Today is.................

[Alikado]

World Rat Day

1581 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford

1768 – In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus.

1814 Napoleon abdicates for the first time in favour of his son

1828 Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder (Amsterdam)

1832 Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle reaches Rio de Janeiro

1841 – William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.

1859 – Bryant's Minstrels debut "Dixie" in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show.

1866 Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Dmitry Karakozov in the city of St. Petersburg

1873 – The Kennel Club is founded, the oldest and first official registry of purebred dogs in the world.

1896 Announcement of gold discovery in Yukon

1899 South Africa all out 35 vs England (Trott 4-19, Haigh 6-11)

1900 Assassination attempt on Prince of Wales, later British King Edward VII when shot by Jean-Baptiste Sipido in protest over Boer war

1918 Food riot in Amsterdam

1920 Arabs attack Jews in Jerusalem

1930 Les Ames makes the 1st Test Cricket century by a wicketkeeper (149)

1944 British troops capture Addis Ababa Ethiopia

1945 World War II: Soviet forces liberate Hungary from German occupation, establishing their own communist satellite state. This was celebrated as Liberation Day until 1989.

1945 The Holocaust: US forces liberate the Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany, the first such camp to be liberated by the US Army

1945 World War II: US Army occupies Bielefeld in north-eastern Germany

1949 – Cold War: Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

1958 1st march against nuclear weapons (Aldermaston, England) The CND Peace Symbol displayed in public for the first time in London

1967 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church.

1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969 Haskell Karp receives the 1st temporary artificial heart, implanted by surgeon Denton Cooley at Texas Heart Institute in Houston

1972 1st electric power plant fueled by garbage begins operating

1973 World Trade Center, then the world's tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories)

1975 Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800

1975 British sitcom "The Good Life" starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith debuts on BBC One

1981 26th Eurovision Song Contest: Bucks Fizz for United Kingdom wins singing "Making Your Mind Up" in Dublin

1987 Dow Jones up 69.89 points, ending at record 2,390.34 pts

1988 Last broadcast of "Crossroads" on British TV

1998 151st Grand National: Carl Llewellyn wins aboard Earth Summit; first GN winner who was also successful in both Scottish and Welsh Grand Nationals

1999 Jack Ma founds Chinese internet company Alibaba

2012 German Nobel Laureate, Günter Grass, publishes controversial poem that claims Israel is plotting to wipe out Iran

2014 President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, claims that climate change will lead to battles over water and food within the next five to ten years

2017 Pink Star diamond sets world record price of $71 million for a gem at an action in Hong Kong

2017 Alibaba becomes the world's largest retailer according to US Securities and Exchange Commission

2019 Amazon's Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos agree record-breaking $35 billion Divorce Settlement

Born today ;-

1913 – Muddy Waters, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1923 – Peter Vaughan, actorGame of Thrones, Remains of the Day, Porridge as "Genial" Harry Grout

1952 – Cherie Lunghi, actress and dancer

1960 – Jonathan Agnew, England cricketer and sportscaster

1969 – Karren Brady, journalist and businesswoman, Tv personality

1973 – David Blaine, American magician and producer

1979 – Heath Ledger, Australian actor

Died Today ;-

1406 Robert III, King of Scots (1390-1406), dies, succeeded by 12 year old son James I

1617 John Napier, Scottish mathematician and inventor (logarithms), dies from effects of gout at 67

1841 William Henry Harrison, 9th US President dies of pneumonia and becomes 1st president to die in office

1929 Karl Benz, German inventor, engine designer and automobile manufacturer (Mercedes-Benz), dies of bronchial inflammation at 84

1931 Andre Michelin, French industrialist, tire manufacturer and publisher of the Michelin Guide, dies at 78

1962 James Hanratty, executed at Bedford Prison, England, for the murder of Michael Gregsten

1968 Martin Luther King Jr

1983 Gloria Swanson, American actress (Airport 1975, Sunset Boulevard) and producer, dies of a heart ailment at 84

1995 Kenny Everett [Maurice James Christopher Cole], British TV personality and disc Jockey, dies at 50 of an AIDS related illness, born Seaforth

2007 Terry Hall, ventriloquist, Lenny the Lion dies at 80

[Alikado]

1424 Scottish King James I returns to Scotland after 18 years of detention at the English court

1614 American Indian princess Pocahontas and daughter of chief Powhatan marries English colonist John Rolfe

1621 Mayflower sails from Plymouth (Mass) on the return trip to England

1803 1st performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's 2nd Symphony in D

1806 Isaac Quintard patents apple cider

1874 Johann Strauss Jr's opera "Die Fledermaus" premieres in Vienna

1874 Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, opens in Birkenhead, designed by Joseph Paxton

1895 Oscar Wilde loses libel case against Marquess of Queensberry, who accused him of homosexual practices

1900 Attempted assassination of Edward Prince of Wales in Brussels, fails

1904 The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh & Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan

1915 Jess Willard KOs Jack Johnson in 26 for heavyweight boxing title

1919 Eamon de Valera becomes President of Dail Eireann

1919 Polish Army executes 35 young Jews

1923 Firestone Tire and Rubber Company starts producing inflatable tires

1927 Johnny Weissmuller set records in 100 & 200 m free style

1932 Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government

1938 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Dabrowa, Poland

1939 Membership of Hitler Youth becomes obligatory

1940 99th Grand National: 25/1 shot Bogskar ridden by Royal Air Force sergeant Mervyn Jones wins by 4 lengths from MacMoffat; last true Aintree GN before a 5-year break due to World War II

1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.

1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 936 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.

1943 Chinese steward Poon Lim is found off the coast of Brazil by a Brazilian fisherman family after being adrift 133 days, after British ship SS Benlomond torpedoed by german U-boat

1944 140 Lancasters bomb aircraft factory in Toulouse

1944 World War II: 270 inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans

1945 World War II: Dutch city of Almelo is freed by the Second Canadian Corps

1946 100th Grand National: Capt. Robert Petre wins aboard 25/1 shot Lovely Cottage; first true GN since 1940 due to World War II; last on a Friday

1962 St Bernard Tunnel finished-Swiss/Italians workers shake hands

1964 1st driverless trains run on London Underground

1971 Mount Etna erupts in Sicily

1976 Harold Wilson resigns as James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1982 Aircraft carriers Invincible and Hermes with escort vessels left Portsmouth for the Falkland Islands

1982 Lord Carrington, British foreign secretary resigns due to Falklands war

1999 Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.

2000 – 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final violence: Four Galatasaray fans are arrested for the stabbings to death of two Leeds United fans

2001: A Dutch lorry driver has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his part in the deaths of 58 Chinese illegal immigrants.

2063 Earth's 1st contact with the extra-terrestrial Vulcan species in the Star Trek universe

Born Today ;-

1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral

1827 – Joseph Lister, Pioneering English surgeon and academic

1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor

1908 Bette Davis, American actress (Of Human Bondage, Jezebel), born in Lowell, Massachusetts

1912 John Le Mesurier, British actor (The Italian Job, Jabberwocky, Dad's Army), born in Bedford

1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor, political activist, and producer

1917 Robert Bloch, American sci-fi author (Hugo, Psycho), born in Chicago

1920 Arthur Hailey, English novelist (Hotel, Airport), born in Luton

1922 – Tom Finney, England footballer, Preston Plumber.

1929 Nigel Hawthorne, English actor (Tartuffe, Pope John Paul II), born in Coventry

1945 – Tommy Smith, wasn't born, he was quarried, it was said that "Merseyside mothers kept his picture on the mantelpiece to keep their kids away from the fire". Another story stated that he "missed the 1978 European Cup Final after tripping on a pickaxe and injuring his foot. The pickaxe was a write-off"

1946 – Jane Asher, actress

1950 Agnetha Fältskog [Anna Ulvaeus], Swedish singer (ABBA), born in Jönköping, Sweden

1955 – Anthony Horowitz, Prolific author and screenwriter

1955 Janice Long, British radio host (Crash FM), born in Liverpool

1991 – Nathaniel Clyne, England footballer

Died Today ;-

1884 John Wisden, England cricketer (prominent Sussex player), dies at 57

1941 Sir Nigel Gresley, Steam locomotive engineer

1964 Douglas MacArthur, US general

1976 Howard Hughes, American reclusive billionaire, filmmaker and aviator, dies at 72

1984 Arthur Harris, British RAF Commanding Chief known as "Bomber/Butcher Harris" for commanding the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, dies at 91

1985 Arthur Negus, English antiques expert and broadcaster (Antiques Roadshow), dies at 82

1994 Kurt Cobain, American grunge rocker (Nirvana), commits suicide at 27 by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun

2006 Gene Pitney, American singer

2008 Charlton Heston, American actor (The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur), dies at 84

2012 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification

2018 Eric Bristow MBE ['The Crafty Cockney'], English darts player (BDO World Champion 1980-81, 84-86), dies of a heart attack at 60

[Alikado]

World Table Tennis Day

Plan Your Own Epitaph Day


1320 The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath

1722 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, ends tax on men with beards

1830 – Church of Christ, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement, is organized by Joseph Smith and others at either Fayette or Manchester, New York.

1843 William Wordsworth is appointed British Poet Laureate by Queen Victoria

1848 Jews of Prussia granted equality

1860 Joseph Smith III, creates the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by reorganizing the previous church organized by his father, Joseph Smith, Jr.

1868 Brigham Young Founder of Salt Lake City and President of the LDS Church marries his 27th & final wife

1869 – Celluloid is patented.

1877 British Open Men's Golf, Musselburgh Links: Jamie Anderson wins his first of 3 consecutive Championships; beats fellow Scot Bob Pringle by 2 shots

1889 George Eastman begins selling his Kodak flexible rolled film for the first time

1893 Andy Bowen & Jack Burke box 7 hrs 19 mins to no decision (111 rounds)

1893 Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City dedicated

1896 I Summer Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece; American athlete James Connolly Olympic becomes first modern Olympic champion when he wins the triple jump (then 2 hops and a jump); later 3rd in the long jump, 2nd in the high jump

1903 The Kishinev pogrom in Bessarabia begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Israel and the Western world.

1916 German parliament approves unrestricted submarine warfare

1917 US declares war on Germany, enters World War I

1920 To force German evacuation of the Ruhr area, the French occupy Frankfurt, Darmstadt, and Hanau

1925 1st film shown on an airplane (British Air)

1934 418 Lutheran ministers arrested in Germany

1938 Teflon invented by Roy J. Plunkett

1941 Italian forces holding Addis Ababa surrender to British & Ethiopian forces

1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece).

1943 British & US armies link up in Africa during WW II

1944 Jewish nursery at Izieu-Ain, France, overrun by Nazis

1945 The Holocaust: Nazis begin evacuating prisoners from Buchenwald concentration camp

1945 World War II: Dutch city of Coevorden freed from German occupation by Canadian forces

1945 Battle of Okinawa: Giant Japanese battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa with orders to beach herself and be destroyed defending the island

1945 – World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans.

1968 Gas and gunpowder explosions at sporting goods store, downtown Richmond, Indiana, kills 41 and injures more than 150

1972 The Scarman Tribunal Report, an inquiry into the causes of violence during the summer of 1969 in N Ireland, is published, finding that the Royal Ulster Constabulary had been seriously at fault

1974 19th Eurovision Song Contest: ABBA for Sweden wins singing "Waterloo" in Brighton

1980 Post It Notes introduced

1991 145th Grand National: In Canadian distillery Seagram's final year of race sponsorship, New Zealand-bred chestnut gelding Seagram wins

Born Today ;-

1483 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect

1920 – Jack Cover, American pilot and physicist, invented the Taser gun

1926 Ian Paisley, First Minister of Northern Ireland (Democratic Unionist Party: 2007-08), loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader, born in Armagh

1929 André Previn, German born conductor (London Symphony), film scorer (My Fair Lady) and pianist, born in Berlin

1938 – Paul Daniels, English magician and television host

1942 Anita Pallenberg, Italian model and actress credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones, born in Rome

1943 – Max Clifford, English journalist and publicist

1945 Rodney Bickerstaffe, English trade unionist (National Union of Public Employees), born in London

1961 – Rory Bremner, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter

1967 – Jonathan Firth, actor

1978 – Myleene Klass, singer, pianist, and model

1981 Robert Earnshaw, Welsh soccer striker (59 caps; scored hat-tricks in Premier League, Divisions 1, 2 & 3, FA Cup, League Cup and international match; Cardiff City), born in Mufulira, Zambia

1988 Fabrice Muamba, Anglo-Congolese footballer, played for Bolton Wanderers

Died Today ;-

1199 Richard I, the Lion-hearted, King of England (1189-99), dies at 41

1520 Raphael [Sanzio], Italian artist (Sistine Madonna, School of Athens), dies on his 37th birthday

1528 Albrecht Durer, German painter and graphic artist, dies in Germany at 56

1971 Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (Le Sacre du Printemps), dies of pneumonia at 88

1975 Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (1928-1975), dies at 87

1996 Greer Garson, British actress (Goodbye Mr Chips, Mrs Miniver), dies at 92

1998 Tammy Wynette, American country singer, dies at 55

2014 Mickey Rooney, American Emmy award-winning actor (Boys Town, The Black Stallion), dies at 93

2015 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter and conductor

[Alikado]

Beer Day

World Health Day

30 Scholars' estimate for Jesus' crucifixion by Roman troops in Jerusalem [or April 3]

1141 – Empress Matilda daughter of Henry I became the first female ruler of England, adopting the title 'Lady of the English'.

1712 Slave revolt in New York kills 6 white men, 21 African Americans executed

1724 Johann Sebastian Bach's "St John Passion" premieres at St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig.

1795 France adopts the metre as the basic measure of length

1805 Premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Eroica" (conducted by himself) at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

1827 English chemist John Walker invents wooden matches

1868 Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation is assassinated by the Irish, in one of the few Canadian political assassinations, and only federal politician

1906 Mount Vesuvius erupts and devastates Naples.

1923 1st brain tumor operation under local anesthetic performed (Beth Israel Hospital in NYC) by Dr K Winfield Ney

1926 Mussolini is shot at 3 times by Violet Gibson in Rome, she only hits him once in the nose

1927 Using phone lines the first long-distance public television broadcast (from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover).

1933 1st 2 NAZI anti-Jewish laws, bars Jews from legal & public service

1943 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Terebovlia, Germans order 1,100 Jews to undress and march through the city to the nearby village of Plebanivka, where they are shot and buried in ditches.

1945 Battle of Okinawa: Massive kamikaze attack of around 110 Japanese aircraft damages three US battleships off Okinawa island

1945 Sonderkommando Elbe, special Luftwaffe units designed to destroy Allied planes by ramming them mid-air, are sent on their first and only mission of World War II

1945 Battle of Okinawa: US planes intercept Japanese fleet heading for Okinawa on a suicide mission, super battleship Yamato and four destroyers are sunk

1948 World Health Organization formed by the United Nations

1949 – The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific opened on Broadway; it would run for 1,925 performances and win ten Tony Awards.

1951 105th Grand National: John Bullock wins aboard 40/1 shot Nickel Coin; of 36 runners, only 3 complete the course

1955 – Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health

1964 IBM announces the System/360.

1966 US recovers lost H-bomb from Mediterranean floor (whoops)

1969 The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1

1976 – Member of Parliament and suspected spy John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party (UK) after being arrested for faking his own death.

1983 Oldest human skeleton, aged 80,000 years, discovered in Egypt

1986: Home computing pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair sells rights to his machines to Amstrad The company owned and run by Alan Sugar in a £5m deal.

1997 150th Grand National: Tony Dobbin aboard New Zealand bred Lord Gyllene wins at 14/1 by 25 lengths; race postponed 2 days because of IRA bomb threat

1999 The World Trade Organisation rules in favor of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with the European Union over bananas

2001 154th Grand National: Richard Guest wins aboard Red Marauder; trainer Martin Pipe saddles 10 of 40-strong field, Blowing Wind best at 3rd place

2016 Longest-ever captured python found on Penang in Malaysia (26ft/8m)

2019 Rwanda marks 25 years and the beginning of 100 days of mourning since the genocide that killed 800,000 people

Born Today ;-

1770 – William Wordsworth, English poet

1915 Billie Holiday, [Eleanora Fagan], jazz singer (Lady Sings the Blues), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1920 – Ravi Shankar, Indian-American sitar player and composer

1928 – James Garner, American actor, singer, and producer

1930 Andrew Sachs, German-born British actor (Manuel in Fawlty Towers), born in Berlin

1939 – Francis Ford Coppola, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1939 David Frost, Tenterdon England, TV host (That Was the Week That Was)

1941 – Gorden Kaye, English actor born in Huddersfield

1945 – Martyn Lewis, Welsh journalist and author, newscaster

1954 – Jackie Chan, Hong Kong martial artist, actor, stuntman, director, producer, and screenwriter

1972 – Tim Peake, British astronaut

Died Today ;-

30 Jesus Christ is crucified, according to astronomer Schaefer

1307 Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I of England

1739 Dick Turpin, English highwayman (hanged) for horse stealing

1871 Alexander, grandson of English queen Victoria, dies at 1 day old

1891 P. T. [Phineas Taylor] Barnum, American circus promoter and showman (Barnum & Bailey), dies at 80

1947 Henry Ford, American industrialist and auto maker (Ford Model T), dies at 83

1968 Jim Clark, Scottish auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1965, world F1 Champion 1963, 65), dies in race accident at Hockenheim, Germany at 32

2010 George Nissen, American inventor (created the trampoline), dies at 96

2014 Peaches Geldof, English columnist and daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, dies of a heroin overdose at 25

2017 Tim Pigott-Smith, English actor (Jewel in Crown, King Charles III), dies at 70

[Alikado]

International Romani Day

217 Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.

1093 The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by bishop Walkelin

1740 – War of Jenkins' Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa, taken into service as HMS Princess.

1766 1st fire escape patented, wicker basket on a pulley & chain

1781 Premiere of Mozart's violin sonata K379

1801 Soldiers riot in Bucharest, kill 128 Jews

1802 French Protestant church becomes state-supported & -controlled

1820 The famous ancient Greek statue, Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Milos

1838 Steamship "Great Western" makes her maiden voyage from Bristol, England, to New York

1862 John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser

1879 Milk sold in glass bottles for 1st time

1886 William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.

1912 Steamers collide on the Nile, drowning 200

1916 Norway approves active & passive female suffrage

1931 Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "The Arrow" premieres

1933 Manchester Guardian warns of unknown Nazi terror

1940 German battle cruisers sink British aircraft carrier Glorious

1945 Nazi occupiers executed, Nazi general Christiansen flees Netherlands

1946 League of Nations assembles for last time

1953 Jomo Kenyatta convicted of involvement with the Mau Mau rebellion and sentenced to 7 years jail in Kenya

1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.

1961 British liner "Dara" explodes in Persian Gulf, kills 236

1967 121st Grand National: John Buckingham aboard rank 100/1 outsider Foinavon avoids famous carnage to win by 15 lengths from favourite Honey End

1967 12th Eurovision Song Contest: Sandie Shaw for United Kingdom wins singing "Puppet on a String" in Vienna

1972 126th Grand National: Graham Thorner aboard 14/1 bet Well To Do wins from 1970 winner Gay Trip; Black Secret & General Symons dead heat for 3rd

1990 Norwegian ferry Scandinavian Star catches fire; 159 people die

1997: BBC TV newsman turns politician, Veteran war reporter Martin Bell vows to defeat disgraced Conservative MP Neil Hamilton in the battle for Tatton.

2019 14 tons of black market Pangolin scales from 36,000 animals discovered in Singapore, one of largest ever found worldwide

Born Today ;-

563 Gautama Buddha's birthday, the founder of Buddhism, is commonly celebrated on this day

1605 – Mary Stuart, English-Scottish princess was the third daughter and sixth child of James VI and I, the first king of a unified England, Scotland and Ireland, She developed pneumonia at 17 months

1889 – Adrian Boult, conductor many top orchestras. Born Chester

1892 – Mary Pickford (Gladys Louise Smith ), Canadianactress, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded United Artists

1918 Betty [Bloomer] Ford, US 1st lady (1974-77) and founder of the Betty Ford Center clinic, born in Chicago

1941 Dame Vivienne Westwood, Tintwistle Derbyshire, English fashion designer

1943 James Herbert, horror writer (The Rats), born in London

1963 Julian Lennon, singer (Too Late for Goodbyes) and son of John, born in Liverpool

Died Today ;-

1861 Elisha Otis, American founder of the Otis Elevator Company and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails, dies of diphtheria at 50

1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Legendary Ballet dancer and choreographer

1957 Frank Chester, cricketer (distinguished 1-armed Engl Test ump)

1969 Denton Cooley, heart transplant patient, received 1st fully artificial heart, dies at 48

1973 Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter (The Young Ladies of Avignon, Guernica), dies at 91

2010 Malcolm McLaren, British music manager and musician, dies of cancer at 64

2013 Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister (1979 - 1990) dies aged 87

[Alikado]

1413 Henry V is crowned King of England.

1483 Edward V (aged 12) succeeds his father Edward IV as king of England. He is never crowned, and disappears presumed murdered, after incarceration in the Tower of London with his younger brother Richard (the "Princes in the Tower")

1731 British mariner Robert Jenkins' ear cut off by Spanish Guarde Costa in the Caribbean, later catalyst for war between Britain & Spain - The War of Jenkins Ear.

1784 – The Treaty of Paris, ratified by the United States Congress on January 14, 1784, is ratified by King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain, ending the American Revolutionary War

1829 Danzig (Gdansk) dike break flood kills 1,200

1838 UK National Gallery re-opens in its new dedicated building in Trafalgar Square

1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

1916 The Libau sets sail from Germany with a cargo of 20,000 rifles to assist Irish republicans; Captain Karl Spindler changes the name of the vessel to the Aud to avoid British detection

1917 Battle of Arras begins

1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun: German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.

1917 Vimy Ridge in France stormed by Canadian troops

1918 – World War I: The Battle of the Lys: The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps is crushed by the German forces during what is called the Spring Offensive on the Belgian region of Flanders.

1940 German cruiser Blucher torpedoed and capsizes in Oslofjord, 1,000 die

1940 – World War II: Operation Weserübung: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders after a six-hour battle

1940 – Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norway.

1942 Battle of Bataan; US-Filipino forces overwhelmed by Japanese at Bataan, An Indian Ocean raid by Japan's 1st Air Fleet which sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and the Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire.

1945 Battleship Admiral Scheer sunk by RAF bombing in Kiel

1945 Liberty ship at Bari Italy carrying aerial bombs explodes, kills 360

1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis.

1965 Beatles "Ticket to Ride" is released

1967 1st Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight

1969 1st flight of Concorde 002 (Filton-Fairford)

1983 137th Grand National: Ben de Haan wins aboard 13/1 bet Corbiere; Jenny Pittman first female GN winning trainer

1992 John Major elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after his Conservative Party wins the most votes in British electoral history

2002 Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at Westminster Abbey UK.

2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall.

2011 164th Grand National: Jason Maguire wins aboard Irish 14/1 shot Ballabriggs; first GN win for trainer Donald McCain Jr., son of 4-time winning trainer Ginger McCain

Born Today ;-

1806 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (SS Great Britain, Great Western Railway), born in Portsmouth

1898 Paul Robeson, American singer (Old Man River), actor and civil rights activist, born in Princeton, New Jersey

1906 Hugh Gaitskell, British politician (Leader of the Labour Party), born in Kensington, London

1917 Vincent O'Brien, Irish racehorse trainer, born in Churchtown, County Cork

1920 Alexander Moulton, English engineer and bicycle designer (folding bicycle), born in Stratford-upon-Avon

1926 Hugh Hefner, American magazine publisher

1932 Cheetah [Cheeta, Cheta, Chita], chimpanzee actor (1930s Tarzan franchise),

1932 – Peter Moores, English businessman and philanthropist, Son of Sir John.

1932 Carl Perkins, American singer and songwriter (Blue Suede Shoes), born in Jackson, Tennessee

1937 Valerie Singleton, British broadcaster (Blue Peter), born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire

1941 Hannah Gordon, British actress (Oh Alfie, Crossroads), born in Edinburgh

1954 Iain Duncan Smith, politician, Leader of the Conservative Party (2001-03), born in Edinburgh

1957 Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (British Open 1979, 84, 88, US Masters 1980, 83), born in Pedreña, Spain

1974 – Jenna Jameson, American actress and pornographic performer

1975 Robbie Fowler, footballer (Liverpool), born in Toxteth

1990 Marston Glenn Hefner, son of Hugh Hefner

Died Today ;-

1483 Edward IV, King of England (1461-70, 71-83), dies of unknown causes at 40

1484 Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales (b. 1473), son of Richard III King of England

1626 Francis Bacon, English statesman and philosopher, dies from pneumonia at 65

1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologist/antifascist, hanged
1945 Hans Oster, German major general, spy and "July 20th plot", hanged at 57
1945 Hans von Dohnanyi, "July 20th plotter", hanged
1945 Wilhelm Canaris, Admiral/headed Germany Abwehr, hanged
1945 Georg Elser, German failed assassin of Hitler, dies at Dachau concentration camp at 42

1978 Clough Williams-Ellis, architect knownas the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales, dies at 94

[Alikado]

Good Friday

International Safety Pin Day

Siblings Day

1516 1st Jewish ghetto established: Venice compels Jews to live in a specific area

1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.

1815 Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption blew 150 cubic km into the atmosphere killing around 71,000 people, causing global volcanic winter. The effects were felt worldwide, 1816 was "the year without a summer". Crops failed across Asia and up to 90,000 people probably died of famine. It was the second-coldest year in the Northern Hemisphere since 1400 and parts of North America experienced frost and snow in June and July.

1816 Samuel Taylor Coleridge recites his poem "Kubla Khan" to fellow poet Lord Byron, who persuades him to publish it

1845 More than 1,000 buildings damaged by fire in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1849 Safety pin patented by Walter Hunt (NYC); sold rights for $400

1849 Safety pin patented by Walter Hunt (NYC); sold rights for $400

1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

1868 1st performance of Johannes Brahms' "A German Requiem"

1896 Spyridon Louis of Greece wins inaugural Olympic marathon (2:58:50) in Athens; runs last lap accompanied by Constantine I

1912 RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton for her maiden (and final) voyage

1923 Adolf Hitler demands "hatred & more hatred" in Berlin

1932 Paul von Hindenburg is re-elected President of Germany in a runoff election against Adolf Hitler

1935 Vaughan Williams' 4th Symphony premieres in London

1938 NY makes syphilis test mandatory in order to get a marriage license

1939 Colijn's Dutch government opens camp Westerbork for German Jews

1940 Vidkun Quisling forms Norwegian "national government"

1943 12 Jewish patients of Herren Loo-Lozenoord escape nazis

1943 General Montgomery occupies Sfax, Tunisia

1944 Soviet forces liberate Odessa from Nazis

1954 Wales beats Scotland, 15-3 at the St. Helen's Ground, Swansea to share Five Nations Rugby Championship with France and England; France's first title

1955 Ruth Ellis shoots jilting lover David Blakely (last woman to be executed in the UK)

1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.

1963 USS Thresher, a nuclear powered submarine, sinks 220 miles east of Boston killing 129 men, including 17 civilians

1981 Imprisoned Provisional IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands elected to British Parliament for Northern Ireland county of Fermanagh and South Tyrone

1996 Fastest wind speed ever recorded (not a tornado) 408 km/h (220 kn; 253 mph; 113 m/s) during tropical cyclone Olivia on Barrow Island, Australia

1998 The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement for Northern Ireland is signed by the British and Irish governments

2005 At 16 years, 271 days James Vaughan scores for Everton in a 4-0 win against Crystal Palace at Goodison Park; becomes youngest goalscorer in EPL history

2012 Apple Inc claims a value of $600 billion making it the largest company by market capitalization in the world

2019 China announces move to cull more than 1 million pigs in effort to eliminate African swine fever

2019 New species of human announced named Homo luzonensis, 3ft tall, remains dated 50-60,000 years old found in cave on island of Luzon, Philippines

Born Today ;-

1512 James V, King of Scotland (1513-42), born in Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow

1829 William Booth, English preacher and founder (Salvation Army), born in Sneinton, Nottingham

1916 Alfie Bass [Abraham Basalinsky], British actor (Moonraker, Are You Being Served), born in London

1921 Chuck Connors, American author, actor (The Rifleman, Branded, Cowboy in Africa), professional basketball and baseball player, born in Brooklyn

1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver

1932 Omar Sharif [Michel Dimitri Shalhoub], Egyptian actor (Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia), born in Alexandria

1933 Poncie Ponce, American actor (Kazuo Kim-Hawaiian Eye), born in Maui, Hawaii

1940 Gloria Hunniford [Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford], British broadcaster and actress (Old Curiosity Shop), born in Portadown

1942 – Ian Callaghan, England footballer born in Toxteth most appearences for LFC

1955 Lesley Garrett, English soprano singer, born in Thorne, Doncaster

1984 Zoe, 1st frozen-embryo child, born in Melbourne Australia

1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano

1992 – Sadio Mané, Senegalese footballer

1992 Daisy Ridley, English actress (Star Wars: the Force Awakens), born in London

Died Today ;-

879 Louis II the Stammerer, King of the West Franks

1585 Gregory XIII [Ugo Boncompagni], Italian pope (1572-85) who introduced the Gregorian (New Style) calendar in 1582, dies at 83

1927 Ivo Bligh, British noble (8th Earl of Darnley) and cricketer (Lord Darnley England capt v Australia 1882-83), dies at 68

1954 Auguste Lumière, French photograph and movie pioneer, dies at 81

1962 Stuart Sutcliffe, bassist (Beatles), dies of brain hemorrhage at 21, left the Beatles to become an artist.

1966 Evelyn Waugh, British writer (Black Mischief), dies at 62

2003 Little Eva [Eva Boyd], American pop singer (Locomotion), dies of cervical cancer at 59

2014 – Sue Townsend, author and playwright (Aidrian Mole)

2015 Richie Benaud, Australian cricket captain, broadcaster (62 Tests, 248 wickets), dies of skin cancer at 84

2016 Howard Marks, British drug dealer and author (Mr Nice), dies at 70

[Alikado]

International Louie Louie Day

World Parkinson's Day

1471 Wars of the Roses: King Edward IV of England siezes London from Henry VI

1689 William III & Mary II crowned as joint rulers of England, Scotland and Ireland

1727 – Premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion BWV 244b at the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig

1750 Jack Slack retains Champion of England boxing title, beats Frenchman Jean Petit in 7 rounds in Harlston, England; acknowledged as first international prize fight

1814 Napoleon abdicates unconditionally; he is exiled to Elba

1881 River ferry "Princess Victoria" sinks in Thames River, Ontario, 180 die

1891 8-year old Jewish tailor's daughter disappears in Greece, rumor spreads that she was a Christian girl ritually killed by Jews

1900 The first modern submarine designed and built by John Philip Holland is purchased by the U.S. Navy

1908 – SMS Blücher, the last armored cruiser to be built by the Imperial German Navy, launches.

1909 Establishment of Tel Aviv by Jewish settlers (named 1910)

1912 RMS Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland, for NY

1933 Hermann Goering becomes Premier of Prussia

1941 Germany blitzes Coventry

1941 Jewish Weekly newspaper taken control by Nazis

1941 Nazi occupiers in Netherlands confiscate Jewish assets

1943 Frank Piasecki, Vertol founder, flies his 1st (single-rotor) craft

1944 RAF bombs census bureau in The Hague

1945 SS burns & shoots 1,100 at Gardelegen

1945 US captures Tsugen Shima

1945 Four soldiers in the Sixth Armored Division of the US Third Army liberate the Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald

1945 US troops conquers Mulheim, Oberhausen, Bochum, Unna, Essen

1950 US B-29 bomber shot down over Latvia

1951 – The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey.

1957 Ryan X-13 Vertijet becomes 1st jet to take-off & land vertically

1961 Trial of Adolf Eichmann for war crimes in World War II begins in Jerusalem

1976 The Apple I computer, created by Steve Wozniak is released

1977 Ireland sets fishing zone at 50 mile

1981 – A massive riot in Brixton, south London results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.

1983 In the first 'supergrass' trial in Northern Ireland, fourteen Ulster Volunteer Force members are jailed for a total of two hundred years

2000 South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is sacked after admitting dishonesty following match-fixing allegations in India

2006 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium

2013 Two women are beheaded for sorcery in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea

2019 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London by police and arrested on failure to appear in court on US extradition charges

Born Today ;-

1755 – James Parkinson, English surgeon, geologist, and paleontologist (Parkinsons Disease)

1819 – Charles Hallé, German-English pianist and conductor, Founded The Halle Orchestra and invented the Mechanical Page Turner

1908 – Dan Maskell, English tennis player and sportscaste

1937 – Jill Gascoine, actress and author (The Gentle Touch)

1946 'Whispering' Bob Harris,radio & Tv presenter (The Old Grey Whistle Test, Time Out), born in Northampton

1960 – Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television presenter

1966 – Lisa Stansfield, singer-songwriter and actress

Died Today ;-

1240 Llywelyn ab Iorwerth the Great, monarch of Wales (1194-1240)

1890 Joseph Merrick, "The Elephant Man", dies of asphyxia at 27

Diana Magdalene Roloff known professionally as Diana Darvey, was a British actress, singer and dancer, best known for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show.

2001 Harry Secombe, Welsh actor, comedian, singer and goon (The Goon Show, Oliver!), dies of cancer at 79

[Alikado]

Easter Sunday

International Day of Human Space Flight

1385 Willem van Oostervant of Bavaria weds Philip the Bold's daughter Marguerite (10)

1606 England adopts the Union Flag, replaced in 1801 by current Union Flag the Union Jack

1831 – Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge over the river Irwell in Salford, cause it to collapse, twenty were injured, including six who suffered severe injuries

1872 Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (1 dead/$1,500)

1892 George C Blickensderfer patents portable typewriter

1905 French Dufaux brothers test helicopter

1908 Fire makes 17,000 homeless in Chelsea, Massachusetts

1911 1st non-stop London-Paris flight (Pierre Prier in 3h56m)

1919 British Parliament passes a 48-hour work week with minimum wages

1930 4th Test Cricket WI v England ends in a draw after nine days Wilfred Rhodes ends Test Cricket career aged 52 years 165 days

1934 – The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed.

1935 First flight of the Bristol Blenheim

1937 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby

1938 1st US law requiring medical tests for marriage licenses (NY)

1942 Japan kills about 400 Filipino officers in Bataan

1943 Allies conquer Soussa, North-Africa

1945 – World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reached Tangermünde—only 50 miles from Berlin.

1945 Canadian troops liberate Nazi concentration camp Westerbork, Netherlands

1945 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office and Vice President Harry Truman is sworn in as 33rd US President

1954 Bill Haley and the Comets record "Rock Around Clock"

1954 Joe Turner releases "Shake, Rattle & Roll"

1955 Polio vaccine tested by Dr Jonas Salk announced to be 'safe and effective'

1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit Earth (Vostok 1)

1966 1st B-52 bombing on North Vietnam

1975 Six Catholic civilians are killed in a Ulster Volunteer Force gun and grenade attack on Strand Bar in Belfast

1970 – Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.

1990 1st meeting of East German democratically elected parliament, acknowledges responsibility for the Holocaust and asks for forgiveness

1992 Euro Disney (Disneyland Paris) opens in Marne-la-Vallee, France

2014 – The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying over 2,000 homes.

Born Today ;-

1925 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer, and screenwriter, Pingwings, Pogles' Wood, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers and Bagpuss

1929 Elspet Gray, Lady Rix, Scottish actress (4 Weddings & a Funeral, Solo, Tenko), born in Inverness

1932 Tiny Tim [Herbert Khaury], American musician (Tiptoe Through The Tulips), born in Manhattan

1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English director and playwright

1941 Bobby Moore, English football defender (108 caps; captain World Cup 1966; West Ham United), born in Barking

1942 Jacob Zuma, South African politician, President of South Africa (2009-), born in Nkandla

1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author

1948 – Jeremy Beadle, English television host and producer

1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist, The Partridge Family

1979 Paul Nicholls, English actor (EastEnders), born in Bolton

1990 – Francesca Halsall, swimmer, Olympian, multi medal winner European & Commonwealth Games, multi record holder distances & Styles, Born Southport

Died Today ;-

1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt

1975 Josephine Baker, revue artist (Folies-Bergere), dies at 68
A symbol of the Jazz Age, Josephine Baker became a star of the theatre in 1920s Paris. She first danced in Paris in 1925 before becoming a sensation the next year when she performed her now famous "Danse Sauvage" at the Folies Bergère cabaret hall wearing just a skirt of bananas. During WWII was a Spy & member of the Resistance for this she was awarded a number of honors by France including the French Legion by General Charles de Gaulle.

1981 Joe Louis, [Brown bomber], US heavyweight boxing champion (1937-49), dies of cardiac arrest at 66

1989 Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (world welterweight champion 1946-51; middleweight champion 1951-52, 55, 58), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 67

2020 Stirling Moss
Tim Brooke Taylor

[Alikado]

1742 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" performed for the 1st time at New Music Hall in Dublin

1829 – The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 gives Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom the right to vote and to sit in Parliament.

1869 Steam power brake patented (George Westinghouse)

1912 Royal Flying Corps forms (later Royal Air Force)

1919 British troops open fire on demonstrators in Amritsar, India, killing 350

1934 4.7 million US families report receiving welfare payments

1940 Second battle of Narvik; 3 German destroyers and one U-boat sunk by the Royal Navy, 5 more German destroyers scuttled.

1941 Heavy German assault on Tobruk

1943 – World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyn Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London from the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.

1944 Transport #71 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany

1945 Canadian army liberates Teuge & Assen, Netherlnds

1945 Red Army occupies Vienna

1945 – World War II: German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen, Germany.

1945 US Marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa

1945 Canadian soldier Léo Major single-handedly liberates Dutch town of Zwolle by fooling Germans into thinking a raid had begun

1948 – In an ambush, 78 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital, and a British soldier, are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah. This event came to be known as the Hadassah medical convoy massacre.

1954 Robert Oppenheimer, Physicist and Father of the Atomic Bomb accused of being a communist

1997 – Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

2014 Manny Pacquiao defeats Timothy Bradley to regain his WBO welterweight boxing title

2015 Migrant ship carrying around 550 sinks off the Libyan coast, about 400 drown

2019 Australian super-horse Winx ends extraordinary career with a 3rd Queen Elizabeth Stakes win in Sydney; 33 consecutive race wins, a world record 25 Group One victories and $26.4 million prize money

2019 World's largest plane by wingspan at 117m (385 ft), the Stratolaunch, built as a flying launch pad for satellites, takes its first flight from Mojave, California

Born Today ;-

1570 Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator who was convicted in the "Gunpowder Plot" to blow up the British Parliament, born in York

1780 Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer (inventor of the screw-pile lighthouse), born in Dublin

1832 James Wimshurst, British designer and inventor (electrostatic generator), born in Poplar, England

1852 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, American businessman, founded the F. W. Woolworth Compan

1866 Butch Cassidy [Robert LeRoy Parker], American desperado (Wild Bunch Passage), born in Beaver, Utah

1892 Arthur Harris, British RAF Commanding Chief known as "Bomber/Butcher Harris" for commanding the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, born in Cheltenham

1906 Samuel Beckett, Irish novelist and playwright (Waiting for Godot, Nobel 1969), born in Foxrock, Ireland

1937 Edward Fox, English actor (The Day of the Jackal, Gandhi), born in Chelsea

1939 – Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate

1940 – Max Mosley, English racing driver and engineer, co-founded March Engineering, former president of the FIA

1951 Peter Davison, English actor (fifth Doctor in Doctor Who, All Creatures Great and Small), born in London

1952 – Jonjo O'Neill, Irish jockey and trainer, born in Cork

1953 Brigitte Macron, French teacher and wife of politician Emmanuel Macron, born in Amiens, France

1963 – Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player

Died Today ;-

862 – Donald I, king of the Picts suceeded Brother Kenneth I

1983 – Gerry Hitchens, England footballer, one of the first to play in Italy

2006 Muriel Spark, Scottish author (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), dies at 88

[Alikado]

1471 – In England, the Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne.

1895 1st performance of Gustav Mahler's (incomplete) 2nd Symphony

1903 Dr Harry Plotz discovers vaccine against typhoid

1912 RMS Titanic hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland

1927 The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden

1935 Black Sunday: Severe sandstorm ravages the US Midwest, creating the "Dust Bowl"

1936 French singer Édith Piaf questioned after nightclub owner and her patron Louis Leplée murdered in Paris

1939 John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published

1940 – World War II: Royal Marines land in Namsos, Norway in preparation for a larger force to arrive two days later.

1941 1st massive German raid in Paris, 3,600 Jews rounded up

1941 – World War II: German general Erwin Rommel attacks Tobruk.

1942 – Malta receives the George Cross for its gallantry. The George Cross was given by King George VI himself and is now an emblem on the Maltese national flag

1944 1st Jews transported from Athens arrive at Auschwitz
1944 Freighter "Fort Stikene" explodes in Bombay India, killing 1,376

1945 American planes bomb Tokyo & damage the Imperial Palace

1945 World War II: US 7th Army & allies forces capture Nuremberg & Stuttgart in Germany

1958 Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 with space dog Laika aboard burns up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere

1972 The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes twenty-four bombs in towns and cities across Northern Ireland

1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded (1 kilogram (2.2 lb)) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.

1999 A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$1.7 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.

2003 The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%

2012 165th Grand National: Daryl Jacob wins aboard Neptune Collonges; beats Sunnyhillboy in a photo finish and the closest ever GN finish

2014 – Two hundred seventy-six schoolgirls are abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria.

Born Today ;-

1819 Charles Hallé, Anglo-German pianist, conductor and founder (Halle Orchestra), born in Hagen, Westphalia

1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, youngest child of Quenn Victoria

1904 – (Sir) John Gielgud, English actor, director, and producer

1917 – Valerie Hobson, ?Irish actress, wife of John Profumo

1929 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter Four Feather Falls, Fireball XL5, Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO, Space: 1999, Terrahawks, Joe 90

1932 – Loretta Lynn, American singer-songwriter and musician

1932 Bob Grant [Robert St Clair Grant], British actor, comedian and writer (on the Buses), born in Hammersmith

1933 – Paddy Hopkirk, Northern Irish racing driver

1941 Julie Christie, British actress (Darling, Doctor Zhivago), born in Chukua, Assam, India

1944 – John Sergeant, English journalist, Tv & Radio broadcaster

1951 – Julian Lloyd Webber, English cellist, conductor, and educator

Died Today ;-

1759 George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque composer and organist (Messiah, Water Music), dies at 74

1985 Noele Gordon, British actress (Crossroads) dies at 65

1988 John Stonehouse, British politician

1999 Anthony Newley, British actor and singer-songwriter (Doctor Dolittle; Goldfinger theme; Willy Wonka score), dies at 67

2000 Wilf Mannion, England footballer

2001 Jim Baxter, Scottish footballer

2015 – Percy Sledge, American singer

[Alikado]

Hillsborough Disaster Memorial

Universal Day of Culture

World Art Day

1250 Pope Innoncent III refuses Jews of Cordova, Spain, request to build a synagogue

1534 Thomas Cromwell is appointed Chief Secretary to King Henry VIII of England

1729 Johann Sebastian Bach's "St Matthew Passion" premieres in Leipzig

1738 Premiere in London of "Serse", an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel

1755 Samuel Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" published

1776 Duchess of Kingston found guilty of bigamy

1793 Bank of England issues first £5 note

1802 William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy see a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".

1865 Abraham Lincoln is shot by actor John Wilkes Booth attending the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington

1874 First 'Impressionist' exhibition opens in Paris, features Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot

1896 I Summer Olympic Games close in Athens, Greece; USA wins gold medal count, 11; Greece wins total medal count, 46

1912 RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the loss of between 1,490 and 1,635 people

1921 Black Friday in Britain: leaders of transport and rail unions announce a decision not to call for strike action in support of the miners; despite widespread feeling decision a breach of solidarity and a betrayal of the miners

1923 Insulin becomes generally available for diabetics

1936 – First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.

1940 British troops land at Narvik, Norway

1941 – In the Belfast Blitz, two-hundred bombers of the German Luftwaffe attack Belfast, killing around one thousand people.

1942 George VI awards George Cross to people of Malta

1945 British Army liberates Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen

1945 US troops liberates Colditz

1952 The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress prototype

1955 – McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

1986 Viv Richards century off 56 balls v England on home ground, Antigua

1989 – Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.

1997 Fire sweeps through a campsite of Muslims making the Hajj pilgrimage; the official death toll is 343.

2010 Volcanic ash from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland leads to the closure of airspace over most of Europe.

2019 Measles cases jump 300% in first three months of 2019, according to World Health Organization, largest rise in Africa (700%) with 800 deaths in Madagascar

2019 Paris cathedral Notre Dame catches fire, toppling its spire and destroying its roof

Born Today ;-

1367 – Henry IV of England

1452 – Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, inventor and architect

1469 Guru Nanak, Founder of the religion of Sikhism and the 1st Sikh Guru, born in Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi, Punjab, Pakistan

1845 Dave Gregory, Australian cricketer (Australia's 1st Test captain), born in Fairy Meadow, New South Wales

1890 – Percy Shaw, Halifax road contractor, invented the cat's eye

1894 Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1953-64), born in Kalinovka, Russia, 7th Premier of the Soviet Union

1901 – Joe Davis, snooker player (World Champion 1927-40, 1946), born in Whitwell, Derbyshire

1912 Kim Il-sung, Founder, dictator and Supreme Leader of North-Korea (1948-94), born in Mangyongdae, Japanese Korea

1939 – Marty Wilde, English singer-songwriter and actor, father of rocker Kim Wilde

1940 – Jeffrey Archer, English author, playwright, and politician

1955 Dodi Fayed, Egyptian businessman who died in a car crash in Paris with Princess Diana, born in Alexandria, Egypt

1959 – Emma Thompson, English actress, comedian, author, activist and screenwriter

1966 – Samantha Fox, Model, singer-songwriter and actress, Page 3 Girl

1990 Emma Watson, English actress (Hermione Granger-Harry Potter Series), born in Paris

1997 Maisie Williams, English actress (Game of Thrones), born in Bristol

Died Today ;-

1053 Godwin, Earl of Wessex

1865 Abraham Lincoln, 16th American President, dies from gunshot wounds at 56

1912 Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic, dies when the ship sinks in the Atlantic Ocean aged 62
Jack Phillips, telegraphist
Wallace Hartley, violinist and bandleader from Colne
James Paul Moody, Sixth Officer
William McMaster Murdoch
Henry Tingle Wilde, English chief officer
Thomas Andrews, Irish shipbuilder

1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author, Nobel Prize

1982 Arthur Lowe, British actor (Dad's Army, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Ruling Class), dies following a stroke at 66

1984 Tommy Cooper, British comedian and magician, collapses and dies on stage at 61

1988 Kenneth Williams, British actor (Hancock's Half Hour, Carry On films), dies of an overdose at 61

1990 Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (Anna Karenina, Camille), dies at 84

1993 George Frederick Ives, British Canadian army veteran, last survivor of the Boer War, dies at 111

1993 Leslie Charteris, British mystery writer (Saint), dies at 85

1994 John Curry OBE, British figure skater (Olympic gold, World C'ship gold, European C'ship gold 1976), dies from AIDS at 44

1998 Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (1976-79) and revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge (1963-97), dies at 72

2009 Clement Freud, German born writer, broadcaster and former liberal MP, dies at 84

[Alikado]

World Voice Day

1705 Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge

1746 Jacobite Rising 1745: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.

1797 Spithead Mutiny begins: British Royal Navy sailors protest over living and working conditions and pay near Portsmouth

1854 Steamer "Long Beach" sinks off Long Beach NY, 311 die

1871 German Empire ends all anti-Jewish civil restrictions

1912 Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.

1918 The British House of Commons passes a new Military Service Bill, taking men up to 55 years old and extending to Ireland

1922 Annie Oakley sets women's record by breaking 100 clay targets in a row

1943 – Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.

1943 40 NZ bombers attack Haarlem, Netherlands (85 killed)

1944 – World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people. This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.

1945 World War II: Dutch town of Arnhem, site of failed Operation Market Garden, is freed by British and Canadian forces

1945 German troops in Groningen surrender

1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.

1945 US troops enter Nuremberg

1945 – More than 7,000 die when the German refugee ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.

1945 US troops land on He Shima, Okinawa

1945 Colditz Castle, the high-security prisoner of war camp in Germany, is liberated by American troops

1946 NSB mayor of Rotterdam, Netherlands, FE Muller sentence to 100 years in jail

1947 Texas City, Texas, the French ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up, devastating the town. Another ship, the Highflyer, exploded the following day. The explosions and resulting fires killed more than 500 people and left 200 others missing.

1948 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris

1951 submarine HMS Affray sank in English Channel, killing 75

1953 British royal yacht Britannia launched by Queen Elizabeth II

1956 1st solar powered radios go on sale

1962 Bob Dylan debuted his song "Blowin' in the Wind" at Gerde's Folk City in New York.

1964 9 men sentenced 25-30 years for Britain's 1963 "Great Train Robbery"

1987 British Conservative MP Harvey Proctor appears at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London charged with three acts of gross indecency with one male and one act of gross indecency with another - both teenagers. Lurid allegations surrounding Mr Proctor's sex life surfaced last September when allegations appeared in a Sunday newspaper claiming he had organised gay spanking sessions with boys in his London flat.

1996 Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were getting a divorce.

2004 The super liner Queen Mary 2 embarks on her first Transatlantic crossing, linking the golden age of ocean travel to the modern age of ocean travel.

2007 Virginia Tech massacre: The deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, kills 32 people and injures 23 others before committing suicide.

2014 South Korean ferry MV Sewol sinks on route Incheon to Jeju, 304 drown, mostly students. National controversy erupts over rescue efforts and actions of crew and owner.

Born Today ;-

1800 George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, British army officer (Charge of the Light Brigade)

1867 Wilbur Wright, American aviator

1878 – R. E. 'Tip' Foster, England cricketer and footballeronly man to have captained England at both sport, (287 on debut England v Aust SCG 1903), one of seven brothers who played for Worcestershire, 4 other close reletives also played.

1889 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and composer

1911 Guy Burgess, English-born Soviet spy, born in Devonport

1918 Spike Milligan, actor and comedian (The Goon Show, 3 Musketeers), born in Ahmednagar, India

1921 – Peter Ustinov, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

1922 – Kingsley Amis, English novelist, poet, and critic

1924 – John Harvey-Jones, academic and businessman, Chairman of ICI, - 'The Troubleshooter'

1924 Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (Pink Panther), born in Cleveland, Ohio

1927 Pope Benedict XVI [Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger], Catholic Pope (2005-2013), born in Marktl, Bavaria

1933 – Joan Bakewell, English journalist and author, born in Stockport

1939 Dusty Springfield [Mary O'Brien], English vocalist (Growing Pains), born in London

1942 – Sir Frank Williams, English businessman, founded the Williams F1 Racing Team

1943 Ruth Madoc, British singer and actress (Hi Di Hi), born in Norwich

1947 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter

1963 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer (The Osmonds)

1963 Nick Berry, English actor (Heartbeat, EastEnders), born in Woodford, Essex

1971 Max Beesley, English musician and actor, born in Burnage,Manchester

1984 – Claire Foy, actress, born in Stockport

1987 – Aaron Lennon, English footballer

Died Today ;-

1850 Marie Tussaud, French founder of Madame Tussaud's wax museum, dies at 88

1879 Saint Bernadette Soubirous (allegedly saw Virgin Mary at Lourdes), dies in Nevers France

1938 Bertram Wagstaff Mills, circus proprietor

1947 Rudolf Höss, German commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, hanged at Oswiecim (Auschwitz)

1958 Rosalind Franklin, English chemist and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, dies of ovarian cancer at 37

1958 Rosalind Franklin, English chemist and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, dies of ovarian cancer at 37

1965 – Sydney Chaplin, English actor, comedian, brother / manager of Charlie Chaplin

1995 Arthur English, British comedian and actor (Malachi's Cove, Are You Being Served?), dies of complications from emphysema at 75

1998 Fred Davis, English 8-time World Snooker Champion (1948-49, 51), dies at 84

2002 – Billy Ayre, footballer and former Southport manager, died Ormskirk

[Alikado]

Bat Appreciation Day

World Hemophilia Day

1397 Geoffrey Chaucer tells the "Canterbury Tales" for the first time at the court of English King Richard II

1534 Sir Thomas More confined in the Tower of London

1860 The first “world championship” boxing match took place at Farnborough in an open field between 25-year-old John Carmel Heenan, the all-American champion, and England’s “Titch” Sayers, 34, Weighing 149lb, Sayers was just 5ft 8in tall, while 6ft 2in Heenan tipped the scales at 195lb. This was a bare-knuckle fight, which was illegal. But that didn’t stop a huge crowd gathering at the field just outside the village of Farnborough in Hampshire, many of the spectators having arrived by special trains from London. They were said to include the writers Charles Dickens and William Thackeray as well as the Prime Minister, Henry John Temple, and even the 18-year-old Prince of Wales, destined to become King Edward VII.The contest began at precisely 7.29am and the two men fought on for an astonishing and brutal two hours and 27 minutes. Battered and bloodied, they were preparing to come out for the 43rd round when police stormed the ring and brought proceedings to an end, with the crowd – and the pugilists – fleeing to escape arrest. The fight was declared a draw and the men were each paid £200 for their pains. Neither fought again and both died while still in their thirties.

1930 DuPont scientist Elmer K. Bolton invents neoprene using Julius Nieuwland's divinyl acetylene

1942 12 Lancasters bomb MAN factory in Augsburg

1942 Operations begin to destroy Sobibor Concentration Camp

1942 POW French General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Festung Königstein

1945 8th Air Force bombs Dresden

1945 German occupiers flood Wieringermeer, Netherlands

1945 Benito Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan

1945 US troops land in central Mindanao, Philippines during Battle of Mindanao

1949 – At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.

1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park.

1956 Premium Savings Bonds introduced in Great Britain

1956 Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament

1961 1,400 Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA land in Bay of Pigs in a doomed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro

1964 Ford Mustang formally introduced ($2,368 base)

1964 Jerrie Mock becomes 1st woman to fly solo around the world

1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating US Senator Robert F. Kennedy

1969 People's Democracy activist Bernadette Devlin becomes the youngest woman Member of Parliament ever elected to Westminster at 21 years old

1984 During Libyan Embassy demonstration in London, police officer Yvonne Fletcher shot dead

1991 Dow Jones closes above 3,000 for 1st time

1997 John Bell aged 115 receives a new pacemaker

2002 Four Canadian Forces soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two United States Air Force F-16s, the first deaths in a combat zone for Canada since the Korean War

Born Today ;-

1837 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co

1929 – James (Hans) Last, Germanborn bassist, composer, and bandleader

1937 Daffy Duck, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Tex Avery and Bob Clampett (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuts in "Porky's Duck Hunt"

1940 Billy Fury [Ronald Wycherley], English singer (When Will You Say I Love You), born in Liverpool

1940 – John McCririck, journalist & racing pundit

1946 – Clare Francis, sailor and author

1957 – Nick Hornby, novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter

1959 – Sean Bean, actor

1972 Claire Sweeney, English actress (Brookside), born in Walton, Liverpool

1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan, Lancashire & Sri Lankan cricketer

1974 Victoria Beckham [Adams], singer (Posh Spice in the Spice Girls), born in Harlow, Essex

Died Today ;-

1790 Benjamin Franklin, US Founding Father, inventor, ambassador and writer (Poor Richards Almanac), dies at 84

1882 – George Jennings, English engineer and plumber, invented the Flush toilet

1946 John 'Jack' Iddon, Lancashire & England cricketer (car accident), born Mawdesley

1960 – Eddie Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1998 Linda McCartney, American-born photographer and wife of Paul McCartney, dies of breast cancer at 56

22003 – Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet

2003 John Paul Getty Jr., American-born British oil magnate and billionaire (Getty Oil), dies of a chest infection at 70

[Alikado]

International Day For Monuments and Sites

796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The patrician Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.

1775 Paul Revere and William Dawes ride from Charlestown to Lexington warning the "regulars are coming!"

1783 – Three-Fifths Compromise: the first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation. This was later adopted in the 1787 Constitution.

1809 First run of 2,000 guineas horse race at Newmarket

1881 Natural History Museum opens in South Kensington

1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire kills nearly 4,000 while destroying 75% of the city

1912 Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York

1915 French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.

1924 1st crossword puzzle book published by Simon & Schuster

1930 BBC news announcer announces "there is no news" at 20:45 news bulletin, plays music instead

1945 – Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland

1946 League of Nations dissolves

1948 International Court of Justice opens at The Hague

1949 Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth

1951 France, West Germany & Benelux form European Steel & Coal Community

1968 London Bridge is sold to US oil company (to be erected in Arizona)

2019 Irish Journalist Lyra McKee shot to death covering riots in Derry, Northern Ireland with dissident republican group the New IRA claiming responsibility

Born Today ;-

1480 Lucrezia Borgia, Italian noblewoman, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI, born in Subiaco, Lazio, Italy. The family's dreadful reputation rubbed off on Lucrezia who was depicted as a femme fatale — a seductive woman who poisoned people that she could not manipulate, attended orgies and committed incest with both her brother Cesare and her father. When she was just eleven years old her father gave her in marriage to 27-year-old Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro. But her standing still suffers from rumours of incest, the birth of that mysterious baby, the murder of her second husband and her attendance at the Banquet of Chestnuts – an orgy hosted by Cesare involving 50 prostitutes and a large number of clergy.

1946 – Hayley Mills, actress

1971 David Tennant [McDonald], Scottish actor (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), born in Bathgate, Scotland

1979 Kourtney Kardashian, American reality television star, born in Los Angeles

1995 – Divock Origi, Belgian footballer

Died Today ;-

796 – Æthelred I, king of Northumbria

1689 – George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, Welsh judge and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, also known as "the Hanging Judge"

1949 Will Hay [William Thomson Hay], British comedian, actor and amateur astronomer, dies from a stroke at 60

1955 Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate (theory of relativity), dies of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at 76

2002 Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian anthropologist and explorer (Kon Tiki, Aku-Aku), dies of a brain tumour at 87

2018 – Dale Winton, British television presenter