Today in History

TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010

1204 _ Crusaders occupy Constantinople 1668 _ John Dryden (36) becomes first English poet laureate 1742 _ George Frederic Hendel's ``Messiah" performed for first time (Dublin) 1924 _ Greek plebiscite for a republic 1941 _ Russian-Japan no-attack treaty goes into effect 1943 _ Nazi's discover mass grave of Polish officers near Katyn 1961 _ U.N. General Assembly condemns South Africa for apartheid 1964 _ Sidney Poitier becomes first black man to win Oscar for best actor 1981 _ Washington Post's Janet Cooke wins Pulitzer Prize for ``Jimmy's World" (later admits story was a hoax and returns prize) 1992 _ Nelson Mandela announces he will seek divorce from Winnie

Apr 12, 2010

MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2010

Today is Monday, April 12, the 102nd day of 2010. There are 263 days left in the year. 1204 _ 4th Crusade occupies and plunders Constantinople 1654 _ England, Ireland and Scotland unite 1826 _ Weber's opera ``Oberon", premieres in London 1857 _ Gustave Flaubert's ``Madame Bovary" published 1919 _ British Parliament passes a 48-hour work week with minimum wages 1942 _ Japan kills about 400 Filipino officers in Bataan 1961 _ Douglas MacArthur declines offer to become baseball commissioner 1966 _ First B-52 bombing on North Vietnam 1988 _ Harvard University patents genetically engineered mouse (first for animal life) 1990 _ First meeting of East German democratically elected parliament, acknowledges responsibility for Nazi holocaust and asks for forgiveness

Apr 11, 2010

SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2010

Today is Friday, April 10, the 100th day of 2010. There are 265 days left in the year. 1516 _ First ghetto, Jews are compelled to live in specific area of Venice 1790 _ Robert Gray is first American to circumnavigate the Earth 1868 _ First performance of John Brahms' ``Ein german Requiem" 1896 _ Greek runner Spiridon Loues wins first modern Olympic marathon in Athens (2:58:50) 1923 _ Hitler demands ``hatred & more hatred" in Berlin 1925 _ F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes ``The Great Gatsby" 1930 _ Synthetic rubber first produced 1938 _ Austria becomes a state of Germany 1946 _ First election for Japanese Diet 1972 _ U.S., USSR and 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons

Apr 9, 2010

FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010

Today is Friday, April 9, the 99th day of 2010. There are 266 days left in the year. 1667 _ First public art exhibition (Palais Royal, Paris, France) 1770 _ Captain James Cook discovers Botany Bay (Australia) 1866 _ Civil Rights Bill passes over President Andrew Johnson's veto 1872 _ Samuel R. Percy patents dried milk 1912 _ Titanic leaves Queenstown Ireland for New York 1940 _ Germany invades Norway and Denmark during WWII (Denmark surrenders) 1963 _ Sir Winston Churchill proclaimed honorary U.S. citizen in White House ceremony 1965 _ India and Pakistan engage in border fight 1968 _ Martin Luther King Jr., buried in Atlanta, Ga. 1969 _ First flight of Concorde 002 (Filton-Bristol)

Apr 8, 2010

THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2010

Today is Thursday, April 8, the 98th day of 2010. There are 267 days left in the year. 1766 _ First fire escape patented, wicker basket on a pulley and chain 1781 _ Premiere of Mozart's violin sonata K379 1832 _ Charles Darwin begins trip through Rio de Janeiro 1913 _ Opening of China's first parliament takes place in Peking (now Beijing) 1916 _ Norway approves active and passive female suffrage 1946 _ League of Nations assembles for last time 1968 _ 40th Academy Awards postponed to April 10th due to death of Martin Luther King Jr. 1985 _ India files suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster 1988 _ Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, 52, was defrocked by the Assemblies of God following the disclosure of his involvement with a prostitute 1989 _ One-handed pitcher Jim Abbott debut but lasts only 4 2/3 innings

Apr 7, 2010

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010

Today is Wednesday, April 7, the 97th day of 2010. There are 268 days left in the year. 1805 _ Premiere of Beethoven's ``Eroica" (conducted by himself) 1923 _ Workers Party of America (NYC) becomes official communist party 1933 _ Prohibition ends, Utah becomes 38th state to ratify 21st Amendment 1934 _ In India, Mahatma Gandhi suspends his campaign of civil disobedience 1945 _ U.S. planes intercept Japanese fleet heading for Okinawa on a suicide mission; super-battleship Yamato and four destroyers are sunk 1948 _ World Health Organization established by U.N. 1954 _ President Dwight Eisenhower fears ``domino-effect" in Indo-China 1976 _ Chinese Politburo fires Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping 1980 _ Jimmy Carter breaks relations with Iran during hostage crisis 1988 _ Russia announces it will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan

Apr 6, 2010

TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010

Today is Tuesday, April 6, the 96th day of 2010. There are 269 days left in the year. 648 B.C. _ Earliest total solar eclipse; chronicled by Greeks 610 _ Lailat-ul Qadar, the night the Koran descended to Earth 1327 _ Italian poet Petrarch first sets eyes on his beloved Laura 1869 _ First plastic, Celluloid, patented 1906 _ First animated cartoon copyrighted 1909 _ North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson 1917 _ U.S. declares war on Germany, enters World War I 1924 _ Italian fascists receive 65 percent of vote of parliament 1980 _ ``Post-It" notes are introduced 1989 _ Orel Hershiser ends his record 59 consecutive scoreless streak

Apr 5, 2010

MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2010

Today is Monday, April 5, the 95th day of 2010. There are 270 days left in the year. 2348 B.C. _ Noah's ark grounded, Mount Ararat (calculated date) 1614 _ Indian princess Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe 1621 _ Mayflower sails from Plymouth on a return trip to England 1887 _ Anne Sullivan teaches ``water" to Helen Keller 1895 _ Oscar Wilde loses libel case against Marquess of Queensberry, who accused him of homosexual practices 1896 _ First modern Olympic Games officially open in Athens 1902 _ Soccer match riot between Scotland & England kills 25 1955 _ Winston Churchill resigns as British P.M., Anthony Eden succeeds him 1963 _ Beatles receive their first silver disc (Please Please Me) 2063 _ Earth's first contact by extra-terrestrials (Vulcan); according to Star Trek

Apr 4, 2010

SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 2010

Today is Saturday, April 3, the 93rd day of 2010. There are 272 days left in the year. 1657 _ English Lord Protector Cromwell refuses crown 1910 _ Highest mountain in North America, Alaska's Mt. McKinley, climbed 1922 _ Stalin appointed General Secretary of Communist Party 1941 _ Churchill warns Stalin of German invasion 1948 _ Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan ($5B aid to 16 European countries) 1968 _ North Vietnam agrees to meet U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks 1978 _ European market and China signs trade agreement 1982 _ U.N. Security Council demands Argentina's withdrawal from Falkland Islands 1986 _ U.S. national debt hits $2,000,000,000,000 1991 _ U.N. Security Council adopts Gulf War truce resolution

Apr 2, 2010

FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2010

Today is Friday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2010. There are 273 days left in the year. 1800 _ First performance of Ludwig von Beethoven's 1st Symphony in C 1902 _ First motion picture theater opens (Los Angeles, Calif.) 1905 _ Cairo-Capetown railway opens 1917 _ President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany 1932 _ Charles Lindbergh turns over $50,000 as ransom for kidnapped son 1958 _ National Advisory Council on Aeronautics renamed NASA 1970 _ Two men begin ascent of south face of Annapurna I, the highest final stage in a wall climb in the world 1973 _ CBS radio begins on hour news 24 hours a day 1982 _ Several thousand Argentine troops seize disputed Falkland (Malvinas) Islands 1992 _ Edith Cresson, France's first female premier, resigns

Apr 1, 2010

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