Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/April

Selected anniversaries/On this day archive
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December

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Recent changes to Selected anniversaries – Selected anniversaries editing guidelines

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<<	Selected anniversaries for April					>>
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30
An archive of historical anniversaries that appeared on the Main Page 2012 day arrangement

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		April 1: National Day in Iran (1979); Assyrian New Year; Edible Book Day; and April Fools' Day 1293 – Robert Winchelsey left England for Rome to be consecrated by the Pope, only to find that there wasn't one. 1976 – Apple Computer was originally founded to sell "do-it-yourself" kits (example of a completed kit pictured). 1996 – The government of Nova Scotia ordered the people of the City of Halifax to mate with over 200 multiple partners around the area. 2002 – The Netherlands became the first country to approve medical treatments that provide permanent pain relief from all known human diseases and disorders. More anniversaries: March 31 – April 1 – April 2 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 2: Malvinas Day in Argentina 1513 – Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León reached Florida, becoming the first European known to do so, purportedly while searching for the Fountain of Youth in the New World. 1801 – War of the Second Coalition: British forces led by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (pictured) defeated the Dano-Norwegian fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen. 1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the country's first national census. 1973 – The Liberal Movement broke away from the Liberal and Country League in South Australia. 2002 – Operation Defensive Shield: Approximately 200 Palestinian militants fled the advancing Israel Defense Forces into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, starting a month-long standoff. More anniversaries: April 1 – April 2 – April 3 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 3: Laetare Sunday (Western Christianity, 2011); Mothering Sunday (United Kingdom and Ireland, 2011) Joseph Stalin 1860 – The Pony Express, a mail service that became the most direct means of long distance communication to the American West, began operation. 1888 – The first of eleven unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurred. 1895 – The libel trial instigated by Irish author Oscar Wilde began, eventually resulting in Wilde's arrest, trial and imprisonment on charges of gross indecency. 1922 – Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 1948 – An uprising began on Jeju Island, eventually leading to the deaths of between 14,000 and 30,000 individuals due to fighting between its various factions, and the violent suppression of the rebellion by the South Korean army. More anniversaries: April 2 – April 3 – April 4 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 4: Independence Day in Senegal (1960); Cheti Chand, Gudi Padwa and Ugadi in various parts of India (2011); Qingming Festival in the Chinese calendar; Hansik in South Korea; (2012); Children's Day in Taiwan and Hong Kong 1660 – Charles II of England issued the Declaration of Breda, describing his conditions for the Restoration of the crown of England. 1859 – Bryant's Minstrels premiered the popular American song "Dixie" in New York City as part of their blackface minstrel show. 1949 – Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, an organization that constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. 1968 – American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (pictured) was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. 2002 – The Angolan government and UNITA rebels signed a peace treaty, agreeing to follow the 1994 Lusaka Protocol and ending the decades-long Angolan Civil War. More anniversaries: April 3 – April 4 – April 5 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 5: Feast Day of Vincent Ferrer 1566 – A covenant of nobles in the Habsburg Netherlands presented Governor Margaret of Parma (pictured) a petition to suspend the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands. 1722 – Dutch explorer Jakob Roggeveen became the first European to land on Easter Island. 1847 – Britain's first civic public park, Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead, Merseyside, opened. 1998 – Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking Awaji Island and Kobe, opened to traffic, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world to date with a main span length of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). 2009 – The North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 was launched from the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground and passed over Japan, sparking concerns by other nations that it may have been a trial run of technology that could be used to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. More anniversaries: April 4 – April 5 – April 6 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 6: Good Friday (Western Christianity, 2012); Tartan Day 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy unsuccessfully attempted to capture HMS Glasgow near Block Island. 1793 – French Revolution: The Committee of Public Safety was established, and would become the de facto executive government during the forthcoming Reign of Terror. 1886 – Vancouver, one of British Columbia's youngest cities, was incorporated. 1947 – The first Tony Awards, recognizing achievement in live American theatre, were handed out at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. 1994 – The airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda, marking the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide. 2009 – A 6.3 Mw earthquake struck the region of Abruzzo in central Italy (damage pictured), killing 308 people and injuring more than 1,500 others. More anniversaries: April 5 – April 6 – April 7 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 7: World Health Day 1348 – King Charles of Bohemia issued a Golden Bull to establish Charles University in Prague, the first university in Central Europe. 1805 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Third Symphony, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. 1862 – American Civil War: Union forces defeated Confederates at the Battle of Shiloh in Hardin County, Tennessee. 1896 – An Arctic expedition led by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen reached 86°13.6'N, almost three degrees beyond the previous Farthest North mark. 1940 – Educator Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be featured on a U.S. postage stamp (pictured). 1995 – First Chechen War: Russian paramilitary troops began a massacre of at least 250 civilians in Samashki, Chechnya. More anniversaries: April 6 – April 7 – April 8 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 8: Easter (Western Christianity, 2012); Hanamatsuri in Japan 217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla (bust pictured) was assassinated at a roadside near Harran and succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect Macrinus. 1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, was renamed Times Square after The New York Times building. 1968 – BOAC Flight 712 suffered an engine fire shortly after take off from London Heathrow Airport, leading to deaths of five people on board, including flight attendant Barbara Jane Harrison, who was later awarded a posthumous George Cross for her heroism during the accident. 1992 – American tennis player Arthur Ashe announced that he had contracted HIV from blood transfusions; he would spend the remainder of his life as an AIDS activist. 2008 – On board Soyuz TMA-12, Yi So-Yeon became the first Korean, and second Asian woman to go into space. More anniversaries: April 7 – April 8 – April 9 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 9: Day of National Unity in Georgia (1989); Vimy Ridge Day in Canada 1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville made the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, when he recorded himself singing the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune". 1865 – With their supply trains destroyed by Union troops one day earlier, Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House near the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. 1917 – First World War: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of attacks at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France. 1999 – President of Niger Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was shot to death by soldiers in Niamey. 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled (pictured). More anniversaries: April 8 – April 9 – April 10 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 10 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged law regulating copyright, entered into force in Great Britain. 1815 – Mount Tambora in Indonesia began one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in recorded history, killing at least 71,000 people, and affecting worldwide temperatures for the next two years. 1868 – A British military expedition to Abyssinia culminated in a rout of Ethiopians and the later suicide of Emperor Tewodros II. 1908 – The SMS Zrinyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was laid down. 1941 – World War II: The Independent State of Croatia was established, with Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić (pictured) as head of the puppet government of the Axis powers. 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: At least 40 Armenian civilians were massacred in Maraga, Azerbaijan. 2010 – A Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft carrying President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and other Polish officials crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog at Smolensk-North air base near Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 on board. More anniversaries: April 9 – April 10 – April 11 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 11 1814 – The Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed, ending the War of the Sixth Coalition, and forcing Napoleon to abdicate as ruler of France and sending him into exile on Elba. 1908 – SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the German Imperial Navy, launched. 1921 – Emir Abdullah (pictured) established the first centralized government in the recently created British protectorate of Transjordan. 1979 – Uganda–Tanzania War: The Uganda National Liberation Army and Tanzanian forces captured Kampala, forcing Ugandan President Idi Amin to flee. 1996 – Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff was killed in a plane crash in Cheyenne, Wyoming including her father Lloyd Dubroff and her flight instructor and pilot Joe Reid, while attempting to set a record as the youngest person to pilot an airplane across the United States. More anniversaries: April 10 – April 11 – April 12 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 12: Rama Navami begins (Hinduism, 2011); Cosmonautics Day in Russia; Yuri's Night 467 – Anthemius was proclaimed Western Roman Emperor at the third or twelfth mile from Rome. 1831 – The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, collapsed, reportedly owing to a mechanical resonance induced by troops marching over the bridge in step. 1861 – Confederate forces began firing at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, starting the American Civil War. 1910 – The SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, was launched. 1961 – Aboard Vostok 3KA-3, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (pictured) became the first man to enter outer space, completing one orbit in a time of 108 minutes. 1980 – Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and began running his "Marathon of Hope" towards the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia, to raise funds across Canada for cancer research. More anniversaries: April 11 – April 12 – April 13 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 13: Vaisakhi (Sikhism); Festival of Mazu (Chinese calendar, 2012) 1598 – King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting freedom of religion to the Huguenots. 1919 – British Indian Army troops massacred hundreds of unarmed men, women and children who were attending a peaceful gathering at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, India. 1941 – The Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed a neutrality pact, which lasted through most of World War II. 1948 – A convoy bringing medical and fortification supplies and personnel to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus was ambushed by Arab forces, leaving about eighty people dead. 1953 – The CIA began Project MKULTRA, an illegal, covert human research program into mind control. 2009 - Twenty-three people died in a homeless hostel fire (damage pictured) in Kamień Pomorski, Poland, the country's deadliest fire since 1980. More anniversaries: April 12 – April 13 – April 14 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 14: Tamil New Year; N'Ko Alphabet Day in West Africa; Day of the Georgian language in Georgia (1978) 966 – After his marriage to the Christian Dobrawa of Bohemia, the pagan ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, converted to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state. 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians near the town of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. 1865 – Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth fatally shot U.S. President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. 1999 – A storm dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones (example pictured) in Sydney and along the east coast of New South Wales, causing about A$2.3 billion in damages, the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history. 2007 – In Ankara, Turkey, the first of the Republic Protests took place, when hundreds of thousands of people protested against the possible presidential candidacy of incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. More anniversaries: April 13 – April 14 – April 15 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 15: Father Damien Day in Hawaii; Birthday of the Great Leader in North Korea 1738 – Serse, an opera by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel (pictured) loosely based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London. 1755 – A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson was first published, becoming one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. 1912 – The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty minutes after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 people. 1947 – Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the baseball color line, played his first game in Major League Baseball. 1955 – American restaurateur Ray Kroc opened the ninth McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, an occasion considered to be the founding of the present corporation. 1995 – At a GATT ministerial meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, representatives of 124 countries and the European Communities signed an agreement to establish the World Trade Organization. More anniversaries: April 14 – April 15 – April 16 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 16: Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. 1818 – The United States Senate ratified the Rush–Bagot Treaty, which laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary between the U.S. and British North America. 1919 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army launched the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania. 1947 – American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch (pictured) first described the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "cold war". 2001 – India and Bangladesh began a five-day conflict over their disputed border, which ended in a stalemate. 2007 – In one of the deadliest shooting incidents in United States history, a gunman killed 32 people and wounded over 20 more before committing suicide at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. More anniversaries: April 15 – April 16 – April 17 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 17: Palm Sunday (Christianity, 2011); Evacuation Day in Syria (1946) 1080 – On the death of his brother Harald III, Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized, became King of Denmark. 1907 – Construction started on the first ship in the Minas Geraes class, making Brazil the third country in the world to build a dreadnought battleship and sparking a South American naval arms race. 1961 – Armed Cuban exiles backed by the CIA invaded Cuba, landing in the Bay of Pigs, with the aim of overthrowing the Cuban government under Fidel Castro. 1975 – The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot (pictured) captured Phnom Penh, ending the Cambodian Civil War, and established Democratic Kampuchea. 1984 – British police officer Yvonne Fletcher was shot and killed while on duty during a protest outside the Libyan embassy in London's St James's Square, resulting in an eleven-day police siege of the building, and causing a breakdown of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Libya. More anniversaries: April 16 – April 17 – April 18 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 18: Independence Day in Zimbabwe (1980); Fast of the Firstborn begins at dawn and Passover begins at sunset (Judaism, 2011); Patriots' Day (Massachusetts and Maine, 2011) 1506 – Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, to replace the old basilica built in the 4th century, began. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott began a "midnight ride" from Boston to Lexington to warn residents about the impending arrival of British troops. 1906 – A major earthquake and resulting fires devastated San Francisco (damage pictured), killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than half of the city's population homeless. 1947 – In one of the largest non-nuclear single explosive detonations in history, the Royal Navy set off 4,000 tonnes of surplus ammunition in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the island of Heligoland, Germany. More anniversaries: April 17 – April 18 – April 19 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 19: Feast of Saint Alphege (Western Christianity) 1012 – After refusing to allow himself to be ransomed for his freedom by his Viking captors, Alphege (pictured) was beaten to death in Greenwich, now a suburb of London, the first Archbishop of Canterbury to die a violent death. 1782 – The States-General of the Dutch Republic received John Adams, and the house he had purchased in the Hague became the first United States embassy. 1943 – The Holocaust: Nazi troops entered the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews, sparking the first mass uprising in Poland against the Nazi occupation. 1984 – Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick's "Advance Australia Fair", a patriotic song that was first performed in 1878, officially replaced "God Save the Queen" as Australia's national anthem. 1995 – A car bomb destroyed much of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 people and injuring over 800 others. More anniversaries: April 18 – April 19 – April 20 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 20: Ridván begins at sunset (Bahá'í Faith); 4/20 (cannabis culture) 1535 – The appearance of sun dogs over Stockholm, Sweden, inspired the painting Vädersolstavlan (pictured), the oldest colour depiction of the city. 1818 – Four days after the Court of King's Bench in England upheld a murder suspect's right to trial by battle in Ashford v Thornton, the plaintiff declined to fight, allowing the defendant to go free. 1968 – British Member of Parliament Enoch Powell made his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech in opposition to immigration and anti-discrimination legislation, resulting in his removal from the Shadow Cabinet. 1978 – Soviet fighters shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902 after it violated Soviet airspace. 1999 – Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold embarked on a massacre, killing 13 people and wounding over 20 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado. More anniversaries: April 19 – April 20 – April 21 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 21: Maundy Thursday (Christianity, 2011); Grounation Day in the Rastafari movement; First day of Ridván in the Bahá'í Faith 753 BC – Romulus and Remus founded Rome, according to the calculations by Roman scholar Varro Reatinus. 1509 – Henry VIII became King of England, following the death of his father Henry VII, eventually becoming a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy. 1863 – After the Ottoman Empire exiled him from Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, began his twelve-day stay in the Garden of Ridván where he declared his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest". 1960 – Brasília (Cathedral of Brasilia pictured), a planned city primarily designed by architect and urban planner Lúcio Costa, was officially inaugurated, replacing Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil. 1975 – Nguyễn Văn Thiệu resigned as President of South Vietnam, and was replaced by Tran Van Huong, as communist forces closed in on victory. More anniversaries: April 20 – April 21 – April 22 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 22: Earth Day 1500 – Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral (pictured) and his crew landed in Brazil and claimed the land for Portugal. 1864 – The U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act, authorizing the minting of a two-cent coin, the first U.S. coin to bear the phrase "In God We Trust". 1915 – The Germans released chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres, killing over 5,000 soldiers within ten minutes by asphyxiation in the first large-scale successful use of poison gas in World War I. 1951 – Korean War: The People's Volunteer Army of China attacked positions occupied mainly by Australian and Canadian forces, starting the Battle of Kapyong. 2000 – In a predawn raid, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents seized six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida, and returned him to his Cuban father. More anniversaries: April 21 – April 22 – April 23 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 23: World Book and Copyright Day; St George's Day in various countries; Children's Day in Turkey; Holy Saturday (Christianity, 2011) 1348 – The first-ever appointments to the Order of the Garter, an order of chivalry founded by King Edward III of England and still bestowed on recipients in the Commonwealth realms, were announced. 1661 – Charles II was crowned King of England, Ireland, and Scotland at Westminster Abbey. 1942 – Second World War: In retaliation for the Royal Air Force bombing of Lübeck several weeks prior, the Luftwaffe began a series of bombing raids in England, starting with Exeter. 1961 – In the midst of the Algerian War, President Charles de Gaulle delivered a televised speech calling on the military personnel and civilians of France to oppose a coup d'état attempt against him. 2010 – Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer (pictured) signed the controversial anti-illegal immigration bill SB 1070 into law. More anniversaries: April 22 – April 23 – April 24 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 24: Republic Day in The Gambia (1970) 1479 BC – Thutmose III (statue pictured) became the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, although during the first 22 years of the reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut. 1800 – The Library of Congress, the de facto national library of the United States, was established as part of an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the nation's capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. 1916 – Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse began the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state. 1967 – The Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 1 crashed in Siberia during its return to Earth, killing cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, the first human to die during a spaceflight. More anniversaries: April 23 – April 24 – April 25 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 25: Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand; Red Hat Society Day 1644 – The Ming Dynasty of China fell when the Chongzhen Emperor (pictured) committed suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng. 1792 – The guillotine was first used to carry out capital punishment in France, with crowds marvelling at the machine's speed and precision. 1845 – Rioters burned down the building housing the Parliament of the Province of Canada while the members of the Legislative Assembly were sitting in session. 1915 – First World War: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Anzac Cove while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire. 1953 – Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids by molecular biologists James Watson and Francis Crick was first published in the scientific journal Nature, describing the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. More anniversaries: April 24 – April 25 – April 26 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 26: Feast Day of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Roman Catholic Church) 1865 – U.S. Army soldiers cornered and fatally shot John Wilkes Booth (pictured), the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, in rural northern Virginia, ending a twelve-day manhunt. 1944 – U.S. Navy submarines began attacks on Japan's Take Ichi convoy as it sailed in waters between Taiwan and the Philippines, eventually sinking four vessels and killing over 4,000 troops. 1956 – The SS Ideal X, the world's first container ship, set sail from Port Newark in New Jersey, beginning the international standardization of shipping containers. 1989 – An editorial was published in the People's Daily denouncing the recent unrest in Tiananmen Square, which would remain contentious through the remainder of the protests. 2002 – Expelled student Robert Steinhäuser murdered 16 people and wounded seven others before committing suicide at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium Erfurt in Erfurt, Germany. More anniversaries: April 25 – April 26 – April 27 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 27: Independence Day in Sierra Leone (1961); Freedom Day in South Africa 1777 – American Revolutionary War: British Army regulars defeated Patriot militias in the Battle of Ridgefield, galvanizing resistance in the Connecticut Colony. 1810 – Ludwig van Beethoven (pictured) composed his "Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor", better known as "Für Elise", one of his most popular compositions. 1967 – The Expo 67 world's fair opened in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with over 50 million visitors and 62 nations participating. 1992 – Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the British House of Commons. 1994 – Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress won a landslide victory in the first non-racial elections in the history of South Africa. More anniversaries: April 26 – April 27 – April 28 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 28: International Workers' Memorial Day; Heroes' Day in Barbados 1887 – A week after being arrested by the Prussian Secret Police, Alsatian police inspector Guillaume Schnaebelé (pictured) was released on order of German Emperor William I, defusing a possible war. 1949 – Former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, her daughter, and ten bystanders were assassinated by the military arm of the Philippine Communist Party. 1952 – Japan and the Republic of China signed the Treaty of Taipei to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War, seven years after fighting in that conflict ended due to World War II. 1975 – Chief of the South Vietnamese army Cao Van Vien fled the country as the North Vietnamese closed in on Saigon. 1994 – Former CIA counter-intelligence officer and analyst Aldrich Ames pleaded guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia. More anniversaries: April 27 – April 28 – April 29 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history
		April 29: Arbor Day in the United States (2011); Easter Friday (Christianity, 2011) 1587 – Anglo-Spanish War: In the Bay of Cádiz, Francis Drake (pictured) led the first of several naval raids on the Spanish Armada that destroyed so many ships that Philip II of Spain had to delay his plans to invade England for over a year. 1910 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public. 1945 – The Holocaust: The Seventh U.S. Army liberated Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, and allegedly wounded and killed German prisoners of war. 1946 – The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convened and indicted Hideki Tojo and 27 other Japanese leaders for war crimes. 2011 – A worldwide television audience of 300 million people watched the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London. More anniversaries: April 28 – April 29 – April 30 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history		April 30: National Persian Gulf Day in Iran; Queen's Day in the Netherlands; Consumer Protection Day in Thailand 1803 – The United States purchased France's claim to the Louisiana Territory (map pictured) for 78 million francs, or less than US$0.03 per acre. 1945 – World War II: As Allied forces were closing in on Berlin, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide in the Führerbunker after being married for one day. 1963 – A boycott was held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom. 1980 – Iranian Arab separatists captured the Iranian Embassy in London, beginning a six-day siege. 2009 – A Dutch man drove his car at high speed into a parade in an attempt to kill the Dutch royal family. More anniversaries: April 29 – April 30 – May 1 It is now February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page view – talk – edit – history

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Selected anniversaries/On this day archive
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December

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Recent changes to Selected anniversaries – Selected anniversaries editing guidelines

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It is now 14:21 on Thursday, February 9, 2012 (UTC) – Purge cache for this page