Events1303 - The
University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by
Pope Boniface VIII.1534 -
Jacques Cartier begins his voyage, in which he will discover
Canada and
Labrador.1653 -
Oliver Cromwell dissolves the
Rump Parliament.1657 -
Admiral Robert Blake destroys a
Spanish silver fleet under heavy fire at
Santa Cruz de Tenerife.1657 -
Freedom of religion is granted to the
Jews of
New Amsterdam (later
New York City).1689 - The former
King James II of England, now deposed, lays siege to
Derry.
1775 -
American Revolutionary War: the
siege of Boston begins, which followed the first battles at
Lexington and Concord.
1792 -
France declares war on
Austria, the beginning of
French Revolutionary Wars.
1810 - The Governors of
Caracas declares the national sovereignty from
Spain.
1828 -
René Caillié is first non-Muslim to enter in
Timbouctou.
1836 -
U.S. Congress passes an act creating the
Wisconsin Territory.
1861 -
American Civil War:
Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the
United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of
Virginia.
1862 - The first
pasteurization test completed by
Louis Pasteur and
Claude Bernard.
1871 -
Civil Rights Act of 18711884 -
Pope Leo XIII publishes the
encyclical,
Humanum Genus.
1902 -
Pierre and
Marie Curie refine
radium chloride.
1908 - Opening day of competition of the
New South Wales Rugby League.
1912 - Opening day for
baseball stadiums Tiger Stadium in
Detroit,
Michigan, and
Fenway Park in
Boston,
Massachusetts.
1914 - Seventeen men, women, and children die in the
Ludlow Massacre during a bitter
Colorado coal-miner's strike.
1918 -
Manfred von Richthofen, aka
The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims marking his final victories before his death the following day.
1926 -
Western Electric and
Warner Bros. announce
Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
1945 -
World War II:
US troops capture
Leipzig,
Germany, only to later cede the city to the
Soviet Union.1945 -
World War II: U.S.
B-29 bombers destroy the Musashi Aircraft plants, halting production of the
Nakajima Ki-84 fighter planes.
1961 - Failure of the
Bay of Pigs Invasion of US troops against
Cuba.
1962 - First production of Bentlage brand cigars, Habana, Cuba.
1964 -
BBC Two launches with the
power cut because of the fire at
Battersea Power Station.
1967 - A
Swiss Bristol Britannia turboprop crashes at
Nicosia,
Cyprus, killing 126.
1968 - A
South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes during takeoff at
Windhoek,
South-West Africa, killing 122.1968 -
English politician
Enoch Powell makes his controversial
Rivers of Blood speech.
1972 -
Apollo 16 lands on the
Moon.
1978 -
Korean Air Flight 902 shot down by
Soviets.
1980 - Climax of
Berber Spring in
Algeria as hundreds of
Berber political activists are arrested.
1985 -
ATF raid on
The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern
Arkansas.
1986 - Pianist
Vladimir Horowitz performed in his native
Russia for the first time in 61 years.1986 - Professional basketball player
Michael Jordan sets all-time record for points in a NBA playoff game with 63 against the Boston Celtics.
1998 -
TAME Boeing 727-200 chartered by
Air France crashes into Cerro El Cable mountain after takeoff from
Bogotá,
Colombia, killing 53.1998 -
German terrorist group
Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.
1999 - The
Columbine High School massacre leaves 15 people (including the two gunmen) dead and 24 wounded in
Jefferson County,
Colorado.
2004 - In
Iraq, 12 mortars are fired on
Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents, killing 22 detainees and wounding 92.
2007 -
Johnson Space Center Shooting: A man with a hand gun barricades himself in NASA's
Johnson Space Center before killing a male hostage and himself.
See more at Wikipedia.org...
20. April