- 753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)
Battle of Mutina
43 BC Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.
- 953 Otto I the Great gives Utrecht fishing rights
- 1104 Dedication of the transept and choir of Abbey of Ste Madeleine Vezelay, France, a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture and an important place of pilgrimage
- 1420 Treaty of Saint Maartens Dike
- 1453 Turkish fleet sinks ships Golden Receiver in Constantinople
Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe
1486 Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe proclaimed by Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon, frees the Catalan remensa peasants
- 1521 Battle at Villalar: Emperor Charles I beats Communards
First Battle of Panipat
1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India
Downfall of Anne Boleyn
1536 Thomas Cromwell begins to plot Anne Boleyn's downfall while feigning illness
- 1572 France & England sign anti-Spanish military covenant
- 1600 1st date in James Clavell's novel Shogun (OS)
- 1649 Maryland Toleration Act passed in the American colony, allowing freedom of worship for Christians but sentencing to death anyone who rejected the divinity of Jesus
- 1654 England & Sweden sign trade agreement
- 1739 Spain & Naples-Austria sign peace accord
Charter to the Nobility
1785 Catherine II of Russia confers on the nobility the "Charter to the Nobility", increasing further the power of the landed oligarchs
John Adams Sworn In
1789 John Adams sworn in as 1st US Vice President (9 days before Washington)
Tiradentes is Executed
1792 Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro
- 1794 NYC formally declares coast of Ellis Island publicly owned, so they can build forts to protect NYC from British
- 1818 Franz Grillparzer's "Sappho" premieres in Vienna
Electromagnetism
1820 Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted is the first to identify electromagnetism, when he observes a compass needle
- 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, Texas wins independence from Mexico
- 1855 1st train crosses Mississippi River's 1st bridge, from Rock Island, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa
- 1857 Alexander Douglas patents the bustle
- 1862 Congress establishes US Mint in Denver, Colorodo
- 1862 Ellen Price Wood's "East Lynne" premieres in Boston
- 1863 Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, enters garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days spent there
Lincoln's Funeral Train
1865 Abraham Lincoln's funeral train leaves Washington
- 1878 First Lady Lucy Hayes begins egg rolling contest on White House lawn
- 1878 NY installs 1st firehouse pole
Theater Premiere
1894 George Bernard Shaw's play "Arms and the Man" premieres in London becoming his first public success
- 1898 Phillies' pitcher Bill Duggleby hits a grand slam on 1st at bat
Spain Declares War Against the United States
1898 Spanish–American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain
- 1902 6th Boston Marathon won by Sam Mellor in 2:43:12
- 1905 The elective assembly of Crete proclaims union with Greece
- 1908 American polar explorer Frederick Cook claims to have been the 1st person reach North Pole on this date (disputed)
- 1910 Cleveland Naps play 1st game at League Park, lose to Detroit Tigers 5-0
- 1913 17th Boston Marathon won by Fritz Carlson in 2:25:14.8
- 1913 German passenger ship Imperator runs aground
- 1914 US marines occupy Vera Cruz, a major Mexican port; they will stay for 6 months
- 1916 The Aud, carrying a cargo of 20,000 rifles to assist Irish republicans in staging what would become the 1916 Rising, is captured by the British Navy and forced to sail towards Cork Harbour
- 1916 Ulster Protestant and Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement lands at Tralee Bay, Ireland from a German submarine; discovered at McKenna's Fort and arrested by the Royal Irish Constabulary
Red Baron Shot Down
1918 World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen "The Red Baron", shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France, Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown credited with the kill
Boston Marathon
1924 28th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar for the third consecutive year in 2:29:40.2; 4th race victory
- 1925 Chuvash Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Chuvash ASSR
- 1925 No baseball games played in NL due to Charles Ebbets' funeral
Music History
1925 Noël Coward's "Fallen Angels" premieres in London
Film Release
1928 "The Passion of Joan of Arc", directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti and Eugène Silvain, is released in Denmark
- 1930 "All Quiet on the Western Front" based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Louis Wolheim and Lew Ayres premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Outstanding Production 1930)
- 1930 34th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in 2:34:48.2; his 7th victory in the event
- 1930 Fire at Ohio State Penitentiary kills 322
Election of Interest
1933 German philosopher Martin Heidegger elected rector of University of Freiburg
- 1934 Moe Berg, Senators catcher, plays AL record 117th cons errorless game
- 1935 King Boris of Bulgaria forbids all political parties
- 1940 1st $64 Question, "Take It or Leave It," on CBS Radio
- 1941 WWII: Greece surrenders to Nazi Germany
- 1944 NFL Chic Cardinals & Pittsburgh Steelers merge (dissolves on Dec 3)
- 1945 Ivor Novello's "Perchance to Dream" premieres in London
- 1945 WWII: Allied forces conquer Ie Shima, Okinawa in 5 days; 5,000 die
- 1945 WWII: Allied troops occupy German nuclear laboratory in Haigerloch
- 1945 WWII: Soviet army arrives at outskirts of Berlin, Germany
- 1945 WWII: US 7th Army reaches Nuremberg, Germany
- 1946 Socialistic Einheitspartei Germany forms in East Germany
- 1947 51st Boston Marathon won by Yun Bok Soh of Korea in 2:25:39; world best time
- 1948 Basketball Association of America Finals: Baltimore Bullets beat Philadelphia Warriors, 88-73 to take series, 4 games to 2
- 1951 NBA Championship: Rochester Royals beat New York Knicks, 79-75 to take series 4 games to 3; first Finals appearance for both teams
- 1951 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 for a 4-1 series victory
- 1952 56th Boston Marathon won by Doroteo Flores of Guatemala in 2:31:53
- 1952 BOAC begins 1st passenger service with jets (London-Rome route)
- 1952 Secretaries' Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated
- 1954 USAF flies French battalion to Vietnam
- 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers win, then record 10th straight game to begin a season
- 1955 J Lawrence & R E Lee's "Inherit the Wind" premieres in NYC
- 1955 Minas Gerais Argentina tunnel caves in; 30 die
#1 in the Charts
1956 Elvis Presley's 1st hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel", becomes #1
- 1958 62nd Boston Marathon won by Franjo Mihalić of Yugoslavia in 2:25:54
- 1959 Alf Dean using a rod & reel hooks a 2,664lb, 16' 10" great white shark off the coast of Ceduna, Australia
- 1960 Brasilia becomes capital of Brazil
- 1960 Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, D.C.
- 1961 Dirk Stikker chosen as secretary general of NATO
- 1961 French army revolts in Algeria
- 1961 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 32,000 m
- 1962 9th National Film Awards (India): "Bhagini Nivedita" wins the Golden Lotus
- 1962 Century 21 Exposition opens in Seattle, Washington
Music History
1963 Beatles meet The Rolling Stones for the 1st time
Event of Interest
1966 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie visits Kingston, Jamaica
- 1967 Dodgers 1st rain out in Los Angeles (after 737 consecutive games)
- 1967 Evangelical Broadcasting begins in Netherlands
- 1967 Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Allilueva arrives in New York City after defecting to the US
- 1967 Military coup in Greece, Konstantinos Kollias becomes premier
- 1968 22nd Tony Awards: "Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (play) & "Hallelujah, Baby!" (musical) win
- 1969 73rd Boston Marathon: Yoshiaki Unetani of Japan wins in 2:13:49; American Sara Mae Berman 1st woman in 3:22:46 (unsanctioned)
- 1969 The Ministry of Defence in London announces that British troops would be used in Northern Ireland to guard key public installations following a series of bombings
- 1970 Reds clout 7 HRs by 6 batters, Braves counter with 3 HRs, 6 for one team & 9 different batters for two teams, all tie or set records
- 1970 The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) is formed; it attempts to appeal to Catholics and Protestant to unite in support of moderate policies
- 1970 The Principality of Hutt River (previously Hutt River Province) secedes from Australia - it remains unrecognised by Australia or other nations
- 1971 Original Codex Reguis (with Edda-liederen) returns to Iceland
- 1972 John Young & Charles Duke explores the Moon as part of mission Apollo 16
- 1972 Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 4 (Copernicus) launched
Television Premiere
1974 "Julie and Dick In Covent Garden", music and comedy special starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with Carl Reiner, premieres on ABC-TV
- 1974 28th Tony Awards: "The River Niger" (play) & "Raisin" (musical) win
Boston Marathon
1975 79th Boston Marathon: American Bill Rodgers wins men's section in race record 2:09:55; Liane Winter of West Germany women's champion in 2:42:24 (female world record)
Event of Interest
1975 Last South Vietnam President Nguyen Van Thieu resigns after 10 years
- 1976 Swine Flu vaccine, for non-epidemic, enters testing
- 1976 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Sports History
1977 Billy Martin pulls Yankee line-up out of a hat, beats Blue Jays 8-6
- 1977 C Strouse & M Charnin's musical "Annie" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 2377 performances
- 1977 Zia ur-Rahman appointed president of Bangladesh
Musical Finale
1979 Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner's musical "Carmelina", based on the 1968 film "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell", closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 17 performances
- 1980 84th Boston Marathon: Bill Rodgers wins 3rd straight event and 4th overall title in 2:12:11; Jacqueline Gareau of Canada women's winner in 2:34:28; Rosie Ruiz disqualified for not running the entire course
- 1980 Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WWWW Detroit Mich
- 1981 US furnish $1 billion in arms to Saudi-Arabia
- 1982 Atlanta Braves win their 13th straight game
- 1982 Dr Michael E Bakey performs 1st successful heart implant
- 1982 Dutch Queen Beatrice addresses US Congress
- 1983 1 pound coin introduced in United Kingdom
- 1984 "Nightline" reverts from 1 hour to ½ hour format
Music History
1984 After 37 weeks Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" is knocked off as top album by movie soundtrack for "Footloose"
- 1984 Centers for Disease Cont says virus discovered in France causes AIDS
- 1984 Franz Weber of Austria skis downhill at a record 209.8 kph
- 1984 Montreal Expo David Palmer no-hits St Louis Cards, 4-0 in a perfect 5 inn game
- 1985 Bomb attacks in NATO/AEG-Telefunken building in Brussels
- 1985 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway wins London Marathon in race record 2:21:06
- 1986 90th Boston Marathon: Rob de Castella first Australian winner in 2:07:51; Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway claims women's title in 2:24:55
- 1986 Bob Hering sets Formula One power boat record (165.338 mph, Ariz)
Film & TV History
1986 Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on live TV and finds nothing, except great ratings for his spectacle
- 1987 Brewers lose, ending AL season-opening winning streak at 13 games
- 1987 Dow Jones Average soared 664.7; 2nd biggest one-day gain in history
- 1987 Milwaukee Brewers lose after 13th straight victory to start season
Cricket History
1987 Richard Hadlee makes highest Test Cricket score of 151* (v Sri Lanka)
- 1987 Tamil bomb attack in Colombo Sri Lanka, 115 killed
- 1988 1st four-day games in County Cricket Championship commence
Music Recording
1988 Barbra Streisand records "You'll Never Know"
Sports History
1989 George W. Bush and Edward W. Rose become joint CEOs of the Texas Rangers
- 1989 Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing's Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom
- 1990 "Cartoon All Stars to Rescue" shown on all 4 TV networks
- 1990 MLB Cincinnati Reds win, running their record to 9-0, best start in club history
- 1990 National League umpire is arrested for stealing baseball cards
- 1991 French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio discovers the San Diego, Dutch galleon sunk in 1600 off Fortune Island in the Philippines
- 1991 Greatest extra-inning comeback, Pitts scores 6 in bottom of 11th erasing 5 run Cub lead, Pirates also trailed 7-2 in bottom of 9th
- 1991 Jakov Tolstikov wins 4th World Cup marathon (2:09:17)
- 1991 NFL Draft: University of Miami defensive tackle Russell Maryland first pick by Dallas Cowboys
Senior PGA Championship
1991 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Jack Nicklaus wins his 4th of 8 Champions Tour majors by 6 strokes from Bruce Crampton of Australia
Music Premiere
1992 Allen Toussaint's musical revue "High Rollers Social & Pleasure Club" opens at the Helen Hayes Theater, NYC; runs for 13 performances.
- 1992 Mobil Oil tug with 12,000 gallons of oil run aground in Arthur Kill (a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York City from mainland New Jersey, USA)
- 1992 Robert Alton Harris is put to death in the California Gas Chamber for 3 murders
- 1993 "Wilder, Wilder, Wilder" opens at Circle in Sq NYC for 30 performances
Television Debut
1993 Action TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger" starring Chuck Norris debuts on CBS
- 1993 Brazil votes against a monarchy
Baseball Record
1994 Eddie Murray sets record for switch hit HRs in a games (11 times)
- 1994 Revival of William Inge's stage drama "Picnic" opens at Criterion Theater, NYC; runs for 45 performances
- 1994 Serbian army bombs distress clinic in Goradze Bosnia, 28 killed
- 1994 The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan
- 1995 Boston Celtics final regular season game at Boston Garden, NY Knicks win 98-92
- 1995 British sitcom "Father Ted" written by Arthur Mathews & Graham Linehan, starring Dermot Morgan premieres on Channel 4
Event of Interest
1995 FBI arrests Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing case; He is indicted on 160 state offenses and 11 federal offenses, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction [1]
- 1996 "Delicate Balance" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC
- 1996 Chicago Bulls win NBA record 72 games (72-8)
- 1996 Matabeleland beat Mashonaland Country Dist to win Logan Cup
- 1996 Senior PGA Championship, PGA National GC: Hale Irwin beats Japan’s Isao Aoki by 2 strokes for his first of 4 Senior PGA Championships
- 1996 Wayne James scores 99 & 99 & ct 11 stp 2 in Logan Cup Final
- 1997 101st Boston Marathon: Lameck Aguta of Kenya wins men's event in 2:10:34; Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia women's champion in 2:26:23
- 1997 Ashes of Timothy Leary & "Star trek" creator Gene Roddenberry launched into space orbit
- 1997 I. K. Gujral sworn in as Prime Minister of India
- 2001 NFL Draft: Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick first pick by Atlanta Falcons
- 2002 48th British Academy Television Awards: "The Sketch Show" Best Comedy, "Cold Feet" Best Drama
Boston Marathon
2003 107th Boston Marathon: Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya men's champion in 2:10:11; Svetlana Zakharova of Russia women's winner in 2:25:19
CMT Music Awards
2004 38th CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards: Toby Keith, Shania Twain & Kenny Chesney win
Music Concert
2004 Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, and Little Jimmy Scott
- 2008 112th Boston Marathon: 3rd straight men's title for Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya in 2:07:45; Dire Tune of Ethiopia women's winner in 2:25:25
- 2008 The United States Air Force retires the F-117 Nighthawk stealth surface-attack aircraft
Film Premiere
2010 "Shrek Forever After" directed by Mike Mitchell with voices by Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival
- 2012 Chicago White Sox pitcher, Philip Humber, pitches the 21st MLB perfect game against the Seattle Mariners
- 2012 Two trains in Sloterdijk, Netherlands, injure 117 people in a head on collision
- 2013 185 people are killed in a conflict between Islamic extremists and the Nigerian military
- 2013 Horacio Cartes is elected President of Paraguay
- 2013 Tsegaye Kebede and Priscah Jeptoo win the 2013 London Marathon
- 2014 118th Boston Marathon: American Meb Keflezighi men's champion in 2:08:37; Rita Jeptoo of Kenya wins her 2nd women's title in 2:18:57
Event of Interest
2016 US President Barack Obama begins a 4 day visit to the UK with Michelle Obama
Event of Interest
2019 Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at a Extinction Rebellion protest in London amid city-wide climate protests where Waterloo Bridge was occupied over four days
- 2019 Terror attacks on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday in three Sri Lankan cities, Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa kill at least 253 and injure hundreds
Election of Interest
2019 Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky wins the country's presidential election in a landslide
- 2020 At least 25,000 extra people across 11 countries have died during COVID-19 pandemic that were not previously counted according to new mortality figures
