- 753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome, according to Roman foundation mythology
Battle of Mutina
43 BC Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Consul Aulus Hirtius, who is killed in the fighting, forcing Antony to lift his siege. Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.
- 953 Otto I the Great grants Utrecht fishing rights
- 1104 Dedication of the transept and choir of Abbey of Ste Madeleine Vezelay, France, a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture and an important place of pilgrimage
- 1211 The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral to St James is consecrated before King Alfonso IX of Leon (begun 1075) [1]
Arbitration Sentence of Guadalupe
1486 Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe (Arbitration Sentence of Guadalupe) proclaimed by Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon, freeing Catalan remensa peasants
1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India
- 1572 France and England sign an anti-Spanish military agreement
- 1600 First date in James Clavell's novel Shogun
- 1649 Maryland Toleration Act passed in the American colony, allowing freedom of worship for Christians but sentencing to death anyone who rejected the divinity of Jesus
- 1703 Battle of Pułtusk: Swedish army defeats a Saxon-led force during the Great Northern War
- 1739 Spain and Naples-Austria sign a peace treaty
Charter to the Nobility
1785 Catherine II of Russia confers on the nobility the "Charter to the Nobility", increasing further the power of the landed oligarchs
John Adams 1st VP
1789 John Adams sworn in as 1st US Vice President (9 days before Washington)
Tiradentes Executed
1792 Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes is hanged, drawn, and quartered in Rio de Janeiro
Joséphine de Beauharnais Imprisoned
1794 Joséphine de Beauharnais, future Empress of French and first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, is imprisoned during the Reign of Terror
- 1794 NYC formally declares coast of Ellis Island publicly owned, so they can build forts to protect NYC from British
Battle of Mondovi
1796 Napoleon and the French defeat the Piedmontese at Battle of Mondovi
- 1818 Franz Grillparzer's "Sappho" premieres in Vienna
Electromagnetism
1820 Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted is the first to identify electromagnetism, when he observes a compass needle
- 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, Texas wins independence from Mexico
- 1855 First train crosses the first bridge over the Mississippi River, connecting Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa
- 1857 Alexander Douglas patents the bustle
- 1862 Congress establishes US Mint in Denver, Colorodo
- 1862 Ellen Price Wood's "East Lynne" premieres in Boston
- 1863 Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, enters the Garden of Ridván near Baghdad and declares himself a Messenger of God during the 12 days he spends there
- 1878 First Lady Lucy Hayes begins the White House Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn
- 1878 New York installs its first fireman's pole
On the Evils of Society
1878 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical "Inscrutabili Dei Consilio" (On the Evils of Society)
- 1878 Ship Azor leaves Charleston with 206 blacks for Liberia
- 1892 Black longshoremen strike for higher wages in St Louis, Missouri
- 1894 180,000 coal miners across eight US states strike for higher wages and safer working conditions
Arms and the Man
1894 George Bernard Shaw's play "Arms and the Man" premieres in London becoming his first public success
- 1898 Phillies pitcher Bill Duggleby hits a grand slam in his first at-bat
1898 Spanish–American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain
Ty Cobb Debuts
1904 Ty Cobb makes his professional debut for the Augusta Tourists in the South Atlantic League
- 1905 The elective assembly of Crete proclaims union with Greece
- 1908 American polar explorer Frederick Cook claims to have been the 1st person reach North Pole on this date (disputed)
- 1910 Cleveland Naps play 1st game at League Park, lose to Detroit Tigers 5-0
- 1913 German passenger ship Imperator runs aground off the coast of Norway and is later refloated without loss of life
- 1914 US marines occupy Vera Cruz, a major Mexican port; they will stay for 6 months
- 1916 The Aud, carrying a cargo of 20,000 rifles to assist Irish republicans in staging what would become the 1916 Rising, is captured by the British Navy and forced to sail towards Cork Harbour
- 1916 Ulster Protestant and Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement lands at Tralee Bay, Ireland from a German submarine; discovered at McKenna's Fort and arrested by the Royal Irish Constabulary
Red Baron Shot Down
1918 German World War I fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen aka "The Red Baron," is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur Somme in France. Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown is credited with the kill.
- 1920 John Galsworthy's satirical play "The Skin Game" premieres at St. Martin's Theatre in London
- 1922 The first Aggie Muster is held as a remembrance for fellow Aggies who had died in the previous year
- 1925 Chuvash Autonomous Oblast in the RSFSR becomes the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
National League Pauses
1925 No National League baseball games are played because of Charles Ebbets's funeral
Fallen Angels
1925 Noël Coward's controversial comedy play "Fallen Angels" premieres in London, after initially being refused a license due to the loose morals of the female characters
The Passion of Joan of Arc
1928 The silent historical film "The Passion of Joan of Arc," directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti and Eugène Silvain, is released in Denmark
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 "All Quiet on the Western Front" based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Louis Wolheim and Lew Ayres premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Outstanding Production 1930)
- 1930 Fire at Ohio State Penitentiary kills 322
Heidegger Elected Rector
1933 German philosopher Martin Heidegger elected rector of University of Freiburg
- 1934 Senators catcher Moe Berg, plays AL record 117th consecutive errorless game
- 1935 King Boris of Bulgaria forbids all political parties
- 1940 The first $64 question on "Take It or Leave It" airs on CBS Radio
- 1941 WWII: Greece surrenders to Nazi Germany
- 1944 NFL Chic Cardinals & Pittsburgh Steelers merge (dissolves on Dec 3)
- 1945 Ivor Novello's "Perchance to Dream" premieres in London
- 1945 WWII: Allied forces conquer Ie Shima, Okinawa in 5 days; 5,000 die
- 1945 WWII: Allied troops occupy German nuclear laboratory in Haigerloch
- 1945 WWII: Soviet army arrives at outskirts of Berlin, Germany
- 1945 WWII: US 7th Army reaches Nuremberg, Germany
- 1946 Socialistic Einheitspartei Germany forms in East Germany
- 1951 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 for a 4-1 series victory
- 1952 BOAC begins 1st passenger service with jets (London-Rome route)
Marciano KOs Buonvino
1952 Future world champion Rocky Marciano knocks out Italian heavyweight boxer Gino Buonvino in the 2nd round at Rhode Island Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island, for his 40th straight win
- 1952 Secretaries Day is first celebrated, known today as Administrative Professionals Day
Malenkov Leads USSR
1954 Georgi Malenkov becomes premier of USSR
- 1954 USAF flies French battalion to Vietnam
- 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers win, then record 10th straight game to begin a season
- 1955 Minas Gerais, Argentina, tunnel caves in; 30 die
Heartbreak Hotel
1956 Elvis Presley's first hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel," reaches #1
Gift of Faith
1957 Pope Pius XII publishes the encyclical "Fidei Donum" (Gift of Faith)
- 1959 Alf Dean, using a rod and reel, hooks a 2,664 lb, 16' 10" great white shark off the coast of Ceduna, Australia
- 1960 Brasilia becomes capital of Brazil
- 1960 Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, DC
- 1961 Dirk Stikker chosen as secretary general of NATO
- 1961 French army revolts in Algeria
- 1961 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 32,000 m
- 1962 Century 21 Exposition opens in Seattle, Washington
- 1963 The Universal House of Justice of the Bahá'í Faith is elected for the first time
- 1964 Pirates & Cubs combine for 9 HRs, Pirates win 8-5
- 1965 New York World's Fair reopens for 2nd & final season
- 1967 Dodgers 1st rain out in Los Angeles (after 737 consecutive games)
- 1967 Evangelical Broadcasting begins in Netherlands
- 1967 Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Allilueva arrives in New York City after defecting to the US
- 1967 Regime of the Colonels: Military junta overthrows Greek government in a coup, and Konstantinos Kollias becomes premier
- 1968 22nd Tony Awards: "Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (play) & "Hallelujah, Baby!" (musical) win
- 1969 The Ministry of Defence in London announces that British troops would be used in Northern Ireland to guard key public installations following a series of bombings
- 1970 Reds clout 7 HRs by 6 batters, Braves counter with 3 HRs, 6 for one team & 9 different batters for two teams, all tie or set records
- 1970 The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) is formed; it attempts to appeal to Catholics and Protestant to unite in support of moderate policies
- 1970 The Principality of Hutt River (previously Hutt River Province) secedes from Australia - it remains unrecognised by Australia or other nations
- 1971 Original Codex Reguis (with Edda-liederen) returns to Iceland
- 1972 John Young and Charles Duke explore the Moon as part of NASA's Apollo 16 mission
- 1972 Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 4 (Copernicus) launched
- 1974 28th Tony Awards: "The River Niger" (play) & "Raisin" (musical) win
- 1976 Swine flu vaccine for a non-epidemic strain enters testing
- 1976 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1977 Billy Martin pulls the Yankees lineup out of a hat and beats the Blue Jays 8-6
- 1978 Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz of Poland is the first woman to sail single-handed around the world, arriving back in the Canary Islands after 401 days
- 1980 Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WWWW Detroit, Michigan
- 1980 Soviet submarine catches fire off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, killing at least nine
- 1981 US furnishes $1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia
- 1982 Atlanta Braves win their 13th straight game
- 1982 Beatrix of the Netherlands addresses the US Congress
- 1983 £1 coin is introduced in the United Kingdom
- 1984 "Nightline" reverts from 1 hour to ½ hour format
Footloose Tops Thriller
1984 After 37 weeks, Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" is knocked off as the top album by the movie soundtrack for "Footloose"
- 1984 Centers for Disease Control announce that a virus discovered in France causes AIDS
- 1984 Franz Weber of Austria skis downhill at a record speed of 209.8 km/h
- 1984 Montreal Expos pitcher David Palmer throws a five-inning no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-0
- 1985 Bomb attacks hit the NATO and AEG-Telefunken buildings in Brussels
- 1985 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway wins London Marathon in race record 2:21:06
- 1986 Bob Herring sets a Formula One powerboat speed record of 165.338 mph in Arizona
Rivera Opens Al Capone's Vault
1986 Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on live TV and finds nothing, except great ratings for his spectacle
- 1987 Dow Jones Industrial Average soars 664.7; 2nd biggest one-day gain in history
- 1987 MLB Milwaukee Brewers lose for the first time of the season, ending a 13-game winning streak start
- 1987 Tamil bomb attack in Colombo Sri Lanka, 115 killed
- 1988 Barbra Streisand records "You'll Never Know"
Bush and Rose Lead Rangers
1989 George W. Bush and Edward W. Rose become joint CEOs of the Texas Rangers
- 1989 Thousands of Chinese citizens crowd into Beijing's Tiananmen Square, cheering for students demanding greater political freedom
- 1990 "Cartoon All Stars to Rescue" shown on all 4 TV networks
- 1990 MLB Cincinnati Reds win, running their record to 9-0, best start in club history
- 1990 National League umpire is arrested for stealing baseball cards
- 1991 French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio discovers the San Diego, Dutch galleon sunk in 1600 off Fortune Island in the Philippines
- 1991 Greatest extra-inning comeback, Pitts scores 6 in bottom of 11th erasing 5 run Cub lead, Pirates also trailed 7-2 in bottom of 9th
- 1991 Jakov Tolstikov wins 4th World Cup marathon (2:09:17)
- 1991 NFL Draft: University of Miami defensive tackle Russell Maryland first pick by Dallas Cowboys
- 1991 Rosa Mota wins 4th World Cup female marathon (2:26:14)
- 1992 Mobil Oil tug with 12,000 gallons of oil run aground in Arthur Kill (a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York City from mainland New Jersey, USA)
- 1992 Robert Alton Harris is put to death in the California Gas Chamber for 3 murders
Walker, Texas Ranger
1993 Action TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger" starring Chuck Norris debuts on CBS
- 1993 Brazil votes against a monarchy
Murray Sets Switch-Hit Record
1994 Eddie Murray sets the record for switch-hit home runs in a game, doing so 11 times
- 1994 Serbian army bombs distress clinic in Goradze Bosnia, 28 killed
- 1994 The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan
- 1995 "Kiss of Death", directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Nicholas Cage and David Caruso, premieres in America
- 1995 Boston Celtics final regular season game at Boston Garden, NY Knicks win 98-92
- 1995 British sitcom "Father Ted" written by Arthur Mathews & Graham Linehan, starring Dermot Morgan premieres on Channel 4
Timothy McVeigh Arrested
1995 FBI arrests Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing case; he is indicted on 160 state offenses and 11 federal offenses, including use of a weapon of mass destruction [1]
- 1996 "Delicate Balance" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC
- 1996 Chicago Bulls win NBA record 72 games (72-8)
- 1996 Matabeleland beat Mashonaland Country Dist to win Logan Cup
- 1996 Wayne James scores 99 & 99 & ct 11 stp 2 in Logan Cup Final
- 1997 I. K. Gujral sworn in as Prime Minister of India
Ashes Launched into Orbit
1997 The ashes of psychologist and author Timothy Leary and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry are launched into Earth's orbit
- 2001 NFL Draft: Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick first pick by Atlanta Falcons
Elantris
2005 Brandon Sanderson's debut novel "Elantris" is published (winner of Romantic Times award for best epic fantasy of 2005)
- 2008 The United States Air Force retires the F-117 Nighthawk stealth surface-attack aircraft
- 2012 Chicago White Sox pitcher, Philip Humber, pitches the 21st MLB perfect game against the Seattle Mariners
- 2012 Two trains in Sloterdijk, Netherlands, injure 117 people in a head on collision
- 2013 185 people are killed in a conflict between Islamic extremists and the Nigerian military
- 2013 Horacio Cartes is elected President of Paraguay
- 2013 Tsegaye Kebede and Priscah Jeptoo win the 2013 London Marathon
- 2017 Taliban attack army base at Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, killing more than 100
- 2018 Oakland A's left hander Sean Manaea no-hits the Boston Red Sox
Extinction Rebellion
2019 Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks at a Extinction Rebellion protest in London amid city-wide climate protests where Waterloo Bridge was occupied over four days
- 2019 Terror attacks on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday in three Sri Lankan cities, Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa kill at least 253 and injure hundreds
Zelenskyy Elected in Landslide
2019 Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy wins the country's presidential election in a landslide
- 2020 At least 25,000 extra people across 11 countries have died during COVID-19 pandemic that were not previously counted according to new mortality figures
- 2020 Health Secretary Matt Hancock and UK government come under criticism for lack of personal protective equipment and testing for COVID-19 (despite pledge to test 100,000 a day only 19,000 done April 20th)
- 2020 Mexico says it is entering stage three of its COVID-19 outbreak, with rapid spread and hospitalizations from 8,772 infections and 712 deaths
Aid and Reopening
2020 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announces $26 billion aid package and plans for gradual reopening of economy as cases reach 3,465 with 58 deaths
- 2021 Indonesian submarine RI Nanggala sinks off the coast of Bali with the loss of all 53 people on board
- 2021 Manhattan district attorney's office announces it will no longer prosecute prostitution, dismissing 914 open cases, part of growing movement to change approach to prostitution
State of the Union
2021 Russian President Vladimir Putin warns the West not to cross a "red line" in his state of the union address, amid massing of 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraine border
- 2022 Ex-president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández extradited to the US to face drug trafficking and weapons charges [1]
- 2023 US Supreme Court rules abortion pill mifepristone can remain widely available, blocking ban by Texas U.S. District Judge [1]
- 2024 Chevron Championship Women's Golf, The Club at Carlton Woods: In beating Maja Stark by 2 strokes, Nelly Korda wins her second major title and equals LPGA record with 5 consecutive wins
Death of Pope Francis
2025 Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church since 2013, passes away
