April 8
1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.
1525 - Albert von Brandenburg, the leader of the Teutonic Order, assumes the title "Duke of Prussia" and passed the first laws of the Protestant church, making Prussia a Protestant state.
1789 - The U.S. House of Representatives held its first meeting.
1832 - About 300 American troops of the 6th Infantry left Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, to confront the Sauk Indians in the Black Hawk War.
1834 - In New York City, Cornelius Lawrence became the first mayor to be elected by popular vote in a city election.
1839 - The first Intercollegiate Rodeo was held at the Godshall Ranch, Apple Valley, CA.
1864 - The U.S. Senate passed the 13th Amendment (S.J. Res. 16) by a vote of 38 to 6.
1873 - Alfred Paraf patented the first successful oleomargarine.
1911 - The first squash tournament was played at the Harvard Club in New York City.
1913 - The Seventeenth amendment was ratified, requiring direct election of senators.
1935 - The Works Progress Administration was approved by the U.S. Congress.
1939 - Italy invaded Albania.
1942 - The Soviets opened a rail link to the besieged city of Leningrad.
1943 - Wendell Wilkie’s "One World" was published for the first time.
1946 - The League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time.
1947 - The first illustrated insurance policy was issued by the Allstate Insurance Company.
1952 - U.S. President Truman seized steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
1953 - The bones of Sitting Bull were moved from North Dakota to South Dakota.
1962 - Bay of Pigs invaders got thirty years imprisonment in Cuba.
1974 - Hank Aaron hits 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth's record.
1975 - Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians became first black manager of a major league baseball team.
1985 - India filed suit against Union Carbide for the Bhopal disaster.
1985 - Phyllis Diller underwent a surgical procedure for permanent eyeliner to eliminate the need for eyelid makeup.
1986 - Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, CA.
1987 - Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigned over remarks he had made. While on ABC's "Nightline" Campanis said that black people "may not have some of the necessities" to hold managerial jobs in major-league baseball.
1988 - Former U.S. President Reagan aid Lyn Nofzinger was sentenced to prison for illegal lobbying for Wedtech Corp.
1990 - In Nepal, King Birendra lifted the 30-year ban on political parties.
1992 - In Britain, the last issue of "Punch Magazine" was published.
1994 - Smoking was banned in the Pentagon and all U.S. military bases.
1998 - The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. presented new evidence in an appeal for new federal investigation of the assassination of her husband.
2000 - 19 U.S. troops were killed when a Marine V22 Osprey crashed during a training mission in Arizona.
2001 - Microsoft Corp. released Internet Explorer 6.0.
2002 - Ed McMahon filed a $20 million lawsuit against his insurance company, two insurance adjusters, and several environmental cleanup contractors. The suit alleged breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress concerning a toxic mold that had spread through McMahon's Beverly Hills home.
2002 - Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play "Topdog/Underdog."
