Today in History
Important Events
- 1204 4th Crusade occupies and plunders Constantinople
- 1811 1st US colonists on Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, Washington
- 1872 Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (1 dead/$1,500)
- 1927 Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek begins counter revolution in Shanghai
- 1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit Earth (Vostok 1)
Today in Film & TV
- 1932 "Grand Hotel" directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Greta Garbo and John Barrymore premieres in New York, includes the line "I want to be alone" (Best Picture/Production 1932)
Today in Music
- 1954 Bill Haley and the Comets record "Rock Around Clock"
Today in Sport
- 1980 US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow Olympic games
Did You Know?
Did You Know?Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby, England.
On this day in 1937
Famous Birthdays
- David Letterman
74th Birthday - Shannen Doherty
50th Birthday - David Hogg
21st Birthday
David Letterman
Shannen Doherty
David HoggTomorrow's Famous Birthdays
Thomas Jefferson
Butch Cassidy
Jonathan BrandisWould You Believe?
Harvard University patents a genetically engineered mouse (1st for animal life)
On this day in 1988
Famous Weddings
Famous Divorces
- 1935 Actress Mary Astor (28) divorces Dr. Franklyn Thorpe after 4 years of marriage
- 1992 Actress Lisa Bonet files for divorce from singer Lenny Kravitz, after 5 years of marriage
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Josephine Baker
Joe Louis
Annie Jump Cannon
Muriel Spark
Günter GrassThis Month in History
Yes, We Have Some Bananas
A strange fruit went on sale in London on this day, the like of which nobody had seen before. Known to scientists as the Plantaine fruit, it is now unremarkable.
April 10, 1633From Hate And Horror To Worldwide Acclaim
Elie Wiesel, who went on to become a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was among the thousands freed from Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany on this day.
April 11, 1945‘Guinea Pigs’ Befriend Super Surgeon
Sir Archibald McIndoe was a New Zealand-born surgeon whose pioneering treatment of burns victims during the Second World War revolutionised plastic surgery.
April 12, 1960Hallelujah! Music That Moved a King
Few can fail to be moved by Handel's Messiah oratorio, culminating in the Hallelujah Chorus. It was even said to have brought a king to his feet.
April 13, 1742
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