Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
On this day in 43 BCE, the Battle of Forum Gallorum was fought. Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Mutina, defeated the forces of the consul Pansa, who was killed. In 193 on this day, Lucius Septimus Severus crowned Emperor of Rome. The Pact of Quierzy between Pope Stephen II, [III] & Pippin the Korte was signed on this day in 754. The Christianization of Poland occurred on this day in 966. France declared war on Austria on this day in 1792, starting the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1799 on this day, Napoleon called for establishing Jerusalem for Jews. On this day in 1809, Napoleon defeated Austria in the Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria. On this day in 1865, just days after the end of the American Civil War, American President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater. Lincoln actually died early the following morning. On this day in 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg. This day in 1935 came to be known as "Black Sunday" after the worst sandstorm in modern American history ravaged the US Midwest, creating the Dust Bowl. On this day in 1963, George Harrison of The Beatles was impressed by then unsigned rock group "The Rolling Stones." On this day in 1986, future Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu was elected to be the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. In 1986 on this day, the United States bombed Libya. On this day in 1988, the Soviets agreed to terms for a withdraw from Afghanistan
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
• On this day in 43 BCE, the Battle of Forum Gallorum was fought. Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Mutina, defeated the forces of the consul Pansa, who was killed.
• In 193 on this day, Lucius Septimus Severus crowned Emperor of Rome
• The Pact of Quierzy between Pope Stephen II, [III] & Pippin the Korte was signed on this day in 754.
• The Christianization of Poland occurred on this day in 966.
972 - Notger becomes bishop of Liege
979 - Challenge to throne of King Aethelred II of England
1028 - German emperor Conrad II the Sailor crowns his son Henry III, king
1191 - 85-year old Giacinto Bobo becomes Pope Coelestinus III
1341 - Sack of Saluzzo (Italy) by Italian-Angevine troops under Manfred V of Saluzzo.
• 1434 - The foundation stone of Cathedral St. Peter and St. Paul in Nantes, France is laid.
1471 - Battle of Barnet - King Edward IV vs Earl of Warwick
1536 - English King Henry VIII expropriates minor monasteries
1544 - Battle at Carignano: French troops under Earl d'Enghien beat Swiss
1570 - Polish Calvinists/Lutherians/Hernhutters unify against Jesuits
1574 - Battle of Mookerhei - D'Avila beats Louis of Nassau
1611 - Word "telescope" is 1st used (Prince Federico Cesi)
1629 - England & France sign Peace of Susa
1671 - Cosaks capture Russian boer leader Stenka Razin
1699 - Khalsa: Birth of Khalsa, the brotherhood of the Sikh religion, in Northern India in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
1756 - Gov Glen of SC protests against 900 Acadia indians
Altered picture that I took of the Benjamin Franklin Memorial in Philadelphia some years ago.
• On this day in 1775, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society (PAS) formed as the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. Benjamin Rush was among those who founded this antislavery society. It was the first American abolitionist organization. Eventually, Benjamin Franklin would became its president in 1787, advancing efforts to abolish slavery through legal actions and nationwide petitions. These included a petition to Congress in 1790.
1777 - NY adopts new constitution as an independent state
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Le Drapeau Tricolore (Tricour Flag) which was a product of the French Revolution, and which remains the national flag of France to this day.
• France declared war on Austria on this day in 1792, starting the French Revolutionary Wars.
• 1793 - A royalist rebellion in Santo Domingo was crushed by French republican troops.
• In 1799 on this day, Napoleon called for establishing Jerusalem for Jews.
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
• On this day in 1809, Napoleon defeated Austria in the Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.
1818 - US Medical Corp forms
1828 - 18-gun sloop "Acorn" sinks off Halifax with 115 men aboard
Lexicographer Noah WebsterLexicographer Noah Webster 1828 - First American Dictionary: its author Noah Webster registers its copyright for publication
1831 - Soldiers marching on a bridge in Manchester, England cause it to collapse.
1836 - Congress forms Territory of Wisconsin
1841 - Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue," published
1847 - Persia & Osmaanse sign 2nd Treaty of Erzurum
1849 - Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Louis Kossuth as its leader.
Stamp commemorating 100 years since the Pony Express
1860 - 1st Pony Express rider arrives in SF from St Joseph, Mo
1860 - The first Pony Express rider arrived in San Francisco with mail originating in St. Joseph, MO.
1861 - Formal Union surrender of Ft Sumter
1862 - Battle of Ft Pillow TN
1863 - William Bullock patents continuous-roll printing press
1865 - Mobile, Alabama is captured
1865 - US Secret Service created to fight counterfeiting
1865 - U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family are attacked in his home by Lewis Powell.
Statue of Abraham Lincoln outside of the New York Historical Society
The statue of Abraham Lincoln sculpted by David Chester French, is the centerpiece of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C..
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The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC
• On this day in 1865, just days after the end of the American Civil War, American President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater. Lincoln actually died early the following morning.
Apr 14, 1865: President Lincoln is shot
Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
Five days earlier, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his army to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war was nearly over, although there were still Confederate forces yet to surrender. The president had recently visited the captured Rebel capital of Richmond, Virginia, and now Lincoln sought a relaxing evening by attending a production of Our American Cousin starring Laura Keene. Ford's Theater, seven blocks from the White House, was crammed with people trying to catch a glimpse of Grant, who was rumored to be in attendance. In fact, the general and his wife had cancelled abruptly for an out-of-town trip.
Lincoln occupied a booth above the stage with his wife; Henry Rathbone, a young army officer; and his fiancée, Clara Harris, daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris. The Lincolns arrived late for the comedy, but the president was in a fine mood and laughed heartily during the production. At 10:15, Booth slipped into the box and fired his .44-caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head. Rathbone rushed Booth, who stabbed the soldier in the shoulder. Booth then leapt from the president's box to the stage below, breaking his leg as he landed. He shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" ("Thus ever to tyrants!"--the Virginia state motto) and ran from the stage. There was a pause, as the crowd initially thought the unfolding drama was part of the production, but a scream from Mrs. Lincoln told them otherwise. The stricken president was carried from the box to a house across the street, where he died the following morning.
Booth was one of the most famous actors of his day, and Lincoln had seen him perform. He was a Maryland native with southern sympathies who hoped to aid the Confederacy by taking out the Union's political leadership in one night. With Confederate president Jefferson Davis still free and General Joseph Johnston's army still alive in the Carolinas, Booth thought the Confederate cause was not yet lost. He sent George Atzerodt to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Lewis Paine to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward. Atzerodt could not muster the courage to carry out his assignment, but Paine burst into Seward's home and stabbed him as lay sick in bed. Although seriously wounded, Seward eventually recovered.
1868 - SC voters approved constitution, 70,758 to 27,228
1871 - Canada sets denominations of currency as dollars, cents, & mills
1872 - Dominion Lands Act passed-Canada's Homestead Act
1872 - San Francisco organizes Bar Association
1881 - The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight erupts in El Paso, Texas.
1883 - Leo Delibes' opera "Lakmé," premieres in Paris
1887 - Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Reigate Squires" (BG)
1890 - Pan American Day-1st conference of American states (Wash DC)
Monuments to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park in Edison, NJ
1894 - 1st public showing of Thomas Edison's kinetoscope (moving pictures)
1895 - 1st performance of Gustav Mahler's (incomplete) 2nd Symphony
1896 - John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan," premieres (NYC)
1900 - Veteran's Hospital at Ft Miley forms
1903 - Dr Harry Plotz discovers vaccine against typhoid (NYC)
1904 - George Bernard Shaw's "Candida," premiered in London
1906 - US President Theodore Roosevelt coins term Muckrake" in a speech, taken from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
1906 - Pres Theodore Roosevelt denounces "muckrakers" in US press
26th US President Theodore Roosevelt26th US President Theodore Roosevelt 1909 - Anglo-Persian Oil Company forms in London
1910 - President Taft begins tradition of throwing out ball on opening day
1910 - Pan American Union forms
1912 - HMS Titanic hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland
Apr 14, 1912: RMS Titanic hits iceberg
Just before midnight in the North Atlantic, the RMS Titanic fails to divert its course from an iceberg, ruptures its hull, and begins to sink.
Four days earlier, the Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. While leaving port, the massive ship came within a couple of feet of the steamer New York but passed safely by, causing a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the ship's decks.
The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and spanned 883 feet from stern to bow. Its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. On its first journey across the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.
After stopping at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up some final passengers, the massive vessel set out at full speed for New York City. However, just before midnight on April 14, the ship hit an iceberg, and five of the Titanic's compartments were ruptured along its starboard side. At about 2:20 a.m. on the morning of April 15, the massive vessel sank into the North Atlantic.
Because of a shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy North Atlantic waters. Most of the approximately 700 survivors were women and children. A number of notable American and British citizens died in the tragedy, including the noted British journalist William Thomas Stead and heirs to the Straus, Astor, and Guggenheim fortunes. The announcement of details of the disaster led to outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. The sinking of the Titanic did have some positive effects, however, as more stringent safety regulations were adopted on public ships, and regular patrols were initiated to trace the locations of deadly Atlantic icebergs.
1913 - Belgium begins general strike for voting rights
1914 - Stacy G Carkhuff patents non-skid tire pattern
1915 - A's Herb Pennock is within 1 out of pitching 1st Opening Day no-hitter
1915 - Dutch merchant navy ship Katwijk sunk by Germany torpedo
1915 - The Turks invade Armenia.
1917 - Chicago White Sox Ed Cicotte no-hits St Louis Browns, 11-0
1918 - Douglas Campbell is 1st US ace pilot (shooting down 5th German plane)
1920 - Tornadoes killed 219 people in Alabama & Mississippi
1921 - NHL Championship: Ottawa Senators sweep Toronto St Patricks in 2 games
1921 - Prince Henry opens Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Bremen-Hamburg air route
1922 - Republic rebels occupies 4 government courts in Dublin
1923 - Etienne Oehmichen sets helicopter distance record of 358 meters
1925 - 1st regular-season Cubs game to be broadcast on radio (WGN)
1927 - The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1928 - Maddus Airlines starts 1st regular passenger flights between SF & LA
1928 - Stanley Cup: NY Rangers beat Montreal Maroons, 3 games to 2
1930 - Philip Barry's "Hotel Universe," premieres in NYC
1931 - Spain becomes republic with overthrow of King Alfonso XIII
1931 - Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks, 3 games to 2
Composer Georges BizetComposer Georges Bizet 1932 - Bizet, Massine & Mira's "Jeux d'Enfants," premieres in Monte Carlo
1935 - Black Sunday: The worst sandstorm ravages US midwest (creates the Dust Bowl)
Apr 14, 1935: A major Dust Bowl storm strikes
In what came to be known as "Black Sunday," one of the most devastating storms of the 1930s Dust Bowl era swept across the region on this day. High winds kicked up clouds of millions of tons of dirt and dust so dense and dark that some eyewitnesses believed the world was coming to an end.
The term "dust bowl" was reportedly coined by a reporter in the mid-1930s and referred to the plains of western Kansas, southeastern Colorado, the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, and northeastern New Mexico. By the early 1930s, the grassy plains of this region had been over-plowed by farmers and overgrazed by cattle and sheep. The resulting soil erosion, combined with an eight-year drought which began in 1931, created a dire situation for farmers and ranchers. Crops and businesses failed and an increasing number of dust storms made people and animals sick. Many residents fled the region in search of work in other states such as California (as chronicled in books including John Steinbeck s The Grapes of Wrath), and those who remained behind struggled to support themselves.
By the mid-1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt s administration introduced programs to help alleviate the farming crisis. Among these initiatives was the establishment of the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in the Department of Agriculture. The SCS promoted improved farming and land management techniques and farmers were paid to utilize these safer practices. For many Dust Bowl farmers, this federal aid was their only source of income at the time.
The Dust Bowl era finally came to a close when the rains arrived and the drought ended in 1939. Although drought would continue to be an inevitable part of life in the region, improved farming techniques significantly reduced the problem of soil erosion and prevented a repeat of the 1930 s Dust Bowl devastation.
1939 - John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" published
1940 - Allied troops land in Norway
1940 - RCA demonstrated its new electron microscope in Philadelphia
1941 - 1st massive German raid in Paris, 3,600 Jews rounded up
1941 - King Peter leaves Yugoslavia
1942 - Destroyer Roper sinks German U-85 of US east coast
1943 - Gen Alexander/Eisenhower/Anderson/Bradley discuss assault on Tunis
1943 - James Gow & A d'Usseau's "Tomorrow the World," premieres in NYC
1944 - 1st Jews transported from Athens arrive at Auschwitz
1944 - Freighter "Fort Stikene" explodes in Bombay India, killing 1,376
General Dwight Eisenhower, 34th resident of the United States
1944 - Gen Eisenhower becomes head commander of allied air fleet
1944 - Greek Colonel Venizelos forms government
1945 - American planes bombed Tokyo & damaged the Imperial Palace
Author John SteinbeckAuthor John Steinbeck 1945 - Arnhem/Zwolle freed from nazis
1945 - US 7th Army & allies forces captured Nuremberg & Stuttgart in Germany
1945 - US forces conquered Motobu peninsula on Okinawa
1945 - US marines attack Yae Take on Okinawa
1946 - "Day Before Spring" closes at National Theater NYC after 167 perfs
1946 - Manager Mel Ott of Giants hits 511th & final HR
1948 - A flash of light is observed in crater Plato on Moon
1948 - NYC subway fares jump from 5 cents to 10 cents
1948 - Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs sweep Detroit Red Wings in 4 games
1948 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1949 - International Military Tribunal at Neurenberg's last judgment
1950 - 1st edition of British strip "Eagle"
1950 - Doorne's Auto factory opens in Netherlands
1953 - Viet Minh invaded Laos with 40,00 troops.
1953 - Viet-Minh offensive in Laos
1953 - WHYN (now WGGB) TV channel 40 in Springfield-Holyoke, MA (ABC) begins
1954 - Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov asks for politics asylum in Canberra
1955 - Elston Howard becomes the 1st black to wear the Yankee uniform
1955 - Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 3
1955 - WBRZ TV channel 2 in Baton Rouge, LA (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
1956 - "Plain & Fancy" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 476 perfs
1956 - Ampex Corp demonstrates 1st commercial videotape recorder
1957 - Leah Neuberger wins her 8th women's singles ping pong championship
1957 - Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Dallas Golf Open
1958 - Sputnik 2 (with dog Laika) burns up in atmosphere
1959 - (Robert) Taft Memorial Bell Tower dedicated in Wash DC
1959 - KDIN TV channel 11 in Des Moines, IA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1960 - "Bye Bye Birdie" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 607 performances
1960 - 1st underwater launching of Polaris missile
1960 - Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens sweep Toronto Maple Leafs in 4 games
1961 - 1st live television broadcast from Soviet Union
1961 - Cuban-American invasion army departs Nicaragua
1961 - US element 103 (Lawrencium) discovered
1962 - Demonstration for sovereign status of New-Guinea in Amsterdam
1962 - Georges Pompidou becomes President of France
On this day in 1963, George Harrison of The Beatles was impressed by then unsigned rock group "The Rolling Stones."
1964 - Sandy Koufax throws his 9th complete game without allowing a walk
1965 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1967 - General Gnassingbé Eyadéma becomes president of Togo
1967 - In the Vietnam War, US planes bombed Haiphong for 1st time
1967 - Red Sox rookie Billy Rohome comes within 1 strike of a no hitter at
1967 - Yankee Stadium, Elston Howard singles on a 3-2 pitch
1968 - 1st NBA game at Madison Sq Garden, Knicks beat SD Clippers
1968 - 32nd Golf Masters Championship: Bob Goalby wins, shooting a 277
1968 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA O'Sullivan Golf Open
1968 - Roberto de Vicenzo loses Masters for signing an incorrect score card
1969 - 1st major league baseball game outside US played (Montreal Canada)
1969 - 41st Academy Awards - "Oliver," C Robertson & K Hepburn/Striesand win
1969 - KEET TV channel 13 in Eureka, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
General and President of Togo Gnassingbé EyadémaGeneral and President of Togo Gnassingbé Eyadéma 1969 - Student Afro-American Society seized at Columbia College
1969 - Tornado strikes Dacca East Pakistan killing 540
1970 - "Boy Friend" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 119 performances
1971 - Fort Point, SF dedicated as a national historic site
The flag of the People's Republic of China
1971 - President Nixon ends blockade against People's Republic of China
1971 - Stephen Sondheim's musical "Follies," premieres in NYC
1971 - Supreme Court upheld busing as means of achieving racial desegregation
1972 - "That's Entertainment" opens at Edison Theater NYC for 4 performances
1973 - Acting FBI director L Patrick Gray resigns after admitting he destroyed evidence in the Watergate scandal
1974 - 38th Golf Masters Championship: Gary Player wins, shooting a 278
1977 - Supreme Court says people may refuse to display state motto on license
1978 - David Hare's "Plenty," premieres in London
1978 - Korean Air Lines Boeing 707, fired on by Soviets, crashes in Russia
1978 - WRR-AM in Dallas Texas changes call letters to KAAM
1978 - 1978 Tbilisi Demonstrations: Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against Soviet attempts to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.
1979 - Susan Horvath, of Penn, crowned America's Young Woman of the Year
1980 - 1st Cubans of the Mariel boatlift sail to Florida
1980 - 52nd Academy Awards - "Kramer vs Kramer," D Hoffman & Sally Field win
Novelist Norman MailerNovelist Norman Mailer
1980 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Norman Mailer (Executioner's Song)
1981 - 1st Space Shuttle-Columbia 1-returns to Earth
1983 - Isles tie own rec with 2 shorthanded playoff goals in a pd vs Ranger
1983 - President Reagan signs $165 billion Social Security rescue
1983 - Rangers 1-Isles 4-Patrick Div Finals-Isles hold 1-0 lead
1984 - Farewell concert of "Doe Maar" in Den Bosch Neth
1985 - "Take Me Along!" opens/closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC
1985 - 49th Golf Masters Championship: Bernhard Langer wins, shooting a 282
1985 - Ahmed Salah wins 1st World Cup marathon (2:08:09)
1985 - Alan Garcia wins elections in Peru
1985 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Kyocera Inamori Golf Classic
1985 - Bob Carpenter is unsuccessful on Wash Caps 1st playoff penalty shot
1985 - Caps 4-Isles 6-Patrick Div Semifinals-Series tied at 2-2
1985 - Jack C Burcham is 5th to receive "Jarvik 7" permanent artificial heart
1986 - 21st Academy of Country Music Awards: G Strait, Alabama, R McEntire
US President & Actor Ronald ReaganUS President & Actor Ronald Reagan
Statue of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa
On this day in 1986, future Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu was elected to be the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa.
1986 - Double-decker ferry sinks in stormy weather in Bangladesh killing 200
1986 - US aircraft attacks 5 terrorist locations in Libya
Apr 14, 1986: U.S. bombs Libya
On April 14, 1986, the United States launches air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and citizens. The raid, which began shortly before 7 p.m. EST (2 a.m., April 15 in Libya), involved more than 100 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft, and was over within an hour. Five military targets and "terrorism centers" were hit, including the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.
During the 1970s and '80s, Qaddafi's government financed a wide variety of Muslim and anti-U.S. and anti-British terrorist groups worldwide, from Palestinian guerrillas and Philippine Muslim rebels to the Irish Republican Army and the Black Panthers. In response, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Libya, and relations between the two nations steadily deteriorated. In 1981, Libya fired at a U.S. aircraft that passed into the Gulf of Sidra, which Qaddafi had claimed in 1973 as Libyan territorial waters. That year, the U.S. uncovered evidence of Libyan-sponsored terrorist plots against the United States, including planned assassination attempts against U.S. officials and the bombing of a U.S. embassy-sponsored dance in Khartoum, Sudan.
In December 1985, five American citizens were killed in simultaneous terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. Libya was blamed, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered expanded sanctions and froze Libyan assets in the United States. On March 24, 1986, U.S. and Libyan forces clashed in the Gulf of Sidra, and four Libyan attack boats were sunk. Then, on April 5, terrorists bombed a West Berlin dance hall known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. One U.S. serviceman and a Turkish woman were killed, and more than 200 people were wounded, including 50 other U.S. servicemen. U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted radio messages sent from Libya to its diplomats in East Berlin ordering the April 5 attack on the LaBelle discotheque.
On April 14, the United States struck back with dramatic air strikes against Tripoli and Banghazi. The attacks were mounted by 14 A-6E navy attack jets based in the Mediterranean and 18 FB-111 bombers from bases in England. Numerous other support aircraft were also involved. France refused to allow the F-111s to fly over French territory, which added 2,600 total nautical miles to the journey from England and back. Three military barracks were hit, along with the military facilities at Tripoli's main airport and the Benina air base southeast of Benghazi. All targets except one were reportedly chosen because of their direct connection to terrorist activity. The Benina military airfield was hit to preempt Libyan interceptors from taking off and attacking the incoming U.S. bombers.
Even before the operation had ended, President Reagan went on national television to discuss the air strikes. "When our citizens are abused or attacked anywhere in the world," he said, "we will respond in self-defense. Today we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we shall do it again."
Operation El Dorado Canyon, as it was code-named, was called a success by U.S. officials. Qaddafi's 15-month-old adopted daughter was killed in the attack on his residence, and two of his young sons were injured. Although he has never admitted it publicly, there is speculation that Qaddafi was also wounded in the bombing. Fire from Libyan surface-to-air missiles and conventional anti-aircraft artillery was heavy during the attack, and one F-111, along with its two-member crew, were lost in unknown circumstances. Several residential buildings were inadvertently bombed during the raid, and 15 Libyan civilians were reported killed. The French embassy in Tripoli was also accidentally hit, but no one was injured.
On April 15, Libyan patrol boats fired missiles at a U.S. Navy communications station on the Italian island of Lamedusa, but the missiles fell short. There was no other major terrorist attack linked to Libya until the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew of that flight were killed, and 11 people on the ground perished. In the early 1990s, investigators identified Libyan intelligence agents Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah as suspects in the bombing, but Libya refused to turn them over to be tried in the United States. But in 1999--in an effort to ease United Nations sanctions against Libya--Colonel Moammar Gadhafi agreed to turn the suspects over to Scotland for trial in the Netherlands using Scottish law and prosecutors. In early 2001, al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, although he continues to profess his innocence and work to overturn his conviction. Fhimah was acquitted.
In accordance with United Nations and American demands, Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing, though it did not express remorse. The U.N. and U.S. lifted sanctions against Libya; the country then paid each victim's family approximately $8 million in compensation. In 2004, Libya's prime minister said that the deal was the "price for peace," implying that his country only accepted responsibility to get the sanctions lifted, angering the survivors' families. He also admitted that Libya had not really accepted guilt for the bombing. Pan Am Airlines, which went bankrupt as a result of the bombing, is still seeking $4.5 billion in compensation from Libya in civil court.
Qaddafi surprised many around the world when he became one of the first Muslim heads of state to denounce al-Qaida after the attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2003, he gained favor with the administration of George W. Bush when he announced the existence of a program to build weapons of mass destruction in Libya and that he would allow an international agency to inspect and dismantle them. Though some in the U.S. government pointed to this as a direct and positive consequence of the ongoing war in Iraq, others pointed out that Qaddafi had essentially been making the same offer since 1999, but had been ignored. In 2004, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Libya, one of the first western heads of state to do so in recent memory; he praised Libya during the visit as a strong ally in the international war on terror.
In February 2011, as unrest spread through much of the Arab world, massive political protests against the Qaddafi regime sparked a civil war between revolutionaries and loyalists. In March, an international coalition began conducting airstrikes against Qaddafi strongholds under the auspices of a U.N. Security Council resolution. On October 20, Libya’s interim government announced that Qaddafi had died after being captured near his hometown of Sirte.
1987 - Turkey asks to join European market
1988 - "Mail" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 36 performances
1988 - Devils 6-5 over Islanders-Devils take 1st round 4-2
The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)
1988 - USSR, US, Pakistan & Afghanistan sign Afghanistan treaty
Apr 14, 1988: Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan
Representatives of the USSR, Afghanistan, the United States, and Pakistan sign an agreement calling for the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan. In exchange for an end to the disputed Soviet occupation, the United States agreed to end its arms support for the Afghan anti-Soviet factions, and Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed not to interfere in each other's affairs.
In 1978, a Soviet-backed coup in Afghanistan installed a new communist government under Nur Mohammad Taraki. However, in 1979, a second coup toppled Taraki's government in favor of Hafizullah Amin, a Muslim leader less favorable to the Soviets. In December 1979, Soviet tanks and troops invaded Afghanistan, and Amin was murdered in a Soviet-backed coup. Babrak Karmal, a product of the KGB, was installed in his place.
Despite early gains, the Soviet army met with unanticipated resistance from Muslim guerrillas, who launched a jihad, or "holy war," against the foreign atheists. Armed by the United States, Britain, China, and several Muslim nations, the muhajadeen, or "holy warriors," inflicted heavy casualties on the Russians. In the USSR, the Red Army's failure to suppress the guerrillas, and the high cost of the war in Russian lives and resources, caused significant discord in the Communist Party and Soviet society. In April 1988, after years of stalemate, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a peace accord with Afghanistan. In February 1989, the last Soviet soldier left Afghanistan, where civil war continued until the Taliban's seizure of power in the late 1990s.
1989 - 1,100,000,000th Chinese born
1989 - In the Iran-Contra trial, Oliver North's case goes to the jury
1991 - "Mule Bone" closes at Ethel Barrymore Theater NYC after 67 perfs
1991 - "Oh, Kay!" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC
1991 - 55th Golf Masters Championship: Ian Woosnam wins, shooting a 277
1991 - Chic Blackhawks becomes 1st NHL regular season champion in 20 years to lose in 1st round of the playoffs (To Minn North Stars)
1992 - "Guys & Dolls" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 1143 performances
1992 - "Les Miserables," opens at Palace Theatre, Manchester
1992 - Court throws out Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft
1992 - UAW ends 5 month strike against Caterpillar Inc
1992 - UN imposes embargo against Libya takes effect
1994 - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis operated on for a bleeding ulcer
1994 - NJ Devils end best regular season, 47-25-12 record for 106 points
1994 - US F-15 accidentally shoots 2 US helicopters down over Iraq, 26 die
1994 - Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender after completion of his Seven Seals manuscript
1995 - India beats Sri Lanka to win the Asia Cricket Cup final in Sharjah
1995 - Rosie Jones wins LPGA Pinewild Women's Golf Championship
1996 - "Apple Doesn't Fall" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 1 performance
1996 - 60th Golf Masters Championship: Nick Faldo wins, shooting a 276
1996 - Detroit Red Wings win NHL record 62 games
1999 - NATO mistakenly bombs a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees - Yugoslav officials say 75 people are killed.
1999 - A severe hailstorm strikes Sydney, Australia causing A$1.7 billion in insured damages, the most costly natural disaster in Australian history.
2000 - Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich files a lawsuit against P2P sharing phenomenon Napster. This law-suit eventually leads the movement against file-sharing programs.
2002 - 66th Golf Masters Championship: Tiger Woods becomes the third golfer to win in two consecutive years
2002 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returns to office two days after being ousted and arrested by the country's military.
2003 - The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
2003 - U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the Achille Lauro in 1985.
2005 - The U.S. Oregon Supreme Court nullifies marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
2007 - At least 200,000 demonstrators in Ankara, Turkey protest against the possible candidacy of incumbent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
2008 - 42nd CMT Music Awards: Taylor Swift & Trace Adkins wins
2010 - Icelandic Volcano Eyjafjallajökull begins erupting from the top crater in the centre of the glacier
2013 - 20 people are killed in attacks in Mogadishu, Somalia
2013 - 33 people are killed after a bus tumbled off a cliff in Trujillo, Peru
2013 - 11 people are killed and 50 are injured after a hotel fire in Xiangyang, China
2013 - 77th Golf Masters Championship: Adam Scott wins, shooting a 279
1775 - The first abolitionist society in U.S. was organized in Philadelphia with Ben Franklin as president. 1828 - The first edition of Noah Webster's dictionary was published under the name "American Dictionary of the English Language." 1894 - First public showing of Thomas Edison's kinetoscope took place. 1902 - James Cash (J.C.) Penney opened his first retail store in Kemmerer, WY. It was called the Golden Rule Store. 1910 - U.S. President William Howard Taft threw out the first ball for the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. 1912 - The Atlantic passenger liner Titanic, on its maiden voyage hit an iceberg and began to sink. 1,517 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived. 1918 - The U.S. First Aero Squadron engaged in America's first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft over Toul, France. 1925 - WGN became the first radio station to broadcast a regular season major league baseball game. The Cubs beat the Pirates 8-2. 1931 - King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile and the Spanish Republic was proclaimed. 1939 - The John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was first published. 1946 - The civil war between Communists and nationalist resumed in China. 1956 - Ampex Corporation of Redwood City, CA, demonstrated the first commercial magnetic tape recorder for sound and picture. 1959 - The Taft Memorial Bell Tower was dedicated in Washington, DC. 1969 - For the first time, a major league baseball game was played in Montreal, Canada. 1981 - America's first space shuttle, Columbia, returned to Earth after a three-day test flight. The shuttle orbited the Earth 36 times during the mission. 1984 - The Texas Board of Education began requiring that the state's public school textbooks describe the evolution of human beings as "theory rather than fact". 1985 - The Russian paper "Pravda" called U.S. President Reagan's planned visit to Bitburg to visit the Nazi cemetery an "act of blasphemy". 1986 - U.S. President Reagan announced the U.S. air raid on military and terrorist related targets in Libya. 1987 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proposed banning all missiles from Europe. 1988 - Representatives from the U.S.S.R., Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S. signed an agreement that called for the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan starting on May 15. The last Soviet troop left Afghanistan on February 15, 1989. 1988 - In New York, real estate tycoons Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted for income tax evasion. 1990 - Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles began a streak of 95 errorless games and 431 total chances by a shortstop. 1994 - Two American F-15 warplanes inadvertently shot down two U.S. helicopters over northern Iraq. 26 people were killed including 15 Americans. 1998 - The state of Virginia ignored the requests from the World Court and executed a Paraguayan for the murder of a U.S. woman. 1999 - Pakistan test-fired a ballistic missile that was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching its rival neighbor India. 2000 - After five years of deadlock, Russia approved the START II treaty that calls for the scrapping of U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads. The Russian government warned it would abandon all arms-control pacts if Washington continued with an anti-missile system. 2002 - U.S. President George W. Bush sent a letter of congratulations to JCPenny's associates for being in business for 100 years. James Cash (J.C.) Penney had opened his first retail store on April 14, 1902. 2002 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being arrested by his country's military. 2008 - Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announced they were combining.
1828 Noah Webster copyrighted the first edition of his dictionary. 1860 The first pony express rider reached his destination of San Francisco. He left St. Joseph, Mo., on April 3. 1865 Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. 1894 The first kinetoscope parlor opened in New York City. 1912 Titanic hit the iceberg that would sink her the next morning. 1969 In a record breaking night at the Academy Awards, a tie between Katherine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand resulted in the two sharing the the Best Actress Oscar and Hepburn broke the record as the only actress to win three Best Actress Oscars. 2002 Hugo Chávez returned as president of Venezuela after being forced out of office two days previously. 2003 Abu Abbas, the leader of the terrorist group Palestine Liberation Front when the group hijacked the liner Achille Lauro, was captured by U.S. forces in Iraq. 2010 An explosion in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland results in a volcanic ash plume in the atmosphere over northern and central Europe. Air travel in the region is halted for several days.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr14.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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