• On this day in 215 BCE, temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
• In 1014 on this day, King Brian Boru of Ireland defeated the Danes at the Battle of Clontarf.
• Damascus surrendered to Sultan Nur ad-Din van Aleppo on this day in 1154.
• Ferdinand III of Castile conquered Cáceres on this day in 1229.
1343 - St. George's Night Uprising in Estonia
1348 - 1st English order of knighthood founded (Order of Garter)
1500 - Pedro Cabral lands & annexes Brazil (Terra da Vera Cruz)
1501 - Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral & 6 ships return to Lisbon
1504 - King Maximilian I routes troops to Bavaria
• On this day in 1564, at least according to tradition, the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon. It is impossible to be certain the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was baptized on April 26, and three days was a customary amount of time to wait before baptizing a newborn. Shakespeare's date of death is conclusively known, however: it was April 23, 1616. He was 52 years old and had retired to Stratford three years before. Although few plays have been performed or analyzed as extensively as the 38 plays ascribed to William Shakespeare, there are few surviving details about the playwright's life. This dearth of biographical information is due primarily to his station in life; he was not a noble, but the son of John Shakespeare, a leather trader and the town bailiff. The events of William Shakespeare's early life can only be gleaned from official records, such as baptism and marriage records. He probably attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin and read classical literature. He did not go to university but at age 18 married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior and pregnant at the time of the marriage. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born six months later, and in 1585 William and Anne had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died 11 years later, and Anne Shakespeare outlived her husband, dying in 1623. Nothing is known of the period between the birth of the twins and Shakespeare's emergence as a playwright in London in the early 1590s, but unfounded stories have him stealing deer, joining a group of traveling players, becoming a schoolteacher, or serving as a soldier in the Low Countries. The first reference to Shakespeare as a London playwright came in 1592, when a fellow dramatist, Robert Greene, wrote derogatorily of him on his deathbed. It is believed that Shakespeare had written the three parts of Henry VI by that point. In 1593, Venus and Adonis was Shakespeare's first published poem, and he dedicated it to the young Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd earl of Southampton. In 1594, having probably composed, among other plays, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew, he became an actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became the King's Men after James I's ascension in 1603. The company grew into England's finest, in no small part because of Shakespeare, who was its principal dramatist. It also had the finest actor of the day, Richard Burbage, and the best theater, the Globe, which was located on the Thames' south bank. Shakespeare stayed with the King's Men until his retirement and often acted in small parts. By 1596, the company had performed the classic Shakespeare plays Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. That year, John Shakespeare was granted a coat of arms, a testament to his son's growing wealth and fame. In 1597, William Shakespeare bought a large house in Stratford. In 1599, after producing his great historical series, the first and second part of Henry IV and Henry V, he became a partner in the ownership of the Globe Theatre. The beginning of the 17th century saw the performance of the first of his great tragedies, Hamlet. The next play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, was written at the request of Queen Elizabeth I, who wanted to see another play that included the popular character Falstaff. During the next decade, Shakespeare produced such masterpieces as Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest. In 1609, his sonnets, probably written during the 1590s, were published. The 154 sonnets are marked by the recurring themes of the mutability of beauty and the transcendent power of love and art. Shakespeare died in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1616. Today, nearly 400 years later, his plays are performed and read more often and in more nations than ever before. In a million words written over 20 years, he captured the full range of human emotions and conflicts with a precision that remains sharp today. As his great contemporary the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time."
• In 1597 on this day, William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor was performed for the first time and with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance.
1616 - Netherlands buys De Briel/Vlissingen/Fort Rammekens from England
1633 - Sweden & Protestant German monarchy form Union of Heilbronn
1635 - Oldest US public institution, Boston Latin School founded
1660 - Treaty of Oliwa is established between Sweden and Poland.
1661 - English king Charles II crowned in London
1662 - Connecticut chartered as an English colony
1705 - Richard Steele's "Tender Husband" premieres in London
1723 - Cornelis Steenoven elected archbishop of Utrecht
1775 - Opera "Il Ré Pastore" is produced (Salzburg)
Statue of George Washington in Morristown, New Jersey
• American President-elect George Washington moved into the Franklin House in New York on this day in 1789. It was the first executive mansion.
1795 - William Hastings acquitted in England of high treason
1798 - Dutch emperor accepts new Constitution
1826 - Missolonghi captured by Turks
1827 - William Rowan Hamilton presents his Theory of systems of rays.
1838 - English steamship "Great Western" crossing Atlantic docks in NYC
• Canada issued its first postage stamps on this day in 1851.
• The Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina was divided over slavery on this day in 1860.
1861 - Robert E. Lee named commander of Virginia Confederate forces
1861 - Arkansas troops seize Ft Smith
1864 - Battle of Cane River, LA (Red River Expedition, Monett's Ferry)
1867 - Queen Victoria & Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel
1871 - Blossom Rock in SF Bay blown up
1878 - 1st Dutch test drive of steam tram
1881 - Gilbert & Sullivan's opera "Patience" produced in London
Confederate General Robert E. LeeConfederate General Robert E. Lee 1883 - John Heemskerk Azn forms Dutch government
1891 - Jews are expelled from Moscow Russia
1896 - Vitascope system of movie projection 1st shown at Koster & Bial's Music Hall (NYC)
1900 - 1st know occurrence of word "hillbillie" (NY Journal)1900 - The word "hillbilly" was first used in print in an article in the "New York Journal." It was spelled "Hill-Billie".
1903 - NY Highlanders (Yankees) win their 2nd game beating Wash Senators 7-2
1904 - American Academy of Arts & Letters forms
1908 - Denmark, Germany, Britain, France, Netherlands & Sweden sign North Sea accord
1910 - International Exhibition opens in Brussels
1915 - ACA becomes National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA)
1916 - Lord Dunsany's "Night at an Inn" premieres in NYC
1918 - Battle of Zeebrugge ends
1918 - Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea
1918 - National Urban League forms
1919 - Major leagues open a reduced 140-game season
1920 - Turkish Grand National Assembly 1st meets, in Ankara
1920 - The national council in Turkey denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
1921 - Charles Paddock runs world record 100m (10.4 secs)
1923 - Inauguration ceremonies take place of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter.
1924 - British Empire Exhibition opens at Wembley
1925 - 1st London performance of operetta "Fasquita" staged
1925 - Pastor LH Perquin forms Union of Catholic Dutch Radio (KRO) forms
• The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened at Stratford-on-Avon on this day in 1932.
1932 - The 153-year old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, the Netherlands burns down.
1933 - Dovo soccer team forms in Veenendaal
1935 - Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.
1936 - Carl Hubbell's 1st start of season is his 17th straight win
1938 - Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia demand self government
1939 - 1st performance of Béla Bartok's 2nd Concerto for violin
Baseball Player Ted WilliamsBaseball Player Ted Williams 1939 - Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st HR
1940 - Dance hall fires kills 198 (Natchez Miss)
1940 - NY Yankees dedicate a plaque to Jacob Rupert
1941 - Greece Army surrenders to German Nazis RAF brings Greek king George II to Egypt
1942 - 4-day allied bombing on Rostock begins
1942 - Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
1943 - British & US offensive directed at Tunis/Bizerta
• The concentration camp in Flossenburg was liberated on this day in 1945 during World War II.
The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)
• 1945 - The Soviet Army fought its way into Berlin.
1945 - US troops in Italy cross river Po
1946 - Bkln Dodger Ed Head no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0
1948 - KSTP TV channel 5 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (ABC) 1st broadcast
The flag of the People's Republic of China
• 1949 - Chinese Red army conquerors Nanjing
1949 - Courtesy mail boxes for motorists started in SF
1949 - Netherlands annexes Elten & Tudderen
1950 - 1st major league day game completed under lights (Phils 6, Braves 5)
1950 - 4th NBA Championship: Min Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 4 games to 2
1950 - Nationalist China evacuates Hainan Island
1950 - Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings beat NY Rangers, 4 games to 3
1951 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Richmond Women's Golf Open
1952 - Bob Cain of Browns & Bob Feller of Indians each pitch a one-hitter
1952 - NY Giant Hoyt Wilhelm wins his 1st relief game & hits his only HR
1952 - Oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Banias completed
1953 - General Charles P Cabell, USAF, becomes deputy director of CIA
1953 - KTAR (now KPNX) TV channel 12 in Phoenix, AZ (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 - WCOV TV channel 20 in Montgomery, AL (IND/CBS) begins broadcasting
Baseball Player Hank AaronBaseball Player Hank Aaron 1954 - Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits 1st of his 755 homers
1955 - "Kismet" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 583 performances
1955 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Carrollton Golf Open
1958 - Gil Hodges hits his 300th HR & Pee Wee Reese plays in 2,000th game
1959 - "Destry Rides Again" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 472 perfs
1959 - 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
1960 - 1st performance of Ferde Grofe's "San Francisco Suite"
1961 - "Tenderloin" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 216 performances
1961 - Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1961 - Algiers putsch by French generals.
1962 - 1st US satellite to reach the moon launched
1962 - NY Mets win their 1st game ever, after going 0-9, beat Pirates 9-1
1962 - Ranger 4, 1st US satellite to reach Moon launched from Cape Canaveral
1963 - "She Loves Me" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 302 perfs
1963 - Jerry Bock & S Harnick's musical "She Loves Me" premieres in NYC
Author James BaldwinAuthor James Baldwin 1964 - James Baldwin's "Blues for Mr Charlie" premieres in NYC
1964 - New York State Theater opens
1964 - Houston Colt 45s Ken Johnson becomes 1st major league pitcher to lose a 9 inning no-hitter, Reds win 1-0
1965 - Launch of 1st Soviet communications satellite
1967 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational
• On this day in 1967 Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his parachute failed to deploy during his spacecraft's landing. He became the first in-flight casualty in space. Komarov was testing the spacecraft Soyuz I in the midst of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Earlier in 1967, the U.S. space program had experienced its own tragedy. Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chafee, NASA astronauts in the Apollo program, were killed in a fire during tests on the ground. Komarov, a fighter pilot and aeronautical engineer, had made his first space trip in 1964, three years before the doomed 1967 voyage. After 24 hours and 16 orbits of the earth, Komarov was scheduled to reenter the atmosphere, but ran into difficulty handling the vessel and was unable to fire the rocket brakes. It took two more trips around the earth before the cosmonaut could manage reentry. When Soyuz I reached an altitude of 23,000 feet, a parachute was supposed to deploy, bringing Komarov safely to earth. However, the lines of the chute had gotten tangled during the craft's reentry difficulties and there was no backup chute. Komarov plunged to the ground and was killed. There was vast public mourning of Komarov in Moscow and his ashes were buried in the wall of the Kremlin. Sadly, Komarov's wife had not been told of the Soyuz I launch until after Komarov was already in orbit and did not get to say goodbye to her husband. Despite the dangers, both the Soviet Union and the U.S. continued their space exploration programs. The U.S. landed men on the moon just two years later.
1968 - "I'm Solomon" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 7 performances
1968 - 1st decimal coins issued in Britain (5 & 10 new pence, replacing shilling and two-shilling pieces)
1968 - United Methodist Church forms
1969 - ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Jim Chestney
1969 - LA Laker Jerry West scores 53 points
1969 - Over 1000 square miles flooded in Shantung Province China
• In 1969 on this day, Sirhan Sirhan received the death penalty after being convicted for the assassination of politician Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972, Sirhan's sentence was commuted to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty. In the early morning hours of June 5, 1968, Robert Kennedy, a U.S. senator from New York who had just won California's Democratic presidential primary, gave a victory speech in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. After the speech, Kennedy was making his way toward the hotel kitchen to greet supporters when he was shot three times at close range by Sirhan Sirhan with a .22 caliber revolver; a fourth bullet went through Kennedy's jacket. Five other people were shot as well, none fatally. Several of the senator's friends and aides subdued Sirhan on the scene. Kennedy died at the hospital the next day, June 6, at age 42. The funeral for Kennedy, who served as U.S. attorney general from 1961 to 1964 and had been a senator since 1965, was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. His body was then taken to Washington, D.C., by train, with thousands of people lining the route to pay their respects. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to his brother, President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant born in Jerusalem in 1944, moved to the United States with his family as a boy and attended high school in California. He later stated he killed Robert Kennedy because the senator had supported Israel in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. Following a three-month trial, during which Sirhan's lawyers argued he was mentally unstable at the time of the murder, he was convicted on April 17, 1969. On April 23, he was given the death penalty. However, in 1972, the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty and Sirhan's sentence was commuted to life in prison. His requests for parole have been denied over a dozen times, and he continues to serve his time in a California prison.
1971 - Columbia University operations virtually end, by student strike
1971 - Soyuz 10 launched; cosmonauts become 1st in Salyut 1 space station
1972 - 26th Tony Awards: Sticks & Bones & 2 Gentlemen of Verona win
1972 - Apollo 16 astronauts explores Moon surface
1972 - Betty Burfeind wins LPGA Birmingham Centennital Golf Classic
1974 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
• On this day in 1975, American President Gerald Ford stated during a speech at Tulane University that that war in Vietnam was over for the United States of America. President Gerald Ford says the Vietnam War is finished as far as America is concerned. "Today, Americans can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by re-fighting a war." This was devastating news to the South Vietnamese, who were desperately pleading for U.S. support as the North Vietnamese surrounded Saigon for the final assault on the capital city. The North Vietnamese had launched a major offensive in March to capture the provincial capital of Ban Me Thuot (Darlac province) in the Central Highlands. The South Vietnamese defenders there fought very poorly and were quickly overwhelmed by the North Vietnamese attackers. Despite previous promises by both Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford to provide support, the United States did nothing. In an attempt to reposition his forces for a better defense, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered his forces in the Highlands to withdraw to more defensible positions to the south. What started out as a reasonably orderly withdrawal soon degenerated into a panic that spread throughout the South Vietnamese armed forces. The South Vietnamese abandoned Pleiku and Kontum in the Highlands with very little fighting and the North Vietnamese pressed the attack from the west and north. In quick succession, Quang Tri, Hue, and Da Nang in the north fell to the communist onslaught. The North Vietnamese continued to attack south along the coast, defeating the South Vietnamese forces at each encounter. As the North Vietnamese forces closed on the approaches to Saigon, the politburo in Hanoi issued an order to Gen. Van Tien Dung to launch the "Ho Chi Minh Campaign," the final assault on Saigon itself. Dung ordered his forces into position for the final battle. The South Vietnamese 18th Division made a valiant final stand at Xuan Loc, 40 miles northeast of Saigon, in which the South Vietnamese soldiers destroyed three of Dung's divisions. However, the South Vietnamese finally succumbed to the superior North Vietnamese numbers. With the fall of Xuan Loc on April 21 and Ford's statement at Tulane, it was apparent that the North Vietnamese would be victorious. President Thieu resigned and transferred authority to Vice President Tran Van Huong before fleeing Saigon on April 25. By April 27, the North Vietnamese had completely encircled Saigon and began to maneuver for their final assault. By the morning of April 30, it was all over. When the North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, the South Vietnamese surrendered and the Vietnam War was officially over.
1975 - Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land" premieres in London
1977 - ADO The Hague soccer team forms
1977 - Dr Allen Bussey completes 20,302 yo-yo loops
1977 - Milt workers kill 300-500 students in Addis Ababa
1977 - Czech chess master Vlastimil Hort plays 201 games simultaneously & only loses 10
1978 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA American Defender Golf Classic
1978 - Reds Joe Morgan ends record streak of 91 cons errorless games at 2nd
1978 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1979 - Fighting in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group results in the death of protester Blair Peach.
1980 - Soviet sub catches fire off Japan, 9 die
• The Conch Republic was established - the secession of the Florida Keys from the United States of America - was established on this day in 1982.
1982 - The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is released.
1983 - David Hookes scores his only Test Cricket century, 143* v Sri Lanka
1984 - AIDS-virus identified (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
1985 - Brooklyn College soccer team wins Nepal's invitational
1985 - New Coke debuts; Coca-Cola announced it is changing its secret flavor formula
1985 - Flyers 5-Isles 3-Patrick Div Finals-Flyers hold 3-0 lead
1986 - Grand Floridian Beach Resort groundbreaking
1986 - Madrid-Nelli Cooman runs world record 60m indoor (7 sec)
1987 - 28 construction workers killed in an apt collapse in Bridgeport, Ct
1987 - NJ Devils farm team Maine Mariners (AHL) move to Utica (Devils) NY
1988 - A Greek pedals self-powered aircraft, 74 miles
1988 - Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hrs or less
1988 - Karolina Szabo runs female world record 25k (1:29:30)/30k (1:47;06)
1989 - Betsy King wins LPGA USX Golf Classic
1989 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar plays his last game as a Laker
1989 - Nolan Ryan blows a no hitter in 9th inning
1989 - Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts
1990 - 11th Emmy Sports Award presentation
1991 - Bjorn Borg loses 6-2, 6-3 to Jordi Arrese after 8 year lay off
1991 - Gordon Greenidge scores 223 v Aus, his last Test Cricket knock at home
1991 - USSR grants republics right to secede under certain conditions
1992 - "Shirnada" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 4 performances
1992 - Marion Berry (former mayor of Wash DC) let out of prison
1992 - McDonald's opens its 1st fast-food restaurant in China
1993 - Eritrea votes to secede from Ethiopia
Rocker Pete TownshendRocker Pete Townshend
1993 - Peter Townshend's musical "Tommy" premieres in NYC
1994 - Army shoots to death 23-40 fishermen in Gonaives Haiti
1994 - General Tire World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Norm Duke
1994 - Libertarian party nominates Howard Stern for Governor of NY
1995 - Laura Davis wins LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Golf Championship
Bust of Bill Clinton in front of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion in Little Rock
1995 - President Clinton declares a national day of mourning for Oklahoma City
1996 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Reno NV on KRZQ 96.5 FM
1996 - Sotherby begins 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
1997 - "Titanic," opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC
1997 - 32nd Academy of Country Music Awards: LeAnn Rines & Brooks & Dunn
1997 - Omaria massacre in Algeria: 42 villagers are killed.
2003 - Beijing closes all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus.
2009 - The gamma ray burst GRB 090423 it's observed for 10 seconds as the most distant object of any kind and also the oldest known object in the universe.
2011 - Zach Daniels defeated Rick Michaels to become the new TNT Heavyweight Champion.
2012 - Netherlands Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, tenders resignation, paving the way for early elections
42nd US President Bill Clinton42nd US President Bill Clinton 2012 - Rangers F.C. owner, Craig Whyte, is banned for life from any involvement in Scottish football
2012 - 38,000 London Marathon entrants have their home and email contacts published in a data protection breach
2013 - 28 people are killed and 70 are injured during clashes between police and Sunni Muslims in Hawija, Iraq
2013 - 21 people are killed during violent unrest in Xinjiang, China
2013 - A 1% flash crash hits the US stock market after a news agency was hacked and claimed injury to President Obama
Le Drapeau Tricolore (Tricour Flag) which was a product of the French Revolution, and which remains the national flag of France to this day.
• On this day in 2013, the French National Assembly passed an amended bill which legalized same-sex marriage.
2013 - West Indian cricketer, Chris Gayle, smashes the fastest century in history (30 balls)
1348 - The first English order of knighthood was founded. It was the Order of the Garter. 1500 - Pedro Cabal claimed Brazil for Portugal. 1521 - The Comuneros were crushed by royalist troops in Spain. 1635 - The Boston Public Latin School was established. It was the first public school building in the United States. 1759 - The British seized Basse-Terre and Guadeloupe in the Antilies from France. 1789 - U.S. President George Washington moved into Franklin House, New York. It was the first executive mansion. 1789 - "Courier De Boston" was published for the first time. It was the first Roman Catholic magazine in the U.S. 1826 - Missolonghi fell to Egyptian forces. 1861 - Arkansas troops seized Fort Smith. 1872 - Charlotte E. Ray became the African-American woman lawyer. 1895 - Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China. 1896 - The Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was demonstrated in New York City. . 1908 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve. 1915 - The A.C.A. became the National Advisory Council on Aeronautics (NACA). 1920 - The Turkish Grand National Assembly had its first meeting in Ankara. 1921 - Charles Paddock set a record time in the 300-meter track event when he posted a time of 33.2 seconds. 1924 - The U.S. Senate passed the Soldiers Bonus Bill. 1948 - Johnny Longden became the first race jockey to ride 3,000 career winners. 1950 - Chaing evacuated Hainan, leaving mainland China to Mao and the communists. 1951 - The Associated Press began use of the new service of teletype setting. 1954 - Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit his first major-league home run on this day. 1964 - Ken Johnson (Houston Astros) threw the first no-hitter for a loss. The game was lost 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds due to two errors. 1967 - The Soyuz 1 was launched by Russia. 1968 - The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the United Methodist Church. 1971 - The Soyuz 10 was launched. 1981 - The Soviet Union conducted an underground nuclear test at their Semipaltinsk (Kazakhstan) test site. 1982 - The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices declined the previous month (March). It was the first decline in almost 17 years. 1985 - The Coca-Cola Company announced that it was changing its 99-year-old secret formula. New Coke was not successful, which resulted in the resumption of selling the original version. 1985 - The U.S. House rejected $14 million in aid to Nicaragua. 1988 - A U.S. federal law took effect that banned smoking on flights that were under two hours. 1988 - In Martinez, CA, a drain valve was left open at the Shell Marsh. More than 10,000 barrels of oil poured into the marsh adjoining Peyton Slough. 1988 - Kanellos Kanelopoulos set three world records for human-powered flight when he stayed in the air for 74 miles and four hours in his pedal-powered "Daedalus". 1989 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played his last regular season game in the NBA. 1996 - An auction of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' possessions began at Sotheby's in New York City. The sale brought in #34.5 million. 1997 - An infertility doctor in California announced that a 63-year-old woman had given birth in late 1996. The child was from a donor egg. The woman is the oldest known woman to give birth. 1999 - In Washington, DC, the heads of state and government of the 19 NATO nations celebrated the organization's 50th anniversary. 2003 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation that authorized the design change of the 5-cent coin (nickel) for release in 2004. It was the first change to the coin in 65 years. The change, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, was planned to run for only two years before returning to the previous design. 2004 - U.S. President George W. Bush eased sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's agreement to give up weapons of mass destruction. 2005 - The first video was uploaded to YouTube.com. 2009 - The iTunes Music Store reached 1 billion applications downloaded.
1616 Playwright William Shakespeare died in Stratford-on-Avon, England. 1954 Hank Aaron hit the first of his 755 home runs. 1969 Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death (later reduced to a life sentence) for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. 1985 Coca-Cola announced that it was changing its formula and introduced New Coke. 1998 James Earl Ray, convicted of assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., died. 2004 The U.S. resumed diplomatic relations with Libya.
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