- 1124 David I becomes King of Scots
- 1518 Treaty of St Truiden: anti-French Trapdoors and Bourgondisch covenant
- 1522 Battle of Bicocca: a combined French and Venetian force is decisively defeated by a Spanish-Imperial and Papal army
- 1539 Re-founding of the city of Bogotá, New Granada (nowadays Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar.
- 1565 1st Spanish settlement in Philippines forms at Cebu City
- 1576 Peace of Beaulieu and Paix de Monsieur
- 1578 Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favorites of Henry III of France and two favorites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
- 1643 Tirso de Molina's "Bellaco Sois, Gomez" premieres in Madrid
Historic Publication
1667 Blind and impoverished, English poet John Milton sells the copyright of "Paradise Lost" for £10
John Milton
- 1694 Frederik August I "the Strong" becomes monarch of Saksen
Notable Fireworks
1749 First performance of George Frideric Handel's Fireworks Music in Green Park, London
George Frideric Handel
Music Recording
1810 Ludwig van Beethoven composes his famous piano piece "Für Elise"
Ludwig van Beethoven
Palace of Westminster
1840 Foundation stone for new Palace of Westminster, London, laid by Sarah Barry wife of its architect Charles Barry
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Event of Interest
1860 Thomas Jackson is assigned to command Harpers Ferry
Stonewall Jackson
Event of Interest
1861 US President Abraham Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus (US Civil War)
Abraham Lincoln
- 1861 West Virginia secedes from Virginia after Virginia secedes from Union (US Civil War)
- 1863 Battle of Streight's raid: Tuscumbia to Cedar Bluff, AL
- 1865 Cornell University (Ithaca NY) is chartered
- 1865 Steamboat "SS Sultana" explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. Most were paroled Union POWs on their way home.
- 1867 Opera "Romeo et Juliette" is produced in Paris
- 1874 White League, Paramilitary white supremacist organization, forms
- 1877 Opera "Le Roi de Lahore" is produced in Paris
Event of Interest
1877 Rutherford B. Hayes removes Federal troops from LA, Reconstruction ends
Rutherford B. Hayes
- 1881 Pogroms against Russian Jews start in Elisabethgrad
- 1890 French troops under Capt Archinard occupy Oussebougou, West Sudan
- 1893 Richard "King Dick" Seddon succeeds John Balance as premier of New Zealand and leader of Liberal Party
- 1897 Grant's Tomb (famed of song & legend) dedicated
- 1903 1st Highlander (Yankee) shut-out, Philadelphia A's win 6-0
- 1903 Long Island's Jamaica Race Track opens
First Labour Government
1904 The Australian Labor Party under Prime Minister Chris Watson becomes the first Labor government in the world
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- 1905 World Exposition opens in Liège
- 1908 IV Summer (Modern) Olympic Games open in London
- 1909 Sultan of Turkey Abdul Hamid II is overthrown
- 1910 Belgian parliament rejects socialist motion for general voting rights
- 1910 Louis Botha and James Hertzog establish the moderate nationalists South African Party promising equality of Britons and Boers
- 1911 Following the resignation and death of William P. Frye, a compromise is reached to rotate the office of President pro tempore (for the time being) of the United States Senate
Event of Interest
1911 Indian passive resistance is suspended when General J.C. Smuts enters into negotiations with Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Event of Interest
1915 Counterattack launched by Turkish forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against allied troops
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
- 1916 The British renew their assault on the Irish Volunteer position in Mount Street; shelling also sets the buildings on fire
- 1918 Giants' 9-0 winning start & Dodgers' 0-9 losing streak are stopped
- 1920 Pogrom leader Petljoera declares Ukraine Independence
- 1920 Sweden takes the figure skating double at the Antwerp Olympics when Gillis Grafström wins his first of 3 consecutive men's gold medals; Magda Julin earlier wins the women's singles event
- 1921 Hadjememaar, [Corn de Gelder] elected in Amsterdam
- 1922 Fritz Lang's "Dr Mabuse, der Spieler" premieres in Berlin
- 1922 Yakut ASSR formed in Russian SFSR
- 1924 Antwerp soccer tie Belgium-Netherlands 1-1
- 1926 In the Giants' 9-8 win over Phillies, Mel Ott, 17, 1st appearance
- 1927 Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmery) created
- 1929 Ryder Cup Golf, Moortown GC: Great Britain beats US, 7-5 in bitterly cold and snowy conditions
- 1931 100°F (38°C), Pahala, Hawaii (state record)
- 1933 Karl Jansky reports reception of cosmic radio signal in Washington, D.C.
- 1933 Jessop & Son department store in Nottingham, England, acquired by John Lewis Partnership. The partnership's first shop outside London.
- 1935 Brussels World Exposition opens
- 1935 Yanks pull a 1st inning triple-play & beat Philadelphia A's 9-8
- 1937 1st US social security payment made
Heinrich Himmler
- 1941 German troops occupy Athens, Greece
- 1942 Belgian Jews are forced to wear stars
- 1942 Tornado destroys Pryor, Oklahoma, killing 100, injuring 300
- 1943 Lou Jansen & Jan Dieters, leaders of the illegal CPN party in Holland, arrested
- 1943 Soviet Union breaks contact with Polish government exiled in London
Event of Interest
1943 Witold Pilecki escapes from Auschwitz after having voluntarily been imprisoned there to gain information about the Holocaust
Witold Pilecki
Event of Interest
1945 Italian partisans capture Benito Mussolini at Dongo (Lake Como)
Benito Mussolini
- 1948 Arab legion attacks Gesher bridge on Jordan River
- 1950 "Tickets, Please" opens at Coronet Theater NYC for 245 performances
- 1950 South Africa passes Group Areas Act segregating races
- 1952 "4 Saints in 3 Acts" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 15 performances
- 1953 1st general elections in British Guyana, won by Jagans PPP
- 1953 Wrestler Freddie Blassie coins term "Pencil neck geek"
- 1956 Burma Premier U Nu's Volksliga voor Vrijheid loses election
Event of Interest
1956 Undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano, retires from the ring
Rocky Marciano
- 1959 "Today" show goes abroard 1st time (Paris France)
Event of Interest
1959 Mao Zedong resigns as Chairman of the PRC after the disastrous failure of the Great Leap Forward
Mao Zedong
Event of Interest
1960 South Korean President Syngman Rhee resigns
Syngman Rhee
- 1960 Togo (formerly French Togo) declares independence from French administration
- 1961 NASA launches Explorer 11 into Earth orbit to study gamma rays
- 1961 NFL officially recognizes Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio
- 1961 Sierra Leone declares independence from UK
- 1962 Arnold Wesker's "Chips with Everything" premieres in London
- 1962 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- 1963 "Jopie" Pengel forms government in Suriname
Event of Interest
1963 Cuban premier Fidel Castro arrives in Moscow
Fidel Castro
Historic Publication
1964 John Lennon's "In His Own Write" is published in US
John Lennon
Music Concert
1966 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 2nd Cello Concert
Dmitri Shostakovich
- 1967 Expo 67 opens in Montreal, Canada
- 1967 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1968 "Education of Hyman Kaplan" closes at Alvin NYC after 28 performances
- 1968 Baltimore Oriole Tom Phoebus no-hits Boston, 6-0
- 1968 Congress of Political Party Radicals (PPR) forms in Netherlands
- 1968 The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) hold a rally to protest the banning of a Republican Easter parade
- 1971 Curt Flood resigns Senators after 13 games & departs for Denmark
- 1972 Apollo 16 returns to Earth
- 1972 NYC Mayor John Lindsey appeals that John Lennon not be deported
- 1973 KC Royal Steve Busby no-hits Detroit Tigers, 3-0
- 1974 Pan Am 707 crashes into mountains of Bali, killing 107
- 1975 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1976 "So Long 174th St" opens at Harkness Theater NYC for 16 performances
- 1976 Arabic Monetary Fund established in Abu Dhabi
- 1977 Bloody riots in Soweto, South Africa
- 1977 HCC, Hobby Computer Club, forms in Netherlands
- 1977 28 people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.
- 1978 14th Mayor's Trophy Game, Yanks beat Mets 4-3 in 11
- 1978 Cooling tower collaspes at a coal-fired power plant at Willow Island, West Virginia, kills 51
- 1978 Afghanistan revolution (National Day), pro-Russian military coup
Event of Interest
1979 George Harrison releases "Love Comes to Everyone"
George Harrison
Event of Interest
1981 Paul McCartney's solo rock band Wings disbands
Paul McCartney
Ronald Reagan is Shot
1982 Trial of John W Hinckley Jr attempted assassin of Reagan, begins
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- 1982 NFL Draft: University of Texas defensive end Kenneth Sims first pick by New England Patriots
Baseball Record
1983 Nolan Ryan becomes strikeout king (3,509), passing Walter Johnson
Nolan Ryan
Walter Johnson
Pripyat: Nuclear Wasteland
1986 Soviet authorities order the evacuation of the city of Pripyat (pop. 50,000) 1 day after the Chernobyl nuclear accident
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- 1987 US Justice Department bars Austrian Chancellor Kurt Waldheim from entering US, due to his aid of Nazi Germany during WW II
- 1989 "Starmites" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 60 performances
- 1989 Beijing students take over Tiananmen Square in China
- 1989 Hurricane in Bangladesh kills 500
- 1989 Mandatory seatbelt law goes into effect in Italy
- 1990 50th annual barbershop quartet singing convention held (Mich)
- 1990 Dodger Orel Hershiser undergoes career-threatening shoulder surgery
- 1990 Villanova's women set a 6,000 m relay world record of 17:18:10
- 1991 "Lucifer's Child" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 28 performances
- 1991 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by David Ozio
- 1992 "Small Family Business" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 48 performances
- 1992 NY Mets trade David Cone to Toronto Blue Jays for Jeff Kent
- 1992 The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed
- 1992 Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history.
- 1993 Afghan Antonov AN-32 crashes at Tashqurgan, kills 76
- 1994 "An Inspector Calls" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 454 performances
- 1994 29.0°C in Genevad, Sweden (Swedish April high temperature record)
- 1994 7th longest NHL game at 125 min 43 sec: Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey Devils 1-0 on a goal by Dave Hannan
- 1994 Graeme Obree bicycles world record time (52,713 km)
Event of Interest
1994 Former US President Richard Nixon buried in Nixon Library in California
Richard Nixon
- 1994 Twins righty Scott Erickson no-hits Brewers 6-0
- 1994 Freedom Day: day 2 of South Africa's 1st multi-racial elections and day most voted - some queuing for 10 hours
- 1995 "Indiscretions" opens at Ethel Barrymore Theater NYC for 221 performances
- 1996 Brunswick World Tournament of Champions won by Dave D'Entremont
- 1997 "Little Foxes" opens at Vivian Beaumont NYC for 56 performances
- 1997 "Stanley" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC
- 1997 Frank Nobilo wins Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic at Forest Oaks
- 2002 The last successful telemetry from the NASA space probe Pioneer 10
- 2005 The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France
- 2006 Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City
- 2007 Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.
- 2011 The deadliest day of the 2011 Super outbreak of tornadoes, the largest tornado outbreak, in United States history.
Event of Interest
2011 U.S. President Barack Obama, coerced by incessant false "birther" accusations, publicly releases a copy of his birth certificate
Barack Obama
Music Single
2014 Ariana Grande's first single from her second debut album, "Problem" featuring Iggy Azalea, is released
Ariana Grande
Event of Interest
2014 "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" late-night talk and news show fronted by John Oliver premieres on HBO
John Oliver
- 2017 NFL Draft: Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett first pick by Cleveland Browns
Summit of Interest
2018 Historic Korean summit, the North's Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in of South Korea agree to officially end Korean war and rid peninsula of nuclear weapons
Kim Jong-un
- 2018 Swedish band ABBA announce they have recorded new songs for the first time since 1982
Event of Interest
2018 German leader Angela Merkel has a 1-day trip to Washington meeting US President Donald Trump
Angela Merkel
Donald Trump
Event of Interest
2019 Pope Francis donates $500,000 for migrants stranded in Mexico trying to reach the US
Pope Francis
- 2019 Shooter opens fire in a synagogue in Poway, California, killing one and injuring three
April in History
Oscar Wilde Presses Self-Destruct Button
When Oscar Wilde sued the Marquess of Queensberry for libel over a sodomite slur, he opened the door to social and financial ruin that would lead to his death.
April 26, 1895Record-Breaking Sheila, the High-Flying Aviator
The Sky's was the limit for Sheila Scott who made three solo flights around the world and was the first pilot, male or female, to fly over the North Pole.
April 27, 1922Great Sacrifice of a Plague-Ridden Village
William Mompesson, a clergyman born on this day, created a legend when he persuaded the people in a plague-ridden village to sacrifice their lives to save others.
April 28, 1639WR Hearst – The Master of Fake News
Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst was a towering figure of his age. Immensely wealthy, he believed he had unlimited influence, even on matters of war.
April 29, 1863
