Today is Tuesday, April 19, the 109th day of 2011. There are 256 days left in the year.
607 ― Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1529 ― Second Parliament of Spiers bans Lutheranism
1770 ― Captain James Cook first sees Australia
1919 ― Leslie Irvin of U.S. makes first parachute jump and free fall
1932 ― President Herbert Hoover suggests five-day workweek
1933 ― FDR announces U.S. will leave the gold standard
1951 ― General Douglas MacArthur ends his military career
1967 ― Beatles sign a contract to stay together for 10 years (they don't)
1982 ― Sally Ride announced as first woman astronaut
1984 ― Nemesis, death star of dinosaurs, first appears in print (Nature magazine)