Independence
day
Ireland
UN
Days
World
Immunization Week, 24-30 April
International
Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace
Events
of the day
1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends
to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively
shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology
of the 18th Dynasty).
1547 – Battle of Mühlberg. Duke of Alba, commanding
Spanish-Imperial forces of Charles I of Spain,
defeats the troops of Schmalkaldic League.
1558 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin
of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
1704 – The first regular newspaper in the United
States, the News-Letter, is published in Boston,
Massachusetts.
1800 – The United States Library of Congress is
established when President John Adams signs legislation
to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase "such
books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
1862 – American Civil War: A flotilla commanded
by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate
forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture
New Orleans, Louisiana.
1877 – Russo-Turkish War: Russian Empire declares
war on Ottoman Empire.
1885 – American sharpshooter Annie Oakley was
hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo
Bill's Wild West.
1898 – The Spanish-American War: The United States
declares war on Spain.
1904 – The Lithuanian press ban is lifted after
almost 40 years.
1907 – Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey
for the exclusive use of his employees, is opened.
1907 – Al Ahly was founded.
1913 – The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New
York City is opened.
1915 – The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals
and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning
of the Armenian Genocide.
1916 – Easter Rising: The Irish Republican Brotherhood
led by nationalists Patrick Pearse, James Connolly,
and Joseph Plunkett starts a rebellion in Ireland.
1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from
uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean
to organise a rescue for the ice-trapped ship
Endurance.
1918 – First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux,
France, when three British Mark IVs met three
German A7Vs.
1922 – The first segment of the Imperial Wireless
Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield
in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes
into operation.
1926 – The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany
and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in
the event of an attack on the other by a third
party for the next five years.
1932 – Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of
Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms
in the United Kingdom.
1953 – Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II.
1955 – The Bandung Conference ends: 29 non-aligned
nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that
condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
1957 – Suez Crisis: The Suez Canal is reopened
following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers
to the region.
1963 – Marriage of HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent
to the Hon Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in
London.
1965 – Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic
when Colonel Francisco Caamaño, overthrows the
triumvirate that had been in power since the coup
d'état against Juan Bosch.
1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz
1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the
first human to die during a space mission.
1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland
says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained
support in the United States that gives him hope
that he can win politically that which he cannot
win militarily."
1968 – Mauritius becomes a member state of the
United Nations.
1970 – The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang
Hong I, is launched.
1970 – The Gambia becomes a republic within the
Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as
the first President.
1971 – Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
1980 – Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation
Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage
crisis.
1990 – STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched
from the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Shuttle mission STS-31 lifts off, carrying Hubble
into orbit.
1990 – Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially
declared free of the anthrax disease after 48
years of quarantine.
1993 – An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate
area of London.
1996 – In the United States, the Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
2004 – The United States lifts economic sanctions
imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward
for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of
mass destruction.
2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated
as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church
taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
2005 – Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog, is
born in South Korea.
2006 – King Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the
demands of protesters and restores the parliament
that he dissolved in 2002.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Ecgberht of Ripon
Fidelis of Sigmaringen
Mellitus
Wilfrid (Anglican Church)
April 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Concord Day (Niger)
Democracy Day (Nepal)
Earliest day on which National Arbor Day can fall,
while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the
last Friday in April. (United States)
Earliest day on which Turkmen Racing Horse Festival
can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated
on the last Sunday in April. (Turkmenistan)
Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia)
Kapyong Day (Australia)
Republic Day (The Gambia)
World Day for Laboratory Animals (UN recognized)
For details, contact Datacentre
