret diary
04 Apr 1985
Tulane University cancels its basketball season amidst scandal
04 Apr 1987
Dow Jones up 69.89 points ending at record 2390.34 pts
04 Apr 1987
141st Grand National Jockey Steve Knight wins his second GN aboard 281 shot Maori Venture by 5 lengths from The Tsarevich
04 Apr 1987
Always & Forever 2nd studio album by Randy Travis (Billboard Album of the Year 1988)
04 Apr 1988
50th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Kansas beat Oklahoma 83-79
04 Apr 1988
Eddie Hill becomes the worlds first driver to cover the quarter mile in under 5 seconds
04 Apr 1988
Largest crowd (55438) at a season game at Riverfront (Reds Vs Cards)
04 Apr 1989
NY Yankee Tommy John ties record of playing 26 seasons his 287th win puts him 19th overall as Yanks beat Twins on opening day 4-2
04 Apr 1990
Security law violator Ivan Boesky is released from federal custody
04 Apr 1991
Lucifers Child opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 28 performances
04 Apr 1991
Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over an elementary school in Merion Pennsylvania.
04 Apr 1992
Game 1 of Mayor Challenge - NY Yankees beat NY Mets 6-4 at Yank Stad
04 Apr 1992
Sali Berisha becomes president and Alexander Meksi premier of Albania
04 Apr 1992
146th Grand National 141 shot Party Politics ridden by Welsh jockey Carl Llewellyn wins by 2 lengths from Romany King
04 Apr 1993
12th NCAA Womens Basketball Championship Texas Tech beats Ohio State 84-82
04 Apr 1993
Trish Johnson wins Las Vegas LPGA at Canyon Gate Golf Tournament
04 Apr 1994
1st game played at Jacobs Field Indians beat Mariners 4-3 in 11 inn
04 Apr 1994
56th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Arkansas Razorbacks beat Duke 76-72
04 Apr 1994
Cubs Karl Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 HRs in 1993 hits 3 HRs on opening
04 Apr 1994
Largest Opening Day crowd at Yankee Stadium 56706
04 Apr 1994
Netscape Communications founded as Mosaic Communications
04 Apr 1996
Inherit the Wind opens at Royale Theater NYC for 45 performances
04 Apr 1996
Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Austin TX on KJFK 98.9 FM
04 Apr 1997
Anaheim Ducks clinch their 1st-ever playoff berth
04 Apr 1997
Braves officially open Turner Field against Cubs
04 Apr 1998
151st Grand National Carl Llewellyn wins aboard Earth Summit first GN winner who was also successful in both Scottish and Welsh Grand Nationals
04 Apr 2002
The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War
04 Apr 2005
67th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship North Carolina beats Illinois 75-70
04 Apr 2006
25th NCAA Womens Basketball Championship Maryland beats Duke 78-75
04 Apr 2007
15 British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran are released by the Iranian President.
04 Apr 2008
Raid on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints owned YFZ Ranch in Texas 401 children and 133 women taken into state custody
04 Apr 2009
162nd Grand National French-bred 1001 outsider Mon Mome ridden by Liam Treadwell wins by 12 lengths from defending champion Comply or Die
04 Apr 2009
Eminem Inducts Run-DMC Into Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
04 Apr 2010
Kraft Nabisco Championship Womens Golf Mission Hills CC Yani Tseng of Taiwan wins her 2nd major title by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Suzann Pettersen of Norway
04 Apr 2011
73rd NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Connecticut beats Butler 53-41
04 Apr 2012
Somalias National Theater is struck by a suicide bomber killing ten people including the presidents of the Somali Olympic Committee and Football Federation
04 Apr 2013
74 people are killed after an illegally constructed building collapses in Thane India
04 Apr 2013
9 people have been killed on an axe-murdering rampage in Chhattisgarh state India
04 Apr 2013
Poecilotheria rajaei a giant tarantula with a 20cm leg span is discovered in Sri Lanka
04 Apr 2014
President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim claims that climate change will lead to battles over water and food within the next five to ten years
04 Apr 2017
Chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun Syria by Syrian government forces kills more than 80 civilians
04 Apr 2017
Pink Star diamond sets world record price of 71 million for a gem at an action in Hong Kong
04 Apr 2017
Alibaba becomes the worlds largest retailer according to US Securities and Exchange Commission
04 Apr 2018
21st Commonwealth Games open in the Gold Coast Australia
04 Apr 1588
Christian IV succeeds Frederick II as king of Denmark
04 Apr 1930
Andy Sandham makes Test Cricket 1st triple century
04 Apr 1945
World War II Soviet forces liberate Hungary from German occupation establishing their own communist satellite state. This was celebrated as Liberation Day until 1989.
04 Apr 1945
The Holocaust US forces liberate the Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany the first such camp to be liberated by the US Army
04 Apr 1945
World War II US Army occupies Bielefeld in north-eastern Germany
04 Apr 1973
World Trade Center then the worlds tallest building opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 911 terrorist attacks.
04 Apr 1983
45th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship North Carolina State beats Houston 54-52 Wolfpack win with buzzer-beating dunk by Lorenzo Charles off a desperation 30 foot shot from Dereck Whittenburg
04 Apr 1988
50th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Kansas beats Oklahoma 83-79 Jayhawks power forward Danny Manning named tournament Most Outstanding Player
04 Apr 1993
12th NCAA Womens Basketball Championship Texas Tech beats Ohio State 84-82 future Hall of Fame forward Sheryl Swoopes MOP
04 Apr 1993
The Tradition Senior Mens Golf GC at Desert Mountain Tom Shaw wins his lone career major title by 1 stroke from Mike Hill
04 Apr 1994
56th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Arkansas beats Duke 76-72 Razorbacks first title in first title game
04 Apr 2005
67th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship North Carolina beats Illinois 75-70 Tar Heels 4th national championship
04 Apr 2006
25th NCAA Womens Basketball Championship Maryland beats Duke 78-75 OT Terrapins first national title Laura Harper MOP
04 Apr 2010
Africas tallest monument the African Renaissance Monument dedicated outside Dakar Senegal designed by Pierre Goudiaby to commemorate Senegals 50th anniversary of independence
04 Apr 2011
73rd NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Connecticut beats Butler 53-41 Huskies point guard Kemba Walker scores 16 points
04 Apr 2016
78th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship Villanova defeats North Carolina 77-74 Wildcats guard Phil Booth 20 points
04 Apr 2019
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel apologises for the kidnapping of thousands of mixed-race children during colonial period in Burundi DR Congo and Rwanda
04 Apr 2019
US Mormon church pledges to roll back anti-LGBT policies including not baptizing children of gay parents
04 Apr 2019
Kathie Lee Gifford leaves NBCsToday show after 11 years
04 Apr 1865
General Robert E. Lees Confederate army arrives at Amelia Courthouse Amelia County Virginia
04 Apr 1930
England cricket batsman Andy Sandham ends Day 2 of 4th Test against West Indies in Kingston Jamaica unbeaten on 309 1st triple century in Test history out for 325
04 Apr 1957
Heitor Villa-Lobos 10th Symphony premieres French Radio National Orchestra conducted by the composer in Paris
04 Apr 1975
138 killed as a USAF plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crashes on approach during an emergency landing at Tn Sn Nht Air Base in South Vietnam
04 Apr 1984
Winston Smith in Orwells novel Nineteen Eighty-Four begins his secret diary in defiance of the totalitarian government of Oceania
04 Apr 2019
US Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pledges to roll back anti-LGBT policies including not baptizing children of gay parents
04 Apr 2019
Kathie Lee Gifford leaves NBCs Today show after 11 years
04 Apr 2020
WrestleMania XXXVI WWE Performance Center Orlando FL Part 1 The Undertaker defeats AJ Styles in a Boneyard match Becky Lynch beats Shayna Baszler to retain Raw Womens Cship
04 Apr 1833
St Etienne-Lyons railway fully opens in France
04 Apr 1932
Charles G. King University of Pittsburgh isolates Vitamin C using adrenal samples provided by Hungarian Albert Szent-Gyrgyi
04 Apr 1958
1st march against nuclear weapons from London to Aldermaston England home of the Defence Ministrys Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)
04 Apr 1983
6th NASA Space Shuttle Mission Challenger 1 launches
04 Apr 1988
Largest crowd (55438) at an MLB Opening Day game at Cincinnatis Riverfront Stadium Reds win over St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 in 12 innings
04 Apr 1988
Last broadcast of British soap opera Crossroads on ITV
04 Apr 1988
MLB New York Mets set Opening Day record with 6 HRs in a 10-6 win over Expos at Montreal
04 Apr 1994
Cubs Karl Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 HRs in 1993 hits 3 HRs on Opening Day vs Mets starter Dwight Doc Gooden at Wrigley Field Chicago
04 Apr 2021
39th NCAA Womens Basketball Championship Stanford Cardinal defeat Arizona Wildcats 5453 to win their third NCAA title
04 Apr 1866
Ashmun Institute in Oxford Pennsylvania is renamed Lincoln University
04 Apr 1929
Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein IIs operetta The New Moon opens at the Drury Lane Theatre in Londons West End
04 Apr 1960
Oscar awarded to Dutch director Bert Haanstra for documentary Glass
04 Apr 1994
KLM Saab 340B crashes at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Netherlands 3 killed
04 Apr 1994
MLB Chicago Cubs Karl Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 HRs in 1993 hits 3 HRs on Opening Day vs Mets starter Dwight Doc Gooden at Wrigley Field Chicago
04 Apr 1996
Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Austin Texas on KJFK 98.9 FM
04 Apr 2022
Economist Rodrigo Chaves elected President of Costa Rica defeating current president Jos Mara Figueres [1]
04 Apr 2022
Eon Musk buys 9.2% of Twitter stock making him the companys largest shareholder [1]
04 Apr 2022
Ukrainian government begins a war crimes investigation after 410 civilians found killed after the withdrawal of Russian forces from around Kyiv [1]
04 Apr 1460
University of Basel founded in Swiss Confederacy (now Switzerland)
04 Apr 1552
Maurice Elector of Saxony begins an alliance with Russian Anikey Stroganov
04 Apr 1655
Battle at Postage Farina Tunis English fleet defeats Barbary pirates
04 Apr 1828
Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder in Amsterdam
04 Apr 1896
Announcement of the discovery of gold in the Yukon
04 Apr 1914
Film serial Perils of Pauline shown for the first time in Los Angeles California
04 Apr 1922
WAAB (Baton Rouge Louisiana) becomes 1st US radio station with W calls
04 Apr 1933
USS Akron dirigible crashes into Atlantic Ocean off coast of New Jersey in stormy weather 73 die including US Navy Rear Admiral William A. Moffett - a major proponent of the airship fleet there were 3 survivors [1]
04 Apr 1943
WWII US Army Air Force bomber Lady Be Good fails to return to Soluch Libya base after its maiden flight presumed lost at sea wreck was discovered in desert 15 years later [1]
04 Apr 1958
First march against nuclear weapons is held from London to Aldermaston in England home of the Defence Ministrys Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)
04 Apr 1964
Deposed President Joo Goulart leaves Brazil under threat of arrest moves into life of exile in Uruguay and later Argentina
04 Apr 1969
CBS-TV abruptly cancels The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour three weeks after renewing it citing the programs failure to provide advance screening for review before airing [1]
04 Apr 2021
ANA Inspiration Womens Golf Mission Hills CC Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand wins her first LPGA Tour event by 2 strokes from NZs Lydia Ko who cards a 10-under-par final round
04 Apr 2023
Finland officially joins NATO at a ceremony in Brussels becoming its 31st member and doubling NATOs border with Russia [1]
04 Apr 1864
US Civil War Skirmish at Elkins Ford (Little Missouri River) Arkansas
04 Apr 1923
Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. is formally incorporated by siblings Jack L. Warner Harry Warner Sam Warner and Albert Warner in Burbank California
04 Apr 1947
United Nations Convention on International Civil Aviation forms the International Civil Aviation Organization
04 Apr 1964
the Beatles Cant Buy Me Love single goes 1 and stays 1 for 5 weeks
04 Apr 1987
Dow Jones Industrial Average up 69.89 points ending at record 2390.34 points
04 Apr 1990
American stockbroker and securities law violator Ivan Boesky is released from federal custody
04 Apr 1990
King Baudouin of Belgium a devout Catholic steps down as monarch for 36 hours to avoid signing a bill legalizing abortion [1]
04 Apr 2024
Rare 1938 copy of the comic (Action Comics No. 1) that first introduced Superman sells for a record US6 million at action [1]
04 Apr 1081
Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor
04 Apr 1460
University of Basel is founded in the Swiss Confederacy
04 Apr 1541
Ignatius of Loyola becomes the first Superior General of the Jesuits
04 Apr 1655
Battle of Porto Farina English fleet defeats Barbary corsairs in Tunis
04 Apr 1737
Anthonie van der Heim is installed as Grand Pensionary of Holland
04 Apr 1818
Congress adopts the design of the US flag 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars
04 Apr 1870
Golden Gate Park is established by City Order No. 800
04 Apr 1914
Film serial The Perils of Pauline is shown for the first time in Los Angeles California
04 Apr 1949
The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington DC establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) a military alliance among Western nations
04 Apr 1958
First march against nuclear weapons is held from London to Aldermaston in England home of the Ministry of Defences Atomic Weapons Establishment
04 Apr 1964
The Beatles Cant Buy Me Love single goes 1 and stays 1 for five weeks
04 Apr 1965
The first Saab Viggen fighter aircraft is unveiled
04 Apr 1969
Haskell Karp receives the first temporary artificial heart implanted by surgeon Denton Cooley at Texas Heart Institute in Houston
04 Apr 1972
First electric power plant fueled by garbage begins operating
04 Apr 1973
World Trade Center opens in New York as the worlds tallest building at 110 stories later destroyed in the 911 terrorist attacks
04 Apr 1974
Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruths home run record by hitting his 714th in Cincinnati against Jack Billingham
04 Apr 1977
Polish composer Henryk Greckis Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) premieres at the Royan International Festival in France led by Ernest Bour with soprano soloist Stefania Woytowicz initial response was tepid but a 1991 recording tops US classical charts for 38 weeks selling over a million copies
04 Apr 1981
Henry Cisneros becomes the first Mexican-American to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city San Antonio
04 Apr 1994
First game played at Jacobs Field Indians beat Mariners 4-3 in 11 innings
04 Apr 1997
Second Defense Meteorological Satellite Program weather satellite is launched aboard a Titan II rocket
04 Apr 1997
Space shuttle mission STS 83 (Columbia) is launched
04 Apr 2007
Fifteen British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran are released by the Iranian president
04 Apr 2013
Poecilotheria rajaei a giant tarantula with a 20 cm leg span is discovered in Sri Lanka
04 Apr 2017
Pink Star diamond sets world record price of 71 million for a gem at an auction in Hong Kong
04 Apr 2024
Rare 1938 copy of the comic (Action Comics No. 1) that first introduces Superman sells for a record US6 million at auction [1]
04 Apr 2025
Comedian Russell Brand is charged with rape and sexual assault by British police [1]