UN
Day
International
Mother Earth Day
Events
of the day
238 – Year of the Six Emperors:
The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus
Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in
Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus
and Balbinus, to the throne.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares
Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés
establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1529 – Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern
hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along
a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl:
the Austrian army is defeated by the First
French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France
and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle
of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General
Sam Houston capture Mexican General Antonio
López de Santa Anna.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson's Raid
begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin
Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage
Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription
In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted
as United States currency.
1876 – The first ever National League baseball
game is played in Philadelphia.
1889 – At high noon, thousands rush to claim
land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours
the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are
formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The United States
Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and
the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant
ship.
1906 – The 1906 Summer Olympics, not now recognized
as part of the official Olympic Games, open
in Athens.
1911 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland
China's leading universities, is founded.
1912 – Pravda, the "voice" of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins
publication in Saint Petersburg.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War
I escalates when chlorine gas is released
as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle
of Ypres.
1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United
States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating
submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky
R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters
in combat with CSAR operations in the China-Burma-India
theater.
1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution
is initiated – Allied forces land in the Hollandia
(currently known as Jayapura) area of New
Guinea.
1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac
concentration camp revolt. 520 are killed
and 80 escape.
1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: After learning
that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without
a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his
underground bunker and states that suicide
is his only recourse.
1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, a major
port of Israel, is captured from Arab forces.
1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying
and live television coverage of the Army-McCarthy
Hearings begins.
1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair
opens for its first season.
1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation
of the world.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1972 – Vietnam War: Increased American bombing
in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los
Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
1983 – The German magazine Der Stern claims
that the "Hitler Diaries" had been
found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries
are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
1992 – In an explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico,
206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured
and 15,000 left homeless.
1993 – Version 1.0 of the Mosaic web browser
is released.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria
– 93 villagers killed.
1997 – The Japanese embassy hostage crisis
ends in Lima, Peru.
1998 – Disney's Animal Kingdom opens at Walt
Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United
States.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents
seize six-year-old Elián González from his
relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
2000 – The Big Number Change takes place in
the United Kingdom.
2000 – Second Battle of Elephant Pass: Tamil
Tigers capture a strategic Sri Lankan Army
base and hold it for 8 years.
2003 – Election of the fifth Caliph of Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community.
2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon,
North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
apologizes for Japan's war record.
2006 – 243 people are injured in pro-democracy
protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces
open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.
2008 – The United States Air Force retires
the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in
service.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic
Church)
Epipodius and Alexander
April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Discovery Day (Brazil)
Earth Day (United States), and its related
observances:
International Mother Earth Day (International)
For details, contact Datacentre
