1457 BC Battle of Megiddo: Egyptian forces of Thutmose III defeat a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh. First battle recorded with a reliable account.
- 1178 BC A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War
- 73 Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt
- 556 Pelagius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
- 1071 Bari falls to Robert Guiscard's Norman forces, ending Byzantine rule in Italy
- 1245 Franciscan envoys Giovanni da Pian del Carpine and Benedict to Pole depart Lyon on first Catholic mission to the Mongols. Carpine returns 1247 as first European with account of a Mongolian court
- 1346 The Serbian Empire is proclaimed in Skopje at an Easter assembly and Stephen Uroš IV Dušan crowned Emperor over much of the Balkans
- 1395 Azzo X d'Este is defeated at the Battle of Portomaggiore by Venetian-Ferrarese troops
French Army Enters Alps
1509 French army under Louis XII enters the Alps
- 1582 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta in Argentina
Battle of Culloden
1746 Battle of Culloden: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart in the final battle of the Jacobite Rising on British soil
- 1780 The University of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded
- 1787 First American comedy play, "The Contrast," debuts in NYC
- 1797 Spithead Mutiny begins: British Royal Navy sailors protest over living and working conditions and pay near Portsmouth
- 1818 US Senate ratifies Rush-Bagot Agreement, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes
- 1849 Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "Le prophète" premieres in Paris
- 1853 First passenger railway opens in India from Bori Bunder (Bombay) to Thane (34 km)
Mazeppa
1854 Franz Liszt's symphonic poem "Mazeppa" premieres at the Court Theatre in Weimar
- 1854 San Salvador is destroyed by an earthquake
- 1854 Steamer "Long Beach" sinks off Long Beach, NY, 311 die
- 1858 The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is wound up
Business with Confederates Outlawed
1861 US President Abraham Lincoln outlaws business with Confederate States (US Civil War)
- 1862 American Confederate Congress approves conscription act for all white males (18-35 years)
- 1862 Slavery is abolished in the District of Columbia
- 1865 Battle of Columbus & West Point, Georgia (Ft Tyler), Union forces win one of the last battles of the US Civil War
- 1866 Nitroglycerine explodes at a Wells Fargo & Co office in San Francisco shattering glass for half a mile
- 1868 Louisiana voters approve new constitution
- 1869 Ebenezer Bassett, 1st African American diplomat, begins service as Minister to Haiti
- 1870 Vaudeville Theatre Strand opens in London
- 1881 In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle
Kruger Transvaal president
1883 Paul Kruger chosen as President of Transvaal
- 1888 Drentse & Friese peat cutters go on strike in the Netherlands
- 1900 US Post Office issues its first stamp booklets containing 12, 24, or 48 two-cent stamps [1]
- 1908 Natural Bridges National Monument forms (Lake Powell, Utah)
1st Woman Pilot Crosses Channel
1912 Harriet Quimby becomes the first female pilot to fly across the English Channel
- 1912 Pirates turn a rare 5-3-7 doubleplay (left fielder covers 2nd base)
- 1913 Bulgarians and the Turks agree to an armistice that will be accepted by the other nations involved
Lenin Joins Russian Revolution
1917 Lenin arrives back from exile in Russia at Finland Station, Petrograd to join the Russian Revolution [OS Apr 3]
- 1918 The British House of Commons passes a new Military Service Bill, taking men up to 55 years old and extending to Ireland
- 1921 Liberal Freedom League forms in The Hague, Netherlands
Oakley's Shooting Record
1922 Annie Oakley sets women's record by breaking 100 clay targets in a row
- 1922 Treaty of Rapallo between the German Republic and Soviet Union a is signed in Italy, normalizing diplomatic relations with each side renouncing their territorial and financial claims against the other
- 1924 1st radio-transmission of wireless: Mattheus Passion
- 1924 Child labor laws strengthened in Holland
- 1925 During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 wounded
- 1926 Book of the Month Club sends out its 1st selections "Lolly Willowes" & "Loving Huntsman" by Sylvia Townsend Warner
- 1929 Cleveland Indians become the first MLB team to permanently feature numbers on the backs of uniforms; numbers correspond to the position in the batting order
- 1929 Cleveland rookie center fielder Earl Averill, becomes first American League player to hit a HR on 1st at bat; Indians beat Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at League Park
The Music Box
1932 Short film "The Music Box" is released in the US, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (1932 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film)
- 1935 1st radio broadcast of "Fibber McGee & Molly"
Babe Ruth's NL Debut
1935 40-year-old future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth debuts in the NL with a HR and single in Boston Braves 4-2 win over the NY Giants, in Boston
- 1938 Great Britain recognizes Italian annexation of Abyssinia
- 1939 Stanley Cup Final, Boston Garden, Boston, MA: Boston Bruins beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 for a 4-1 series win; first best-of-7 SC Final series
Soviets Propose Allinance
1939 The Soviet Union proposes an alliance with Britain and France to counter Nazi Germany; the Soviets would later sign a secret agreement with the Nazis
Only Opening Day No-Hitter
1940 Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller hurls the first and only Opening Day no-hitter in MLB history; beats Chicago WSWhite Sox, 1-0 at Comiskey Park
- 1940 Heitor Villa-Lobos' opera "Izaht" premieres in Rio de Janeiro
- 1940 New York Yankees dedicate a plaque to Jacob Ruppert in Monument Park, Yankee Stadium
- 1941 Little Theater at Adelphi Strand, London closes
- 1942 Japanese occupying army on Java installs film censorship
- 1943 40 NZ bombers attack Haarlem, Netherlands (85 killed)
Izieu Children's Home Raid
1944 Nazis led by Klaus Barbie raid Izieu Jewish children's home, near Lyon, taking 44 children and seven adults to exterminations camps [1]
1945 Battle of Berlin: Red Army begins its attack on the capital of Nazi Germany
- 1945 Battle of Okinawa: US troops land and seize the Ie Shima Airfield on Ie Shima island near Okinawa [1]
- 1945 US troops enter Nuremberg, Germany
- 1945 World War II: American troops liberate Colditz Castle, the high-security prisoner of war camp in Saxony, Germany [1]
- 1945 World War II: Dutch town of Arnhem, site of failed Operation Market Garden, is freed by British and Canadian forces
- 1945 World War II: German troops in Groningen, Netherlands surrender to Canadian and Dutch allied forces
- 1946 1st US launch of captured V-2 rocket, White Sands, New Mexicao; reaches altitude of 8 km
- 1946 Dutch Special Court of Justice sentences Frederik Müller, Socialist mayor of Rotterdam, to 10 years in jail for his wartime support of Germany
Ott's Final MLB HR
1946 Mel Ott playing in right field for NY Giants hits his 511th and final MLB home run in 8-4 Opening Day win over Philadelphia Phillies
- 1947 -17] Explosions & fire on French ship Grandcamp
Event of Interest
1947 Bernard Baruch introduces the term "Cold War" in a speech; the term is later popularized by Walter Lippmann in his book "The Cold War"
- 1947 Fire aboard French-flagged cargo ship SS Grandchamp, docked at Port of Texas City, Texas and loaded with 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate causes massive explosion and spreads to nearby ships and oil facilities; deadliest industrial accident in US history kills 581, including all but one member of the city's fire departments
- 1947 Lens to provide zoom effects demonstrated (NYC)
- 1948 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) forms in Paris
- 1949 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: 3-peat for Toronto Maple Leafs as they beat Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 for a 4 game series sweep
- 1951 British submarine Affray sank in English Channel, killing 75
- 1953 Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Connie Ryan bats 6 from 6 in a 14-12 defeat against the Pirates at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh
- 1953 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 1-0 for a 4-1 series win
- 1953 WAND TV channel 17 in Decatur, IL (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1954 KVAL TV channel 13 in Eugene, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1954 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 in OT for a 4-3 series victory
- 1956 First solar-powered radios go on sale
- 1957 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Dickie Moore has a goal and 2 assists as Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins, 5-1 for a 4-1 series victory
- 1957 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
- 1958 French government of Félix Gaillard falls due to Tunisia crisis
- 1959 Datu Abdul Rozak inaugurated as premier of Malaysia federation
- 1959 MLB Philadelphia Phillies' Dave Philley gets a major league record 9th straight pinch hit, having ended the previous season with a streak of 8
- 1961 15th Tony Awards: "Becket" (play) & "Bye Bye Birdie" (musical) win
- 1961 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Chicago Blackhawks beat Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 for a 4-2 series victory
- 1962 Brazil nationalizes US businesses
- 1964 9 men sentenced 25-30 years for Britain's 1963 "Great Train Robbery"
- 1965 Test flight of heavy Saturn S-1C-rocket
- 1966 Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith breaks diplomatic relations with Britain
- 1970 70 die in a snow crush (France)
- 1972 Apollo 16 launched; 5th manned lunar landing (Decartes Highlands)
- 1972 Chicago Cubs rookie pitcher Burt Hooton hurls a 4-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field, Chicago
- 1972 Two British soldiers are shot dead by the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) in separate incidents in Derry
- 1972 Two giant pandas arrive in US from China
- 1974 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1975 Cambodian Red Khmer occupy Phnom Penh
Sports History
1978 Cardinals' Bob Forsch no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, in St. Louis
- 1978 NBC's premiere of miniseries "Holocaust"
- 1979 Failed Palestinian attack on Zaventem Airport, Belgium
- 1979 Sam Shepard receives Pulitzer Prize for "Buried Child"
- 1980 Delhi beat Bombay by 240 runs to win Ranji Trophy final
- 1980 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1982 Queen Elizabeth proclaims Canada's new constitution
Baseball Record
1983 Steve Garvey sets NL record by playing in 1,118 consecutive games
- 1984 Pulitzer prize awarded to Mary Oliver for "American Primitive"
- 1986 West Indies complete 5-0 demolition of England
- 1987 British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with gross indecency
- 1987 FCC imposes a broader definition of indecency over airwaves
- 1987 Howard Stern and Infinity Broadcasting are warned by FCC regarding content
NBA Record
1987 Michael Jordan becomes the second NBA player in history to score 3,000 points in a season
- 1987 Peter Taylor's "Summons to Memphis" wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction
Sports History
1989 1st The Tradition Senior Men's Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Don Bies wins his lone career Champions Tour major title by 1 stroke from Gary Player
- 1989 Berendrechtsluis opens in Antwerp, biggest flood lock in world
- 1989 Costa Rica beats US 1-0, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup
- 1989 Zeleka Metaferia wins 3rd World Cup marathon (2:10:28)
- 1990 Maximum NY State unemployment benefits raised to $260 per week
- 1990 Supreme Court rejects appeal from retarded man, Dalton Prejean, condemned to death for murdering a Louisiana state trooper in 1977
- 1991 Leander & Seago's musical "Matador" premieres in London
- 1991 St Louis Blues becomes 8th NHL team in Play-off to come back from a 3-1 deficit as they beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in game 7
- 1992 1st concrete is poured at new ballpark at Gateway (Jacobs Field)
- 1992 Afghan president Najibullah resigns
- 1992 NY Rangers win team record 50th game
- 1992 The Katina P runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique. 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
1993 Jury reaches guilty verdict in federal case against police officers (two convicted, two acquitted) who beat Rodney King, but the verdict is not read until April 17th
- 1994 Circus performers Marissa Young (24) & Matt Richardson (21) wed
- 1997 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Minneapolis/St Paul, Minneapolis on WRQC 100.3 FM
Mule Variations
1999 Anti-Records releases "Mule Variations", the thirteenth studio album by singer-songwriter Tom Waits; his biggest selling album goes on to win Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album
- 2003 Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens, admitting 10 new member states to the European Union
- 2003 Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan plays his final NBA game, in Philadelphia, where he receives a 3 minute standing ovation.
- 2004 The super liner Queen Mary 2 embarks on her first Transatlantic crossing, linking the golden age of ocean travel to the modern age of ocean travel
Film & TV History
2006 Colin Farrell reaches a confidential settlement with ex-girlfriend Nicole Narain to keep their 13-minute sex tape private
- 2007 Virginia Tech massacre: The deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, kills 32 people and injures 23 others before committing suicide.
Event of Interest
2008 Start of Papal Journey of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States
Laureus Awards
2009 Laureus World Sports Awards, (ceremony cancelled GFC): Sportsman: Usain Bolt; Sportswoman: Yelena Isinbayeva; Team: China Olympic team
- 2012 At least 55 people are killed in the Syrian uprising despite UN presence to oversee ceasefire
- 2012 For the first time since 1977 no Pulitzer Prize is awarded for fiction
- 2013 16 people are killed after a gold mine collapses in Kyekyewere, Ghana
- 2013 37 people are killed by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Khash country, Iran
- 2014 Real Madrid defeat Barcelona to win its 19th Copa del Rey trophy
- 2014 South Korean ferry MV Sewol sinks on route Incheon to Jeju, 304 drown, mostly students. National controversy erupts over rescue efforts and actions of crew and owner.
Event of Interest
2015 Elizabeth Holmes, American entrepreneur, inventor, and founder and CEO of Theranos, is named one of TIME's "100 Most Influential People" of 2015
World Record
2017 World record for gathering of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes; 662 at Manoir de Ban, Chaplin's World in Vevey, Switzerland
Pulitzer Prize
2018 Kendrick Lamar is the first rapper and non-classical or jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for music with his album "Damn"
Sports History
2019 Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson becomes the highest-paid player in NFL history with a 4-year $140m extension including record $65m signing bonus
- 2020 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in 4 weeks (5.2 million in the last week), wiping out 9 1/2 years of job gains
- 2020 Nationwide State of Emergency declared in Japan till 6 May due to the worsening COVID-19 outbreak
- 2020 New study claims a multi-decade megadrought is already under way in the western US, published in journal "Science"
Film & TV History
2021 Gary Sinise hosts the inauguration ceremony of the World War I memorial in Washington D.C.
Event of Interest
2021 Raúl Castro confirms he is resigning as Cuban Communist Party leader, ending his family's six decade leadership of Cuba
- 2023 Spanish extreme athlete Beatriz Flamini exits a deep cave in Granada, Spain, after spending 500 days isolated underground in probable world record, as part of social isolation experiment [1]
- 2023 Sudan erupts into violence as street fighting and bombing raids strike Khartoum amid a power struggle between military generals al-Burhan and Hamdan, killing more than 83 people and injuring over 1,126 [1]
- 2024 Denmark's historic stock exchange, the Børsen, dating from 1625 goes up in flames in Copenhagen while being renovated [1]
- 2024 United Arab Emirates records its largest rainfall in 75 years, flooding Dubai airport and killing at least 18 people in Oman [1]
- 2024 Volcano Mount Ruang erupts in Indonesia in North Sulawesi province, its first eruption since 2002 [1]
- 2025 A juvenile colossal squid (11.8 inches long) is filmed in its natural environment at 1,968 feet deep for the first time since its discovery in 1925 near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean [1]
- 2025 Chinese chess grandmaster Ju Wenjun wins her 5th consecutive Women's World Chess Championship with a score of 6.5–2.5, becoming the first Chinese player to win the championship five times
- 2025 The US Navy launches a wave of missile strikes across Houthi-controlled Yemen, killing at least 31 people and injuring 101 others [1]
