Battle of Forum Gallorum
43 BC Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, who is killed.
Coronation of Septimius Severus
193 Lucius Septimius Severus crowned Emperor of Rome
- 754 Pact of Quierzy: between Pope Stephen II, [III] & Pippin the Korte
- 966 Christianisation of Poland - Polish ruler Mieszko I and his court baptized
- 972 Notger becomes bishop of Liege
- 979 Challenge to throne of King Aethelred II of England
- 1028 German emperor Conrad II the Sailor crowns his son Henry III, king
- 1191 85-year old Giacinto Bobo becomes Pope Coelestinus III
- 1341 Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V of Saluzzo
- 1361 Henry of Grosmont, the richest peer in England, is buried at the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of Newarke, Leicester, with the royal family in attendance
- 1434 The foundation stone of Cathedral St. Peter and St. Paul in Nantes, France is laid
- 1471 Wars of the Roses: Battle of Barnet - Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians and kill the Earl of Warwick
Dissolution of the Monasteries
1536 English King Henry VIII expropriates minor monasteries
Battle of Mookerheyde
1574 Battle of Mookerheyde: Spanish forces of D'Avila defeat Dutch mercenary force led by Louis of Nassau
- 1611 Word "telescope" is 1st used by Prince Federico Cesi
- 1629 England and France sign Peace of Susa
- 1671 Cossacks capture Russian peasant leader Stenka Razin
- 1699 Khalsa: Birth of Khalsa, the brotherhood of the Sikh religion, in Northern India in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar
- 1756 Governor Glen of South Carolina protests against 900 Acadia indians
- 1775 1st abolitionist society in US organizes in Philadelphia
- 1818 US Medical Corps forms
- 1828 British 18-gun sloop HMS Acorn sinks off Halifax with 115 men aboard
1st American Dictionary
1828 First American Dictionary: its author Noah Webster registers its copyright for publication
1st Detective Story
1841 1st detective story published, Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in Rue Morgue" (April 1841)
John Brown Meets Harriet Tubman
1858 Abolitionist John Brown meets Harriet Tubman at a Constitutional Convention convened in Chatham, Ontario
Pony Express
1860 1st Pony Express rider arrives in San Francisco from St Joseph, Missouri
Battle of Fort Sumter
1861 Formal Union surrender of Fort Sumter (US Civil War)
Assassination Attempt on William Seward
1865 U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked in his home by Lewis Powell as part of the same conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln
Deadly Performance of a Twisted Actor
1865 US President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington; he dies a day later
- 1868 SC voters approved constitution, 70,758 to 27,228
- 1871 Canada sets denominations of currency as dollars, cents, & mills
- 1872 Dominion Lands Act passed: Canada's Homestead Act
- 1872 San Francisco organizes Bar Association
- 1881 The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight in El Paso, Texas.
- 1883 Leo Delibes' opera "Lakmé" premieres with the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris
- 1890 Pan American Day-1st conference of American states (Washington, D.C.)
Film & TV History
1894 1st public showing of Thomas Edison's kinetoscope (moving pictures)
The Golden Rule Store
1902 James Cash Penney opens his first store, The Golden Rule Store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming
- 1904 NY Highlanders' future Baseball HOF pitcher Jack Chesbro's first of 41 wins this season; pitches complete game and beats Boston Americans, 8-2 at Hilltop Park, NYC
Roosevelt Denounces the Muckrakers
1906 US President Theodore Roosevelt denounces "muckrakers" in US press, taken from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
Taft's First Pitch
1910 US President William Howard Taft begins tradition of throwing ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day of baseball season
The Titanic Sinks
1912 RMS Titanic, the world's largest ocean liner, hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland, sinks in the early hours of 15 April
- 1915 A's Herb Pennock is within 1 out of pitching 1st Opening Day no-hitter
- 1915 Dutch merchant navy ship Katwijk sunk by Germany torpedo
- 1915 Turkey invades Armenia
- 1917 Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte no-hits St Louis Browns, 11-0
- 1918 Douglas Campbell is 1st US ace pilot (shooting down 5th German plane)
- 1921 Prince Henry opens Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Bremen-Hamburg air route
- 1922 Irish Republican Army rebels occupy the Four Courts (government buildings) in Dublin
- 1923 Etienne Oehmichen sets helicopter distance record of 358 meters
- 1925 First regular-season Chicago Cubs game broadcast on radio (WGN) by caller Quin Ryan; Cubs beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-2
Music Premiere
1926 George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's 1st collaborative musical "Lady, Be Good!", featuring siblings Fred Astaire and Adelle Astaire as a brother and sister dance team, opens at Empire Theatre, London's West End; runs for 326 performances
- 1927 The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden
- 1928 Maddus Airlines starts 1st regular passenger flights between SF & LA
- 1928 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: In only their 2nd season in the NHL, New York Rangers beat Montreal Maroons, 2-1 for a 3-2 series win
- 1930 Philip Barry's play "Hotel Universe" premieres in NYC
Second Spanish Republic
1931 Spain becomes a republic with the overthrow of King Alfonso XIII
Stanley Cup
1931 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 2-0 for a 3-2 series win; Canadiens' back-to-back Championships
Murder of Interest
1936 French singer Édith Piaf questioned after nightclub owner and her patron Louis Leplée murdered in Paris
Historic Publication
1939 John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published
- 1940 Allied troops land in Norway
- 1940 RCA demonstrated its new electron microscope in Philadelphia
- 1941 1st massive German raid in Paris, 3,600 Jews rounded up
- 1941 45th Boston Marathon won by Leslie Pawson in 2:30:38; his third victory in the event
- 1941 King Peter leaves Yugoslavia
- 1942 Destroyer Roper sinks German U-85 of US east coast
Event of Interest
1943 Generals Alexander, Eisenhower, Anderson and Bradley discuss assault on Tunis
- 1943 James Gow & A d'Usseau's "Tomorrow the World" premieres in NYC
- 1944 Freighter "Fort Stikene" explodes in Bombay India, killing 1,376
- 1944 General Eisenhower becomes the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force
- 1944 Greek Colonel Venizelos forms government
- 1945 American planes bomb Tokyo & damage the Imperial Palace
- 1945 US Marines attack Yae-Take, the tallest mountain on Okinawa's Motobu Peninsula
- 1945 World War II: US 7th Army & allies forces capture Nuremberg & Stuttgart in Germany
- 1946 "Day Before Spring" closes at National Theater NYC after 167 performances
- 1948 A flash of light is observed in crater Plato on Moon
- 1948 NYC subway fares jump from 5 cents to 10 cents
- 1948 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Toronto Maple Leafs go back-to-back with a 7-2 win over Detroit Red Wings for a 4-0 series sweep
- 1948 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
- 1949 International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg's last judgment
- 1950 1st edition of British comic "Eagle"
- 1950 Doorne's Auto factory opens in Netherlands
- 1953 Viet-Minh offensive in Laos
- 1953 WHYN (now WGGB) TV channel 40 in Springfield-Holyoke, MA (ABC) begins
- 1954 Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov asks for politics asylum in Canberra
- 1955 26-year-old catcher/outfielder Elston Howard becomes first African-American to play for NY Yankees; hits single with 1 RBI in 8-4 loss to Boston Red Sox
- 1955 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings win back-to-back titles; beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 for a 4-3 series victory
- 1955 WBRZ TV channel 2 in Baton Rouge, LA (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
- 1956 Ampex Corp demonstrates 1st commercial videotape recorder
Theatrical Finale
1956 Cole Porter's final Broadway musical "Silk Stockings", loosely based on the Melchior Lengyel's "Ninotchka", closes at the Imperial Theatre, NYC, after 478 performances
- 1957 Leah Neuberger wins her 8th women's singles ping pong championship
Space Dog Laika Launched to her Death
1958 Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard burns up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere
Music History
1960 American record company Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr, is incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit. Michigan
Music Premiere
1960 Lee Adams and Charles Strouse's musical "Bye Bye Birdie", starring Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, and Dick Gautier, opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC; runs for 607 performances
- 1960 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Montreal Canadiens beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 for a 4 game sweep; 5th consecutive title
- 1961 1st live television broadcast from Soviet Union
- 1961 Cuban-American invasion army departs Nicaragua
- 1961 US element 103 (Lawrencium) discovered
- 1962 Demonstration for sovereign status of New Guinea in Amsterdam
- 1962 France retains the Five Nations Rugby Championship with an 11-0 win over Ireland at Stade Colombes, Paris
Election of Interest
1962 Georges Pompidou becomes Prime Minister of France after the resignation of Michel Debré
Music History
1963 Quiet Beatle George Harrison is impressed by unsigned British blues band "Rolling Stones"
Sports History
1964 LA Dodgers' future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax throws his 9th complete game without allowing a walk in 4-0 Opening Day win over St. Louis Cardinals
- 1965 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Event of Interest
1967 General Gnassingbé Eyadéma becomes President of Togo
- 1968 32nd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Bob Goalby shoots a final round 66 (-6) to win his only major title, 1 stroke ahead of Roberto De Vicenzo who has his card famously marked incorrectly
- 1968 First NBA game at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden; NY Knicks beat San Diego Rockets, 114-102
Academy Awards
1969 41st Academy Awards: "Oliver", Cliff Robertson & Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand win (1st ever tie for best actress)
- 1969 First regular-season MLB game played outside the United States; Montreal Expos beat St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7 at Parc Jarry, Montreal
- 1969 KEET TV channel 13 in Eureka, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1969 Student Afro-American Society seized at Columbia College
- 1969 Tornado strikes Dacca, East Pakistan killing 540
- 1970 Revival of Sandy Wilson's musical "The Boy Friend", starring Judy Carne and Sandy Duncan, opens at Ambassador Theater, NYC; runs for 111 performances
- 1971 Fort Point, San Francisco dedicated as a national historic site
Event of Interest
1971 US President Richard Nixon ends blockade against People's Republic of China
- 1971 US Supreme Court upheld busing as means of achieving racial desegregation
- 1972 Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz's musical review "That's Entertainment" opens at Edison Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
- 1972 The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes twenty-four bombs in towns and cities across Northern Ireland
- 1973 Acting FBI director L. Patrick Gray resigns after admitting he destroyed evidence in the Watergate scandal
- 1973 Ireland edges France, 6-4 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin to create a 5-way tie for the Five Nations Rugby Championship; each nation wins their 2 home matches
US Masters Golf
1974 38th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Gary Player wins the 2nd of his 3 Masters titles, 2 strokes ahead of Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf
- 1977 US Supreme Court says people may refuse to display state motto on license
- 1978 David Hare's play "Plenty" premieres in London
- 1978 Korean Air Lines Boeing 707, fired on by Soviets, crashes in Russia
- 1978 Thousands of Georgians demonstrate in the capital Tbilisi against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language
- 1978 WRR-AM in Dallas Texas changes call letters to KAAM
- 1979 Susan Horvath, of Penn, crowned America's Young Woman of the Year
- 1980 1st Cubans of the Mariel boatlift sail to Florida
Academy Awards
1980 52nd Academy Awards: Best Picture "Kramer vs Kramer", Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field win
Event of Interest
1980 Pulitzer prize awarded to Norman Mailer (Executioner's Song)
- 1981 1st Space Shuttle, Columbia 1, returns to Earth
Music History
1983 EMI America Records releases David Bowie's 15th studio album, "Let's Dance"; co-produced by Bowie and Nile Rodgers, it becomes his biggest commercial success with sales of nearly 11 million units, topping the charts in 9 countries, and introduces guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan to a larger audience
- 1983 NY Islanders tie own record with 2 shorthanded playoff goals (vs NY Rangers)
Event of Interest
1983 US President Ronald Reagan signs $165 billion Social Security rescue
- 1984 Farewell concert of Dutch pop-ska band Doe Maar at Maasport in Den Bosch, Netherlands
- 1985 "Take Me Along!" opens/closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
- 1985 49th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Bernhard Langer wins by 2 strokes from Seve Ballesteros, Curtis Strange & Raymond Floyd; first German champion
- 1985 Ahmed Salah wins 1st World Cup marathon (2:08:09)
- 1985 Alan Garcia wins elections in Peru
- 1985 Bob Carpenter is unsuccessful on Washington Capitals 1st playoff penalty shot
- 1985 Jack C. Burcham is 5th to receive "Jarvik 7" permanent artificial heart
Academy of Country Music Awards
1986 21st Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, George Strait, and Reba McEntire win
Election of Interest
1986 Desmond Tutu elected Anglican Archbishop of Capetown, South Africa
- 1986 Double-decker ferry sinks in stormy weather in Bangladesh killing 200
- 1986 US aircraft attacks 5 terrorist locations in Libya
- 1987 Turkey asks to join European market
- 1988 Michael Rupert and Jerry Colker's musical "Mail" opens at Music Box Theater, NYC; runs for 37 performances
- 1988 NHL playoffs: New Jersey Devils win 6-5 over NY Islanders to take 1st round 4-2
- 1988 USSR, US, Pakistan & Afghanistan sign Afghanistan treaty
- 1989 1,100,000,000th Chinese born
Event of Interest
1989 In the Iran-Contra trial, Oliver North's case goes to the jury
- 1991 55th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Welshman Ian Woosnam wins his only major title, 1 stroke ahead of José María Olazábal; 4th straight year the Masters champion is from the UK
- 1991 Chic Blackhawks becomes 1st NHL regular season champion in 20 years to lose in 1st round of the playoffs (To Minn North Stars)
Theatrical Finale
1991 Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston's stage comedy "Mule Bone" closes at Ethel Barrymore Theater, NYC, after 68 performances
- 1992 "Les Miserables" opens at Palace Theatre, Manchester
- 1992 Court throws out Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft
Music Premiere
1992 Revival of Frank Loesser's musical "Guys & Dolls" starring Nathan Lane, opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 1143 performances, wins 4 Tony Awards
- 1992 UAW ends 5 month strike against Caterpillar Inc
- 1992 UN imposes embargo against Libya takes effect
- 1994 Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender after completion of his Seven Seals manuscript
Event of Interest
1994 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis operated on for a bleeding ulcer
- 1994 NJ Devils end best regular season, 47-25-12 record for 106 points
Film & TV History
1994 Turner Classic Movies cable channel launches; media mogul Ted Turner hosts ceremony in NYC's Times Square district at 6PM marking "the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City"
- 1994 US F-15 accidentally shoots 2 US helicopters down over Iraq, 26 die
- 1995 India beats Sri Lanka to win the Asia Cricket Cup final in Sharjah
- 1996 60th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Englishman Nick Faldo wins his 3rd Masters and 6th and final major title, 5 strokes ahead of Greg Norman of Australia
- 1996 Detroit Red Wings win NHL record 62 games
Theatrical Finale
1996 Trish Vradenburg's play "Apple Doesn't Fall.." directed by Leonard Nimoy opens and closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 1 performance
- 1999 A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$1.7 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history
- 1999 NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees - Yugoslav officials say 75 people are killed
- 2002 66th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Tiger Woods becomes the 3rd player to claim back-to-back Masters, 3 strokes ahead of Retief Goosen of South Africa
Event of Interest
2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military
- 2003 The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%
- 2003 U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the Achille Lauro in 1985
- 2005 The Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County
