Victory in Battle
46 BC Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus.
Julius Caesar
Event of Interest
774 Charles the Great (Charlemagne) confirmed the gift to the Pope of the territories belonging to Ravenna made by his father Pepin the Short at Quiercy-sur-Loire in 753
Charlemagne
- 1320 The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath
- 1327 Italian poet Petrarch 1st sets eyes on his beloved Laura
- 1362 Tard-Venus robber bands strike at Brignais, France
- 1385 John, Master of the Order of Aviz, is made King John I of Portugal
- 1634 Heeren XIX (the directors of the Dutch West India Company) ask "to secure Eylands Curacao"
Cape Colony Founded
1652 Cape Colony, the 1st European settlement in South Africa, established by Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck
Learn More >>
Event of Interest
1663 King Charles II signs Carolina Charter
Charles II
Event of Interest
1722 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, ends tax on men with beards
Peter the Great
Event of Interest
1724 Thomas Pelham-Holles becomes British Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thomas Pelham-Holles
- 1727 Denmark signs Covenant of Hannover
Event of Interest
1757 British King George II dismisses minister William Pitt the Elder, Secretary of State for the Southern Department
William Pitt the Elder
George II
- 1782 Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Siam (modern day Thailand), who is overthrown in a coup d'état
Event of Interest
1808 John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company
John Jacob Astor
- 1815 British militia shoots prisoners, 100's killed
Event of Interest
1830 Joseph Smith & 5 others organize Mormon church in Seneca Co, NY
Joseph Smith Jr
- 1841 Cornerstone laid for 2nd Mormon temple, Nauvoo, Illinois
Appointment of Interest
1843 William Wordsworth is appointed British Poet Laureate by Queen Victoria
William Wordsworth
Queen Victoria
- 1848 Jews of Prussia granted equality
- 1859 US recognizes Liberal government in Mexico's War of Reform
- 1860 Joseph Smith III, creates the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by reorganizing the previous church organized by his father, Joseph Smith, Jr.
- 1862 Battle of Shiloh, Union defeats Confederacy near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee
- 1865 Battle of Sayler's Creek, fought near Farmville, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign), 1/4 of Lee's army cut off, Union victory (US Civil War)
- 1865 Battle of High Bridge, fought near Farmville, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
- 1866 Grand Army of the Republic forms in Decatur, Illinois, by Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson
- 1886 City of Vancouver BC incorporated
- 1886 Declaration of Berlin neutralizes Tonga
- 1890 French troops under capt Archinard occupy Segu, West-Sudan
- 1893 Andy Bowen & Jack Burke box 7 hrs 19 mins to no decision (111 rounds)
- 1893 Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City dedicated
- 1903 General railroad strike against "worgwetten" (anti-strike laws)
- 1903 The Kishinev pogrom in Bessarabia begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Israel and the Western world.
- 1903 In Holland, railroad and dock workers go out on strike, but the government passes anti-strike bills, calls out troops, and promptly ends the strike on the 13th April
- 1905 Germany receives invitation from Sultan of Morocco to an international conference to discuss matters relating to Morocco
- 1909 1st credit union forms in US
- 1909 North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary & Matthew Henson
- 1912 Electric starter 1st appeared in cars
- 1914 American Radio Relay League (organization for hams) founded
- 1916 German parliament approves unrestricted submarine warfare
- 1917 US declares war on Germany, enters World War I
- 1919 Bavaria proclaims itself a soviet republic
Mahatma Gandhi
- 1920 To force German evacuation of the Ruhr area, the French occupy Frankfurt, Darmstadt, and Hanau
- 1923 The first Prefects Board in Southeast Asia is formed in Victoria Institution, Malaysia
- 1924 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight
- 1924 Italy fascists receives 65% of vote of parliament
- 1924 Völkische Block (Nazis) receives 17.8% of vote in Bavaria
- 1925 1st film shown on an airplane (British Air)
- 1930 1st transcontinental glider tow completed
- 1930 Hostess Twinkies invented by bakery executive James Dewar
- 1931 1st Scottsboro (Alabama) trial begins - 9 blacks accused of rape
- 1934 418 Lutheran ministers arrested in Germany
- 1936 ANP begins telex service in Amsterdam
- 1936 Tornado, kills 203 & injuring 1,800 in Gainesville Georgia
- 1938 Teflon invented by Roy J. Plunkett
- 1939 Great Britain & Poland sign military pact
- 1939 US & UK agree on joint control of Canton & Enderbury Is (Pacific)
- 1941 Beginning of operation Bestrafung - German bombers attack Belgrade (17,000 die)
- 1941 British major general Michael Gambier-Parry captured in North Africa
- 1941 German bombardment of Piraeus (munitions ship explodes)
- 1941 Italian forces holding Addis Ababa surrender to British & Ethiopian forces
- 1943 British & US armies link up in Africa during WW II
- 1943 British offensive at Wadi Akarit, South Tunisia
- 1943 Lou Jansen, leader of illegal Dutch political party (CPN) arrested
- 1944 Jewish nursery at Izieu-Ain, France, overrun by Nazis
- 1945 Coevorden freed from Nazis
- 1945 Giant Japanese battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa
- 1945 Massive kamikaze attack on US battle fleet near Okinawa
- 1945 US marines explore Tsugen Shima near Okinawa
Event of Interest
1947 1st Tony Awards: Arthur Miller, David Wayne & Patricia Neal win for theatrical achievements
Arthur Miller
Event of Interest
1950 John Foster Dulles becomes advisor to US Secretary of State Acheson
John Foster Dulles
- 1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
- 1955 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1955 Yemen: failed coup by Abdullah Seif el-Islam
- 1956 Polish communist Gomulka freed from prison
- 1957 NYC ends trolley car service
- 1957 USSR performs nuclear test (atmospheric tests)
- 1964 Egypt & Belgium restore diplomatic relations
- 1965 Intelsat 1 ("Early Bird") 1st commercial geosynchronous communications satellite launched
- 1966 Mihir Sen swims Palk Strait between Sri Lanka & India
Event of Interest
1967 Premier Georges Pompidou forms new French government
Georges Pompidou
- 1968 94.5% of East German voters approve new socialist constitution
- 1968 Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Dave Davis
- 1968 HemisFair 1968 opens in San Antonio, Texas
- 1968 Gas and gunpowder explosions at sporting goods store, downtown Richmond, Indiana, kills 41 and injures more than 150
Event of Interest
1971 During a debate at Westminster on Northern Ireland, Harold Wilson of the Labour Party claimes that a draft Bill for the imposition of direct rule exists
Harold Wilson
- 1972 Egypt drops diplomatic relations with Jordan
- 1972 The Scarman Tribunal Report, an inquiry into the causes of violence during the summer of 1969 in N Ireland, is published, finding that the Royal Ulster Constabulary had been seriously at fault
- 1973 Dock strike in Gent/Antwerp, Belgium
- 1973 Indian troops invade Sikkim
- 1973 America launches the Pioneer 11 (Pioneer G) probe to study Jupiter & Saturn
- 1973 Yankee Ron Blomberg becomes 1st designated hitter, he walks
- 1974 Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Earl Anthony 11/16
- 1974 Yankees 1st home game at Shea Stadium, beat Indians 6-1
- 1975 Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand Junction, Colorado
- 1975 Fastest hat trick by a Wash Cap 3 mins 26 secs (Stan Gilbertson)
- 1978 Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh by inn & 193 to win Ranji Trophy
- 1980 Post It Notes introduced
- 1981 Yugoslav government sends troops to Kosovo
- 1981 Belgian government of Mark Eyskens forms
- 1982 Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center from White Sands
- 1984 11th Space Shuttle Mission (41-C)-Challenger 5 is launched
- 1984 1st time 11 people in space
- 1984 Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.
- 1985 Bombay beat Delhi by 90 runs to win the Ranji Trophy final
- 1985 Sudan suspends constitution after coup under general Swarreddahab
- 1985 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1987 Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler
- 1988 African American polar explorer Matthew Henson buried next to R Peary in Arlington National Cemetery
- 1989 Orel Hershiser ends his record 59 consecutive scoreless streak
- 1991 NY-NJ Knights 1st home game (Giants Stadium) lose to Frankfurt 27-17
- 1991 Subhana, becomes 1st Australian woman to become a Zen teacher
- 1992 British Radio Authority licenses Virgin & TV-AM radio licenses
- 1992 Microsoft announced Windows 3.1, upgrading Windows 3.0
- 1992 Oriole Park at Camden Yards opens, beating Cleveland 2-0
- 1992 US Supreme Court rules a Nebraska farmer was entrapped by postal agents into buying mail-order child pornography
- 1992 Voting begins on choice of Elvis postage stamps
- 1992 A general strike is declared by communist groups in Nepal.
- 1993 1st test flight of Ilyushin IL-96M (Moscow)
- 1994 1st scheduled Indians night game at Jacobs Field is rained out
- 1994 Liberal Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun (Roe v Wade) resigns
- 1994 Palestinian suicide bomber kills 7 Israelis & himself
- 1994 Rockwell B-1B Lancers break 11 world speed records
Assassination
1994 Rwandan Genocide begins with the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira with their plane being shot down by surface-to-air missiles, abruptly ending peace negotiations. Those responsible have never been identified.
Juvénal Habyarimana
Event of Interest
2005 Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes the Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day
Jalal Talabani
- 2006 NZSL (New Zealand sign language) is made an official language of New Zealand
- 2009 A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing at least 253.
- 2012 US F-18 Hornet crashes into side of apartment building in Virginia with no fatalities
- 2013 22 people are killed and 60 are injured by a suicide bombing at an election campaign tent in Baquba, Iraq
- 2013 11 people are killed in an attack on a village in Midlu, Nigeria
- 2013 Bayern Munich win their 23rd German Bundesliga title with 6 games to spare
- 2014 Viktor Orbán's Fidesz is re-elected Prime Minister of Hungary
Election of Interest
2016 US primary elections: Wisconsin won by Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Ted Cruz
Bernie Sanders
- 2016 France passes legistration making it illegal to pay for sex
Event of Interest
2016 Protests in Lima, Peru by 30,000 against presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori on 24th anniversary of her father Alberto Fujimori's coup
Alberto Fujimori
- 2016 First baby born with DNA from 3 parents through mitochondrial transfer in Mexico
Event of Interest
2017 Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Florida for talks with US President Donald Trump
Xi Jinping
Donald Trump
- 2018 Canadian Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team involved in a bus crash outside Tisdale, Saskatchewan that kills 16
- 2019 First ever "Marsquake" seismic event on planet Mars detected by NASA's InSight lander
April in History
The Computer That Came By Truck
It didn't have the sleek lines that Steve Jobs would admire and it needed to be carried on a truck, but the computer age had finally arrived in rural England.
April 3, 1957Lionheart Richard, The Stranger King
Richard the Lionheart, Robin Hood’s king is considered one of the great English monarchs. Yet he cost his country a fortune and barely lived there.
April 6, 1199The Man Who Sold His Wife
Most modern readers believe Thomas Hardy was plunging into deep fiction when he wrote about a man selling his wife in, The Mayor of Casterbridge. He wasn't.
April 7, 1832Step Aboard the Titanic – Las Vegas Style
Even by Las Vegas standards it was controversial, a $1.2 billion recreation of the doomed Titanic, along with the iceberg that caused its destruction.
April 8, 1999
