April 10527 - Justinianus became the emperor of Byzantium. 1572 - The Sea Beggars under Guillaume de la Marck landed in Holland and captured the small town of Briel. 1621 - The Plymouth, MA, colonists created the first treaty with Native Americans. 1724 - Jonathan Swift published Drapier's letters. 1748 - The ruins of Pompeii were found. 1778 - Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, created the "$" symbol. 1789 - The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania was elected the first House Speaker. 1793 - In Japan, the volcano Unsen erupted killing about 53,000. 1826 - Samuel Mory patented the internal combustion engine. 1853 - Cincinnati became the first U.S. city to pay fire fighters a regular salary. 1863 - The first wartime conscription law went into effect in the U.S. 1864 - The first travel accident policy was issued to James Batterson by the Travelers Insurance Company. 1865 - At the Battle of Five Forks in Petersburg, VA, Gen. Robert E. Lee began his final offensive. 1867 - Black people voted in the municipal election in Tuscumbia, AL. 1867 - The International Exhibition opened in Paris. 1867 - Singapore, Penang & Malakka became British crown colonies. 1868 - In Virginia, The Hampton Institute was established. 1872 - The first edition of "The Standard" was published. 1873 - The British White Star steamship Atlantic sank off Nova Scotia killing 547. 1873 - Mehmed Kemals play "Vatan" premiered in Constantinople. 1881 - Anti-Jewish riots took place in Jerusalem. 1881 - Kingdom post office in Netherlands opened. 1889 - The first dishwashing machine was marketed (in Chicago). 1891 - The London-Paris telephone connection opened. 1891 - The William Wrigley Jr. Company was founded in Chicago, IL. The company is most known for its Juicy Fruit gum. 1905 - The British East African Protectorate became the colony of Kenya. 1905 - Paris and Berlin were linked by telephone. 1916 - The first U.S. national women's swimming championships were held. 1918 - England's Royal Flying Corps was replaced by the Royal Air Force. 1924 - Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for high treason in relation to the "Beer Hall Putsch." 1924 - Imperial Airways was formed in Britain. 1927 - The first automatic record changer was introduced by His Master's Voice. 1928 - China's Chiang Kai-shek began attacking communists. 1929 - Louie Marx introduced the Yo-Yo. 1930 - Leo Hartnett of the Chicago Cubs broke the altitude record for a catch by catching a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, CA. 1931 - An Earthquake devastated Managua Nicaragua killing 2,000. 1931 - Jackie Mitchell became the first female in professional baseball when she signed with the Chattanooga Baseball Club. 1933 - Nazi Germany began the persecution of Jews by boycotting Jewish businesses. 1935 - The first radio tube to be made of metal was announced. 1937 - Aden became a British colony. 1938 - The first commercially successful fluorescent lamps were introduced. 1938 - The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, NY. 1939 - The U.S. recognized the Franco government in Spain at end of Spanish civil war. 1941 - The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM radio station began on W71NY in New York City. 1945 - U.S. forces invaded Okinawa during World War II. It was the last campaign of World War II. 1946 - Weight Watchers was formed. 1946 - A tidal wave (tsunami) struck the Hawaiian Islands killing more than 170 people. 1948 - The Berlin Airlift began. 1949 - "Happy Pappy" premiered. It was the first all-black-cast variety show. 1950 - Italian Somalia became a United Nations trust territory under Italian administration. 1952 - The Big Bang theory was proposed in "Physical Review" by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow. 1953 - The U.S. Congress created the Department of Health Education and Welfare. 1954 - The U.S. Air Force Academy was formed in Colorado. 1955 - "One Man's Family" was seen on TV for the final time after a six-year run on NBC-TV. 1960 - France exploded 2 atom bombs in the Sahara Desert. 1960 - The U.S. launched TIROS-1. It was the first weather satellite. 1963 - Workers of the International Typographical Union ended their strike that had closed nine New York City newspapers. The strike ended 114 days after it began on December 8, 1962. 1963 - The Soap operas "General Hospital" and "Doctors" premiered on television. 1970 - The U.S. Army charged Captain Ernest Medina in the My Lai massacre. 1970 - U.S. President Nixon signed the bill, the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, that banned cigarette advertisements to be effective on January 1, 1971. 1971 - The United Kingdom lifted all restrictions on gold ownership. 1972 - North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops renewed their offensive in South Vietnam. 1973 - Japan allowed its citizens to own gold. 1976 - Apple Computer began operations. 1979 - Iran was proclaimed to be an Islamic Republic by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the fall of the Shah. 1980 - A failed assassination attempt against Iraqi vice-premier Tariq Aziz occurred. 1982 - The U.S. transferred the Canal Zone to Panama. 1983 - New York Islander Mike Bossy became the first National Hockey League (NHL) player to score 60 goals in 3 consecutive seasons. 1985 - World oil prices dropped below $10 a barrel. 1986 - The U.S. submarine Nathaniel Green ran aground in the Irish Sea. 1987 - Steve Newman became the first man to walk around the world. The walk was 22,000 miles and took 4 years. 1987 - U.S. President Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1." 1991 - Iran released British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years. 1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that jurors could not be barred from serving due to their race. 1991 - The Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved. 1992 - Players began the first strike in the 75-year history of the National Hockey League (NHL). 1996 - U.S. President Bill Clinton threw out the first ball preceding a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles. 1997 - David Carradine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1998 - A federal judge dismissed the Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against U.S. President Clinton saying that the claims fell "far short" of being worthy of a trial. 1999 - In Zhytomyr, Ukraine, Anatoliy Onoprienko was sentenced to death for the deaths of 52 men, women and children. 43 of the killings occurred in a 6-month period. 1999 - The Canadian territory of Nunavut was created. It was carved from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories and covered about 772,000 square miles. 2001 - China began holding 24 crewmembers of a U.S. surveillance plane. The EP-3E U.S. Navy crew had made an emergency landing after an in-flight collision with a Chinese fighter jet. The Chinese pilot was missing and presumed dead. The U.S. crew was released on April 11, 2001. 2001 - Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour standoff with the police at his Belgrade villa. 2003 - North Korea test-fired an anti-ship missile off its west coast. 2003 - Jason Mewes was ordered to complete drug rehabilitation or face five years in jail stemming from a drug conviction in 1999. 2004 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The bill made it a crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman. 2004 - Gateway Inc. announced that it would be closing all of its 188 stores on April 9. 2009 - Albania and Croatia joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 2010 - The U.S. Congress cut Medicare reimbursements to physicians by 21%. |