http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Apr 11, 1814: Napoleon exiled to Elba
On this day in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba.
The future emperor was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, 1769. After attending military school, he fought during the French Revolution of 1789 and rapidly rose through the military ranks, leading French troops in a number of successful campaigns throughout Europe in the late 1700s. By 1799, he had established himself at the top of a military dictatorship. In 1804, he became emperor of France and continued to consolidate power through his military campaigns, so that by 1810 much of Europe came under his rule. Although Napoleon developed a reputation for being power-hungry and insecure, he is also credited with enacting a series of important political and social reforms that had a lasting impact on European society, including judiciary systems, constitutions, voting rights for all men and the end of feudalism. Additionally, he supported education, science and literature. His Code Napoleon, which codified key freedoms gained during the French Revolution, such as religious tolerance, remains the foundation of French civil law.
In 1812, thinking that Russia was plotting an alliance with England, Napoleon launched an invasion against the Russians that eventually ended with his troops retreating from Moscow and much of Europe uniting against him. In 1814, Napoleon's broken forces gave up and Napoleon offered to step down in favor of his son. When this offer was rejected, he abdicated and was sent to Elba. In March 1815, he escaped his island exile and returned to Paris, where he regained supporters and reclaimed his emperor title, Napoleon I, in a period known as the Hundred Days. However, in June 1815, he was defeated at the bloody Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon's defeat ultimately signaled the end of France's domination of Europe. He abdicated for a second time and was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he lived out the rest of his days. He died at age 52 on May 5, 1821, possibly from stomach cancer, although some theories contend he was poisoned.
Apr 11, 1945: The U.S. army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp
On this day in 1945, the American Third Army liberates the Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany, a camp that will be judged second only to Auschwitz in the horrors it imposed on its prisoners.
As American forces closed in on the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Gestapo headquarters at Weimar telephoned the camp administration to announce that it was sending explosives to blow up any evidence of the camp--including its inmates. What the Gestapo did not know was that the camp administrators had already fled in fear of the Allies. A prisoner answered the phone and informed headquarters that explosives would not be needed, as the camp had already been blown up, which, of course, was not true.
The camp held thousands of prisoners, mostly slave laborers. There were no gas chambers, but hundreds, sometimes thousands, died monthly from disease, malnutrition, beatings, and executions. Doctors performed medical experiments on inmates, testing the effects of viral infections and vaccines.
Among the camp's most gruesome characters was Ilse Koch, wife of the camp commandant, who was infamous for her sadism. She often beat prisoners with a riding crop, and collected lampshades, book covers, and gloves made from the skin of camp victims.
Among those saved by the Americans was Elie Wiesel, who would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
Apr 11, 1979: Idi Amin overthrown
On April 11, 1979, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin flees the Ugandan capital of Kampala as Tanzanian troops and forces of the Uganda National Liberation Front close in. Two days later, Kampala fell and a coalition government of former exiles took power.
Amin, chief of the Ugandan army and air force from 1966, seized control of the African nation in 1971. A tyrant and extreme nationalist, he launched a genocidal program to purge Uganda of its Lango and Acholi ethnic groups. In 1972, he ordered all Asians who had not taken Ugandan nationality to leave the country, and some 60,000 Indians and Pakistanis fled. These Asians comprised an important portion of the work force, and the Ugandan economy collapsed after their departure.
In 1979, his eight years of chaotic rule came to an end when Tanzania and anti-Amin Ugandan forces invaded and toppled his regime. Amin had launched an unsuccessful attack on Tanzania in October 1978 in an effort to divert attention from Uganda's internal problems. He escaped to Libya, eventually settling in Saudi Arabia, where he died in August 2003. The deaths of 300,000 Ugandans are attributed to Idi Amin.
Apr 11, 1970: Apollo 13 launched to moon
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The spacecraft's destination was the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, where the astronauts were to explore the Imbrium Basin and conduct geological experiments. After an oxygen tank exploded on the evening of April 13, however, the new mission objective became to get the Apollo 13 crew home alive.
At 9:00 p.m. EST on April 13, Apollo 13 was just over 200,000 miles from Earth. The crew had just completed a television broadcast and was inspecting Aquarius, the Landing Module (LM). The next day, Apollo 13 was to enter the moon's orbit, and soon after, Lovell and Haise would become the fifth and sixth men to walk on the moon. At 9:08 p.m., these plans were shattered when an explosion rocked the spacecraft. Oxygen tank No. 2 had blown up, disabling the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water. Lovell reported to mission control: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and the crew scrambled to find out what had happened. Several minutes later, Lovell looked out of the left-hand window and saw that the spacecraft was venting a gas, which turned out to be the Command Module's (CM) oxygen. The landing mission was aborted.
As the CM lost pressure, its fuel cells also died, and one hour after the explosion mission control instructed the crew to move to the LM, which had sufficient oxygen, and use it as a lifeboat. The CM was shut down but would have to be brought back on-line for Earth reentry. The LM was designed to ferry astronauts from the orbiting CM to the moon's surface and back again; its power supply was meant to support two people for 45 hours. If the crew of Apollo 13 were to make it back to Earth alive, the LM would have to support three men for at least 90 hours and successfully navigate more than 200,000 miles of space. The crew and mission control faced a formidable task.
To complete its long journey, the LM needed energy and cooling water. Both were to be conserved at the cost of the crew, who went on one-fifth water rations and would later endure cabin temperatures that hovered a few degrees above freezing. Removal of carbon dioxide was also a problem, because the square lithium hydroxide canisters from the CM were not compatible with the round openings in the LM environmental system. Mission control built an impromptu adapter out of materials known to be onboard, and the crew successfully copied their model.
Navigation was also a major problem. The LM lacked a sophisticated navigational system, and the astronauts and mission control had to work out by hand the changes in propulsion and direction needed to take the spacecraft home. On April 14, Apollo 13 swung around the moon. Swigert and Haise took pictures, and Lovell talked with mission control about the most difficult maneuver, a five-minute engine burn that would give the LM enough speed to return home before its energy ran out. Two hours after rounding the far side of the moon, the crew, using the sun as an alignment point, fired the LM's small descent engine. The procedure was a success; Apollo 13 was on its way home.
For the next three days, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert huddled in the freezing lunar module. Haise developed a case of the flu. Mission control spent this time frantically trying to develop a procedure that would allow the astronauts to restart the CM for reentry. On April 17, a last-minute navigational correction was made, this time using Earth as an alignment guide. Then the repressurized CM was successfully powered up after its long, cold sleep. The heavily damaged service module was shed, and one hour before re-entry the LM was disengaged from the CM. Just before 1 p.m., the spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere. Mission control feared that the CM's heat shields were damaged in the accident, but after four minutes of radio silence Apollo 13's parachutes were spotted, and the astronauts splashed down safely into the Pacific Ocean.
Apr 11, 1977: President Carter hosts White House Easter egg roll
On this day in 1977, President Jimmy Carter, along with first lady Rosalynn Carter, hosts local children at the traditional White House "Easter egg roll."
According to White House curator Bill Allman, the curious tradition of egg-rolling on the White House lawn originated in the mid-to-late 19th century. First lady Dolley Madison is sometimes credited with proposing the idea of a public egg roll around 1810, and several first families may have held similar events privately prior to 1872. Newspaper articles described the first public egg-rolling event as having occurred on the congressional grounds in 1872. In 1876, foot traffic from hordes of children and their families during an egg roll caused so much damage to the Congressional grounds that legislators were forced to pass the Turf Protection Law to prevent further damage. In doing so, they outlawed the future use of congressional grounds for public events.
Disappointed D.C. children had to wait two years before President Rutherford B. Hayes hosted the first official Easter egg roll on the White House grounds in 1878. Since then, nearly every presidential administration has hosted this special children's event unless war or bad weather forced its cancellation or relocation to another venue. The egg roll was suspended from the White House grounds for 12 long years between America's entry into World War II in 1941 and the end of Eisenhower's White House renovations in 1953.
In addition to the traditional Easter egg roll, participants, usually including the president's family, were treated to music, games, food, pony rides, souvenirs and a visit by the Easter Bunny. In 1969, First Lady Pat Nixon donned the Easter Bunny costume and, during Reagan's two terms, Attorney General Edwin Meese's wife, Ursula, wore the bunny costume six times. Ursula Meese thus earned the nickname of "Meester Bunny" in the Reagan White House. In 1974, President Nixon allowed organizers to borrow spoons for the egg roll from the White House kitchen.
Since its inception, the Easter egg roll has grown increasingly elaborate. In 1977, President Carter added a circus and petting zoo to the day's entertainment. In 1981, Easter revelers could attend an entire Broadway show or climb into the basket of a hot-air balloon tethered to the ground. During the Clinton administration, organizers started a second tradition of inviting individual states to send an egg decorated by one of their local artists to the White House for display.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the
name of Anastasius I.
672 - Deusdedit III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1079 - Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow is executed by order of
Bolesław II of Poland.
1471 - King Edward IV of England conquers London from Henry
VI
1512 - Battle at Ravenna: France under Gaston de Foix beat
Spanish Army
1551 - English premier John Dudley appointed duke of
Northumberland
1564 - England & France sign Peace of Troyes
1564 - Liege prince-bishop Robert van Bergen resigns
1567 - Dutch prince William of Orange flees from Antwerp to
Breda
1579 - Venlo joins Union of Utrecht
1580 - Drenthe joins Union of Utrecht
1677 - Battle at Montcassel, French troops beat Prince
William III
1689 - William III & Mary II crowned as joint rulers of
Britain
1713 - Peace of Utrecht; France cedes Maritime provinces to
Britain - English, Prussian, Savoois, Portuguese & French peace treaty
1775 - The last execution for witchcraft in Germany takes
place.
1801 - Johann von Schiller's "Die Jungfrau von
Orleans," premieres in Leipzig
1814 - Napoleon abdicates unconditionally; he is exiled to
Elba
1828 - Foundation of Bahia Blanca.
1830 - Robert Schumann attends piano concerto by Paganini
1848 - Hungary becomes constitutional monarchy under king
Ferdinand of Aust
1856 - Battle of Rivas; Costa Rica beats Wm Walker's
invading Nicaraguans
1862 - Rebels surrender Ft Pulaski, Georgia-Rebels surrender
1863 - Battle of Suffolk, VA (Norfleet House)
1865 - Battle of Mobile, AL - evacuated by Confederates
1865 - Lincoln urges a spirit of generous conciliation
during reconstruction
1868 - The Shogunate is abolished in Japan.
1876 - Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks organizes
1876 - Sir Charles Gordon ends religious tolerance in Sudan
1881 - River ferry "Princess Victoria" sinks in
Thames River Ont, 180 die
1881 - Spelman College founded
1888 - The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated.
1890 - Ellis Island designated as an immigration station
1891 - 8 year old Jewish tailor's daughter disappears in
Greece, rumor spreads that she was a Christian girl ritually killed by Jews
1895 - Anaheim completes it's new electric light system
1898 - President McKinley asks for Spanish-American War
declaration
1899 - Treaty of Paris ratifies ends war; Spain cedes Puerto
Rico to US
1900 - US Navy's 1st submarine made its debut
1902 - Battle at Rooiwal, South-Africa
Theoretical Physicist Albert EinsteinTheoretical Physicist
Albert Einstein 1906 - Albert Einstein introduces his Theory of Relativity
1907 - NY Giant Roger Bresnahan becomes 1st catcher to wear
shin guards
1912 - Cornerstone of Technion in Haifa Palestine laid
1914 - George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion,"
premieres
1917 - Babe Ruth beats NY Yanks, pitching 3-hit 10-3 win for
Red Sox
1919 - The International Labour Organization is founded.
1921 - Iowa imposed 1st state cigarette tax
1921 - KDKA broadcast 1st radio sporting event, a boxing
match (Ray-Dundee)
1921 - Turkestan ASSR forms in Russian SFSR
1921 - First sports broadcast on the radio takes place.
1921 - The Emirate of Transjordan is created.
1924 - 1st men's college swimming championships begin
1924 - Socialists win Denmark's parliamentary elections
1924 - WLS-AM in Chicago IL begins radio transmissions
1925 - Abd el-Krims Rifkabylen beats French army in Morocco
Baseball Great Babe RuthBaseball Great Babe Ruth 1926 -
Flemish Economic Covenant (VEV) forms in Ghent
1927 - Chilean gen Carlos Ibáñez names himself president
1929 - KLO-AM in Ogden UT begins radio transmissions
1929 - Loetafoon celluloid film system demonstrated in
Amsterdam
1933 - Hermann Goering becomes Premier of Prussia
1936 - Rodgers & Hart's musical "On Your
Toes," premieres in NYC
1936 - Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings beat Toronto Maple
Leafs, 3 games to 1
1939 - Hungary leaves League of Nations
1941 - Germany blitzes Conventry, England
1941 - Jewish Weekly newspaper taken control by Nazis
1941 - Nazi occupiers in Neth confiscate Jewish assets
1942 - Distinguished Service Medal for Merchant Marines
authorized
1943 - Frank Piasecki, Vertol founder, flies his 1st
(single-rotor) craft
1944 - RAF bombs census bureau in The Hague
1945 - Allied troops liberate Basket-Compascuum
Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann
Goering 1945 - SS burns & shoots 1,100 at Gardelegen
1945 - US captures Tsugen Shima
1945 - US soldiers liberate Nazi concentration camp
"Buchenwald"
1945 - US troops conquers Mulheim, Oberhausen, Bochum, Unna,
Essen
1947 - Jackie Robinson becomes 1st black in modern
major-league baseball
1948 - 12th Golf Masters Championship: Claude Harmon wins,
shooting a 279
1950 - Prince Rainier III becomes ruler of Monaco
1950 - US B-29 bomber shot down above Latvia
1951 - Pres Harry Truman fires Gen Douglas McArthur
1952 - The Battle of Nanri island takes place.
1953 - Oveta Culp Hobby becomes 1st at Health, Education,
& Welfare
1954 - Marlene Bauer wins LPGA New Orleans Golf Open
1955 - Sobers starts run of 85 Test Cricket appearances for
WI uninterrupted
1955 - The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes
in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
1956 - French government decides to sends 200,000 reservists
to Algeria
Premier of the People's Republic of China Zhou EnlaiPremier
of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai 1956 - Singer Nat Cole attacked on
stage of Birmingham theater by whites
1957 - Pablo Neruda arrested in Buenos Aires
1957 - Ryan X-13 Vertijet becomes 1st jet to take-off &
land vertically
1957 - Britain agrees to Singaporean self-rule.
1958 - Brooks Hall in Civic Center dedicated (SF)
1959 - "Jamaica" closes at Imperial Theater NYC
after 558 performances
1959 - Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale hits his 2nd Opening Day
HR
1959 - Dutch prince Bernhard visits Lockheed factory
1961 - Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem
1961 - Bob Dylan makes his 1st appearance at Folk City,
Greenwich Village
1961 - 15th NBA Championship: Bos Celtics beat St Louis
Hawks, 4 games to 1
1961 - Adolf Eichmann trial begins in Israel
1961 - Austrian 4th & last government of Raab resigns
1961 - Israel begins Adolf Eichmann WW II crimes trial
1962 - New York Mets make a losing debut
262nd Pope John XXIII262nd Pope John XXIII 1963 - John XXIII
encyclical On peace in truth, justice, charity & liberty
1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - Warren Spahn beats Mets 6-1 for his 328th win (most
by a lefty)
1964 - "Anyone Can Whistle" closes at Majestic
Theater NYC after 9 perfs
1965 - 29th Golf Masters Championship: Jack Nicklaus wins,
shooting a 271
1965 - 40 tornadoes strike US midwest killing 272 &
injuring 5,000
1966 - 30th Golf Masters Championship: Jack Nicklaus wins,
shooting a 288
1966 - Emmett Ashford becomes 1st black major league umpire
1967 - "Illya Darling" opens at Mark Hellinger
Theater NYC for 320 perfs
1967 - Harlem (NYC) voters defy Congress & reelect Adam
Clayton Powell Jr
1967 - Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
are Dead," premieres
1968 - Polish Marshal Spychalski succeeds Ochab as president
1968 - Pres Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act
1968 - W Berlin student Rudi Dutschke seriously wounded at
demonstration
1968 - WHED TV channel 15 in Hanover, NH (PBS) begins
broadcasting
Playwright Tom StoppardPlaywright Tom Stoppard 1970 - Apollo
13 launched to Moon; unable to land, returns in 6 days
1970 - Beatles' "Let It Be," single goes #1 &
stays #1 for 2 weeks
1970 - SF beats Cincinnati 2-1, only day Reds aren't in 1st
place in 1970
1971 - "Johnny Johnson" opens/closes at Edison
Theater NYC for 1 performance
1971 - 35th Golf Masters Championship: Charles Coody wins,
shooting a 279
1971 - WBFF TV channel 45 in Baltimore, MD (IND) begins
broadcasting
1972 - Benjamin L Hooks, named to FCC
1972 - USSR performs underground nuclear test
1974 - WW II war criminal JP Philippa arrested
1975 - Hank Aaron returns as a Milwaukee player (Brewer)
1975 - JP Parise 11 sec OT goal-Isles 1st playoff advance
eliminates Rangers
1976 - 40th Golf Masters Championship: Ray Floyd wins,
shooting a 271
1976 - The Apple I is created.
1977 - Ireland sets fishing zone at 50 mile
1979 - Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown; Tanzania takes
Kampala
Baseball Player Hank AaronBaseball Player Hank Aaron 1980 -
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulates sexual harassment
1980 - Paul McCartney releases "Coming Up"
1981 - Larry Holmes beats Trevor Holmes in 15 for
heavyweight boxing title
1981 - Race riot in London area of Brixton
1981 - Ronald Reagan arrives home from hospital after
Hinkley shot him
1982 - 46th Golf Masters Championship: Craig Stadler wins,
shooting a 284
1982 - Penguins 5-Isles 2-Preliminary-Series tied at 2-2
1983 - 3rd Golden Raspberry Awards: Inchon! wins
1983 - 47th Golf Masters Championship: Seve Ballesteros
wins, shooting a 280
1983 - 55th Academy Awards - "Gandhi," Ben
Kingsley & Meryl Streep win
1983 - NASA launches RCA-F
1984 - Challenger astronauts complete 1st in space satellite
repair
1984 - Chinese troops invade Vietnam
1984 - Gen Sec Konstantin U Chernenko named pres of Soviet
Union
1984 - Soyuz T-11 returns to Earth
Actress Meryl StreepActress Meryl Streep 1984 - USSR party
leader Chernenko elected president
1985 - Caps 2-Isles 1 (OT)-Patrick Div Semifinals- Caps hold
2-0 lead
1986 - A Canadain 1921 50 cent piece auctioned in NYC for
$22,000
1986 - Dodge Morgan sailed solo nonstop around world in 150
days
1986 - Halley's Comet makes closest approach to Earth this
trip, 63 M km
1986 - KXA-AM in Seattle WA changes call letters to KRPM
1987 - Yankees score 12 runs in 7th inning vs KC Royals
1987 - Zoja Ivanova wins 2nd female World Cup marathon
(2:30:39)
1988 - Royal Concert building in Amsterdam reopens
1988 - 60th Academy Awards - "The Last Emperor,"
Michael Douglas & Cher win
1989 - 1st playoff goal scored by a goalie, Ron Hextall of
Phila
1989 - Flyers, scores short-handed into an empty net beating
Caps 8-5
1990 - Angels Mark Langston & Mike Witt, no-hit Seattle,
1-0
1990 - NY Lotto pays $35 million to two winner (#s are
6-14-24-32-34-51)
1990 - NY Rangers beat NY Islanders 6-1, Rangers lead 3-1 in
preliminary
Actor Michael DouglasActor Michael Douglas 1990 - Customs
officers in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, say they have seized what they
believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.
1991 - "Miss Saigon," opens at Broadway Theater
NYC
1991 - NYC's Museum of Broadcasting becomes "Museum of
Radio & Television"
1991 - Space Shuttle STS 37 (Atlantis 8) lands
1991 - UN Security Council issues formal cease fire with Iraq
declaration
1992 - BPAA US Open by Robert Lawrence
1992 - Euro-Disney opens near Paris
1992 - Indians set team record for long game loss to Red Sox
(19 inn - 6½ hr)
1992 - Irish Republican Army bombs London financial
district, killing 3
1993 - 57th Golf Masters Championship: Bernhard Langer wins,
shooting a 277
1993 - Jeff Rouse swims world record 100m backstroke (51.43
sec)
1993 - Kirsan Ilumzjinov installed as president of Kalmukkie
1993 - 450 prisoners rioted at the Southern Ohio
Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continued to do so for ten days,
citing grievances related to prison conditions, as well as the forced
vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis) against their
religious beliefs. It was Easter Sunday.
1996 - "King & I," premieres at Neil Simon
Theater in NYC for 781 perform
1996 - Detroit Red Wings become 2nd NHL team to win 60 games
in a season
1999 - 63rd Golf Masters Championship: José María Olazábal
wins, shooting a 280
2000 - AT&T Park in San Francisco, Minute Maid Park in
Houston, and Comerica Park in Detroit open.
2001 - The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft
that landed in Hainan, People's Republic of China after a collision with an J-8
fighter is released.
2002 - The Ghriba synagogue bombing by Al Qaeda kills 21 in
Tunisia.
2002 - An attempted coup d'état in Venezuela against
President Hugo Chávez takes place.
2004 - 68th Golf Masters Championship: Phil Mickelson wins,
shooting a 279
2005 - 39th CMT Music Awards: Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson
& Kenny Chesney wins
Iran President Mahmoud AhmadinejadIran President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad 2006 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran
has successfully enriched uranium.
2007 - 2007 Algiers bombings: Two bombings in the Algerian
capital of Algiers, kills 33 people and wounds a further 222 others.
2010 - 74th Golf Masters Championship: Phil Mickelson wins,
shooting a 272
2011 - Minsk Metro bombing
2012 - 8.6 magnitude earth quack and 8.2 aftershock occurs
off the coast of Indonesia
2012 - 2011 London riot looter is jailed for 11 years after
starting a fire at a furniture retailer
2012 - South Korean legislative elections result in the
governing Saenuri Party retaining governance
2012 - Prime Minister of Greece, Lucas Papademos, resigns
and calls an election for May 6
2013 - 14 people are killed in clashes between drug
traffickers and police in Michoacán, Mexico
2013 - 57 people are killed by the Syrian Army in Daraa
Governorate, Syria
2013 - Two women are beheaded for sorcery in Bougainville,
Papua New Guinea
2013 - Fossilized dinosaur eggs with embryos are discovered
in China
1512 - The forces of the Holy League were heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of Ravenna. 1689 - William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain. 1713 - The Treaty of Utrecht was signed, ending the War of Spanish Succession. 1783 - After receiving a copy of the provisional treaty on March 13, the U.S. Congress proclaimed a formal end to hostilities with Great Britain. 1803 - A twin-screw propeller steamboat was patented by John Stevens. 1814 - Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne. The allied European nations had marched into Paris on March 30, 1814. He was banished to the island of Elba. 1876 - The stenotype was patented by John C. Zachos. 1876 - The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was organized. 1895 - Anaheim, CA, completed its new electric light system. 1898 - U.S. President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war with Spain. 1899 - The treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect. 1921 - Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax. 1921 - The first live sports event on radio took place this day on KDKA Radio. The event was a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee. 1940 - Andrew Ponzi set a world's record in a New York pocket billiards tournament when he ran 127 balls straight. 1941 - Germany bombers blitzed Conventry, England. 1945 - U.S. troops reached the Elbe River in Germany. 1945 - During World War II, American soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald in Germany. 1947 - Jackie Robinson became the first black player in major-league history. He played in an exhibition game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 1951 - U.S. President Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur as head of United Nations forces in Korea. 1961 - Israel began the trial of Adolf Eichman, accused of World War II war crimes. 1968 - U.S. President Johnson signed the 1968 Civil Rights Act. 1970 - Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon that was disrupted when an explosion crippled the spacecraft. The astronauts did return safely. 1974 - The Judiciary committee subpoenas U.S. President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for impeachment inquiry. 1979 - Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control. 1980 - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors. 1981 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House from the hospital after recovering from an assassination attempt on March 30. 1981 - In the Brixton area of London, a race riot erupted that resulted in the injury of more than 300 people. 1984 - China invaded Vietnam. 1984 - General Secretary Konstantin U. Cherenkov was named president of the Soviet Union. 1985 - Scientists in Hawaii measured the distance between the earth and moon within one inch. 1985 - The White House announced that President Reagan would visit the Nazi cemetery at Bitburg. 1986 - Dodge Morgan sailed solo nonstop around the world in 150 days. 1986 - In Groton, CT, the submarine Nautilus exhibit opened to the public. 1986 - Kellogg's stopped giving tours of its breakfast-food plant. The reason for the end of the 80-year tradition was said to be that company secrets were at risk due to spies from other cereal companies. 1991 - U.N. Security Council issued a formal cease-fire with Iraq. 1996 - Forty-three African nations signed the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty. 1996 - Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff was killed with her father and flight instructor when her plane crashed after takeoff from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Jessica had hoped to become the youngest person to fly cross-country. 1998 - Northern Ireland's biggest political party, the Ulster Unionists, announced its backing of the historic peace deal. 1999 - Daouda Malam Wanke was designated president of Niger. President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara had been assassinated on April 9. 2001 - China agreed to release 24 crewmembers of a U.S. surveillance plane. The EP-3E Navy crew had been held since April 1 on Hainon, where the plane had made an emergency landing after an in-flight collision with a Chinese fighter jet. The Chinese pilot was missing and presumed dead. 2007 - Apple announced that the iTunes Store had sold more than two million movies.
1814 Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba. 1899 The treaty ending the Spanish-American War took effect. 1921 Iowa imposed the first state cigarette tax. 1945 Allies liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. 1951 President Harry Truman fired General Douglas McArthur. 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1968 Civil Rights Act. 1979 Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was overthrown. 1981 President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House after he was shot in an assassination attempt. 2007 Science-fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut died in New York City at age 84.
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/apr11.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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