1865-U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington; he dies a day later
1912-RMS Titanic, the world's largest ocean liner, hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland, sinks in the early hours of April 15
1914-Dr. Harry Plotz isolates the bacteria that causes Typhus Fever at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City
1935-Black Sunday dust storm ravages the US Midwest, leading to the region being named the "Dust Bowl"
1981-The first Space Shuttle, Columbia 1, returns to Earth after 2 days and 6 hours in space
2003 -The Human Genome Project is completed with 99 percent of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99 percent