This Day in History - April 15th

I have been thinking about incorporating a new section on this blog. Essentially summing up some of the most important events to have happened on any given day in history, and perhaps adding my own special, personal landmarks whenever appropriate.

This is by no means meant to be an extensive, or all-encompassing history, but just a brief synopsis of some interesting events that transpired on this day in the past.

So, let me try it out, and see how well it works (or not so much, perhaps).

Important historical events on April 15:

1450 - France defeats Britain in the Battle of Formigny during the Hundred Years War

1784 - The first balloon was flown over Ireland

1794 - The "Courier Francais" became the first French daily newspaper printed in the United States

1858 - Emile Durkheim, a prominent French sociologist, was born

1861 - Following the attack on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln declares a state of insurrection and Union troops begin to move, effectively starting the Civil War

1865 - President Abraham Lincoln dies from gunshot wounds that he received from John Wilkes Booth

1912 - The Titanic sank from contact with an iceberg on it's maiden voyage, in what turned out to be the final voyage for it, as well.

1945 -  British and Canadian forces liberate Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, while US forces occupy Nazi concentration camp Colditz. Franklin D. Roosevelt is buried on the grounds of his home estate at Hyde Park.

1947 - Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers and scored the winning run. 50 years later on this date, he was honored by having his number, 42, retired.

1980 - Jean-Paul Sartre, noted author and existentialist philosopher dies.

1989 - Chinese students protest in Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, protest for greater rights and democracy.

1991 - European nations lift most of the sanctions that had been imposed on the apartheid regime in South Africa, as the process of reform continues.

1998 - Pol Pot, the former leader of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, died.

Sources:

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/April-15

http://www.historyorb.com/day/april/15

http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/apr15.htm