|
1st |
April Fool's Day -- History, Traditions, and Foolishness.
The history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called
All Fool's Day. |
|
2nd |
The British and Danish fleets met
in the Battle of Copenhagen, in 1801, during which
Horatio Nelson put his telescope to his
blind eye and ignored Admiral Parker's signal to stop fighting; the British
fleet won. |
|
3rd |
On the 14th day of the Jewish month
of Nisan, 30AD, almost certainly in this year, Christ eats the
the Passover
supper with his disciples in Jerusalem where he is
betrayed by Judas Iscariot and taken to the house of Caiaphas, the High
Priest.
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|
4th |
English navigator
Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake returned home after sailing around the
world in 1581, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.
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5th |
In 1649 American/Welsh merchant and founder of the college named after him
Elihu Yale
was born.
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6th |
In 1994; Burundian president Ntaryamira and
Rwandan President Habarimana were killed in a plane crash. Their deaths
sparked a wave of
violence in Rwanda. |
|
7th |
Dick Turpin, English highwayman was executed
in York England today in 1739: |
|
8th |
Isambard Kingdom Brunel's
steamship
Great Western set off on its first voyage in 1838, from Bristol to New
York; the journey took 15 days.
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|
9th |
The American Civil War
came to an end in 1865, when Confederate
General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant, at
Appomattox, Virginia,
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10th |
Born today in 1847:
Joseph Pulitzer,
US newspaper proprietor
who founded the Pulitzer Prize for literature and journalism.
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|
11th |
Allied troops
liberated the Nazi concentration camp at
Buchenwald in
1945.
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|
12th |
Still in WW11, in
1943 in
Katyn near Smolensk in the USSR, the grave of
4,500 Polish officers at was discovered, in what was to be called
'Katyn Forest
Massacre'.
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|
13th |
Luton Town
footballer Joe Payne set a goal-scoring record in 1936, when he scored ten
goals in one match against
Bristol Rovers.
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|
14th |
Abraham Lincoln was shot by
John Wilkes Booth, at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC
in 1865: And I wish his Great, Great Granddaughter (Cherie Blair, wife of
the UK President) would shoot the current incumbent in the Whitehouse. |
|
15th |
In 1912: Over 1,500 people died when the
passenger liner
Titanic
sank after colliding with an iceberg on its
first voyage.
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|
16th |
1998: US scientists at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a solar cell able to split water into
hydrogen and oxygen. It was seen as a breakthrough in the generation of
alternative fuels. For details, visit: H2
Information Network- Hydrogen Frequently Asked Questions.
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|
17th |
1989: Students
marched on Beijing's
Tiananmen Square
calling for democracy in China.
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|
18th |
1689: George Jeffreys, the 'hanging
judge' of the
Glorious Revolution of 1688 dies.
|
|
19th |
In the incident
known as 'Singing
the King of Spains Beard', English navigator Francis Drake sank the Spanish
fleet in Cadiz harbour in 1587:
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|
20th |
1889 was a sorry day for
the human race when one 'Adolf Schinklegrubber' was born. He later
changed his name to
Adolf
Hitler.
1924 and the Turkish constitution adopted. Turkeys
Grand National Assembly voted to adopt a full republican constitution on
this day, finalizing the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. General
Mustafa Kemal, who
had first proclaimed the Turkish republic about six months earlier, was the
first president of the republic. |
|
21st |
753 BC
is traditionally, the
date on which the city of Rome was founded.
Romulus and Remus.
|
|
22nd |
Richard M. Nixon, 37th President,
the only US
president to have resigned (for resign read dishonorable discharge) died
1994
. |
|
23rd |
In 1879 the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was opened at
Stratford-on-Avon.
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24th |
Irish 1916 Easter Rising ~ War for Independence a Republican protest against British rule took
place in Dublin.
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25th |
Work began on the
Suez Canal, in 1859; supervised by the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, who designed it.
|
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26th |
Gypsy Rose
Lee,
US dancer and striptease
artist dies in 1970.
|
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27th |
1296 and an
English army, led by Edward I, defeated the Scots at the 1st
Battle Of Dunbar.
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|
28th |
1945: In Italy,
Benito Mussolini, his
mistress Clara Petacci, and members of his entourage were shot by partisans;
the bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were displayed in Milan the following
day.
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29th |
In 1937, just
as one dictator was stamping his mark in Europe, in the Middle East, another
future mass murdered and dictator was born. Step forward:
Saddam Hussein,
president of Iraq.
|
|
30th |
The Vietnam War
ended in 1975, with the South surrendering unconditionally to
General Duong Van Munh
from the North. |
