http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Apr 6, 1896: First modern Olympic Games
On April 6, 1896, the Olympic Games, a long-lost tradition of ancient Greece, are reborn in Athens 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. At the opening of the Athens Games, King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 nations to the international competition.
The first recorded Olympic Games were held at Olympia in the Greek city-state of Elis in 776 B.C., but it is generally accepted that the Olympics were at least 500 years old at that time. The ancient Olympics, held every four years, occurred during a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus. In the eighth century B.C., contestants came from a dozen or more Greek cities, and by the fifth century B.C. from as many as 100 cities from throughout the Greek empire. Initially, Olympic competition was limited to foot races, but later a number of other events were added, including wrestling, boxing, horse and chariot racing, and military competitions. The pentathlon, introduced in 708 B.C., consisted of a foot race, the long jump, discus and javelin throws, and wrestling. With the rise of Rome, the Olympics declined, and in 393 A.D. the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, abolished the Games as part of his efforts to suppress paganism in the Roman Empire.
With the Renaissance, Europe began a long fascination with ancient Greek culture, and in the 18th and 19th centuries some nations staged informal sporting and folkloric festivals bearing the name "Olympic Games." However, it was not until 1892 that a young French baron, Pierre de Coubertin, seriously proposed reviving the Olympics as a major international competition that would occur every four years. At a conference on international sport in Paris in June 1894, Coubertin again raised the idea, and the 79 delegates from nine countries unanimously approved his proposal. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formed, and the first Games were planned for 1896 in Athens, the capital of Greece.
In Athens, 280 participants from 13 nations competed in 43 events, covering track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, and tennis. All the competitors were men, and a few of the entrants were tourists who stumbled upon the Games and were allowed to sign up. The track-and-field events were held at the Panathenaic Stadium, which was originally built in 330 B.C. and restored for the 1896 Games. Americans won nine out of 12 of these events. The 1896 Olympics also featured the first marathon competition, which followed the 25-mile route run by a Greek soldier who brought news of a victory over the Persians from Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. In 1924, the marathon was standardized at 26 miles and 385 yards. Appropriately, a Greek, Spyridon Louis, won the first marathon at the 1896 Athens Games.
Pierre de Coubertin became IOC president in 1896 and guided the Olympic Games through its difficult early years, when it lacked much popular support and was overshadowed by world's fairs. In 1924, the first truly successful Olympic Games were held in Paris, involving more than 3,000 athletes, including more than 100 women, from 44 nations. The first Winter Olympic Games were also held that year. In 1925, Coubertin retired. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the foremost international sports competition. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, more than 10,000 athletes from 200 countries competed, including nearly 4,000 women. In 2004, the Summer Olympics returned to Athens, with more than 11,000 athletes competing from 202 countries. In a proud moment for Greeks and an exciting one for spectators, the shotput competition was held at the site of the classical Games in Olympia.
Apr 6, 1917: U.S. enters World War I
On April 6, 1917, two days after the U.S. Senate votes 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the U.S. House of Representatives endorses the decision by a vote of 373 to 50, and the United States formally enters the First World War.
When World War I erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson pledged neutrality for the United States, a position favored by the vast majority of Americans. Britain, however, was one of America's closest trading partners, and tension soon arose between the United States and Germany over the latter's attempted quarantine of the British Isles. Several U.S. ships traveling to Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines, and, in February 1915, Germany announced unrestricted warfare against all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain. One month later, Germany announced that a German cruiser had sunk the William P. Frye, a private American vessel. President Wilson was outraged, but the German government apologized, calling the attack an unfortunate mistake.
On May 7, the British-owned ocean liner Lusitania was torpedoed without warning just off the coast of Ireland. Of the nearly 2,000 passengers aboard, 1,201 were killed, including 128 Americans. The German government maintained, correctly, that the Lusitania was carrying munitions, but the U.S. demanded reparations and an end to German attacks on unarmed passenger and merchant ships. In August, Germany pledged to see to the safety of passengers before sinking unarmed vessels, but in November a U-boat sank an Italian liner without warning, killing 272 people, including 27 Americans. With these attacks, public opinion in the United States began to turn irrevocably against Germany.
In February 1917, Germany, determined to win its war of attrition against the Allies, resumed its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in war-zone waters. Three days later, the United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany; the same day, the American liner Housatonic was sunk by a German U-boat. On February 22, Congress passed a $250 million arms-appropriations bill intended to ready the United States for war. In late March, Germany sank four more U.S. merchant ships, and on April 2, President Wilson went before Congress to deliver his famous war message. Within four days, both houses of Congress had voted in favor of a declaration of war.
Despite measures taken to improve U.S. military preparedness in the previous year, Wilson was unable to offer the Allies much immediate help in the form of troops; indeed, the army was only able to muster about 100,000 men at the time of American entrance into the war. To remedy this, Wilson immediately adopted a policy of conscription. By the time the war ended on November 11, 1918, more than 2 million American soldiers had served on the battlefields of Western Europe, and some 50,000 of them had lost their lives. Still, the most important effect of the U.S. entrance into the war was economic—by the beginning of April 1917, Britain alone was spending $75 million per week on U.S. arms and supplies, both for itself and for its allies, and had an overdraft of $358 million. The American entry into the war saved Great Britain, and by extension the rest of the Entente, from bankruptcy.
The United States also crucially reinforced the strength of the Allied naval blockade of Germany, in effect from the end of 1914 and aimed at crushing Germany economically. American naval forces reached Britain on April 9, 1917, just three days after the declaration of war. By contrast, General John J. Pershing, the man appointed to command the U.S. Army in Europe, did not arrive until June 14; roughly a week later, the first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops landed in France to begin training for combat. Though the U.S. Army's contributions began slowly, they would eventually mark a major turning point in the war effort and help the Allies to victory.
Apr 6, 1941: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece
The German air force launches Operation Castigo, the bombing of Belgrade, on this day in 1941, as 24 divisions and 1,200 tanks drive into Greece.
The attack on Yugoslavia was swift and brutal, an act of terror resulting in the death of 17,000 civilians--the largest number of civilian casualties in a single day since the start of the war. Making the slaughter all the worse was that nearby towns and villages had emptied out into the capital city to celebrate Palm Sunday. All of Yugoslavia's airfields were also bombed, destroying most of its 600 aircraft while still on the ground.
As part of a comprehensive Balkan offensive, German forces also bombed the Greek port city of Piraeus as army divisions swept south and west, en route to Salonica and the eventual occupation of Greece.
Also on this day: British General Alan Cunningham's troops enter Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, formally expelling the Italian occupiers and setting the stage for the return of Ethiopia's emperor, Haile Selassie.
Apr 6, 1832: Black Hawk War begins
Determined to resist the growing presence of Anglo settlers on traditional tribal lands, the Sauk warrior Black Hawk is drawn into war with the United States.
Called Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak by his people, Black Hawk was born in 1767 in the village of Saukenuk in the present-day state of Illinois. He quickly earned a reputation as a fierce and courageous fighter in the frequent skirmishes between the Sauk and their principle enemy, the Osage. By the early 1800s, however, Black Hawk began to realize that the real threat to his people was the rapidly growing numbers of white people streaming into the region.
In 1804, representatives of the Sauk and Fox (Mesquakie) Indians signed a treaty that ceded all of their territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States. Black Hawk, however, maintained the treaty was invalid and had been signed by drunken Indian representatives. In 1816, he reluctantly confirmed the treaty with his own signature, but he later said he did not understand that this meant he would someday have to cede his home village of Saukenuk on the Rock River.
As the U.S. Army built more forts and droves of settlers moved into the territory during the next 15 years, Black Hawk grew increasingly angry. Finally, in 1831, settlers began to occupy the village of Saukenuk, an area that would later become Rock Island, Illinois. Regardless of the provisions of the 1804 treaty, Black Hawk refused to leave his own home. He began to prepare for war.
Early in 1832, General Edmund P. Gaines arrived in the area with a sizeable force of U.S. soldiers and Illinois militiamen. Initially, Black Hawk withdrew his large band of warriors, women, and children to the west side of the Mississippi. On April 5, however, he led them back into the disputed territory, believing that other Indian forces and the British to the north would support him in a confrontation. The following day, a large army of soldiers caught up to Black Hawk and his followers near the Rock River of northern Illinois. When neither the British nor his Indian allies came to his support, Black Hawk attempted to surrender. Unfortunately, one of his truce bearers was killed in the confusion, and the Black Hawk War began.
In May, Black Hawk's warriors won a significant victory that left the Americans badly demoralized. As subsequent generations of Indian fighters would learn, however, the mighty force of the U.S. government was relentless. On August 2, U.S. soldiers nearly annihilated Black Hawk's band as it attempted to escape west across the Mississippi, and Black Hawk finally surrendered.
Casualties in the 15-week war were grossly one-sided. An estimated 70 settlers or soldiers lost their lives; estimates for the number of Indians killed are between 442 and 592. Black Hawk was captured and incarcerated for a time in Fortress Monroe, Virginia. In order to demonstrate the futility of further resistance to the powerful Americans, Black Hawk was taken on a tour of the major eastern cities before being relocated to an Iowa Indian agency. He lived the remaining six years of his life under the supervision of a Sauk chief who had once been his enemy. Unlike Black Hawk, the Sauk chief had cooperated with the United States government.
Apr 6, 1830: Mormon Church established
In Fayette Township, New York, Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion, organizes the Church of Christ during a meeting with a small group of believers.
Born in Vermont in 1805, Smith claimed in 1823 that he had been visited by a Christian angel named Moroni who spoke to him of an ancient Hebrew text that had been lost for 1,500 years. The holy text, supposedly engraved on gold plates by a Native American historian in the fourth century, related the story of Israelite peoples who had lived in America in ancient times. During the next six years, Smith dictated an English translation of this text to his wife and other scribes, and in 1830 The Book of Mormon was published. In the same year, Smith founded the Church of Christ--later known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--in Fayette Township.
The religion rapidly gained converts, and Smith set up Mormon communities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. However, the Christian sect was also heavily criticized for its unorthodox practices, such as polygamy, and on June 27, 1844, Smith and his brother were murdered in a jail cell by an anti-Mormon mob in Carthage, Illinois.
Two years later, Smith's successor, Brigham Young, led an exodus of persecuted Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois, along the western wagon trails in search of religious and political freedom. In July 1847, the 148 initial Mormon pioneers reached Utah's Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Upon viewing the valley, Young declared, "This is the place," and the pioneers began preparations for the tens of thousands of Mormon migrants who would follow them and settle there.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and
Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus.
402 - Battle at Pollentia: Roman army under Stilicho beats
Visigoten
610 - Lailat-ul Qadar, night koran descended to Earth
774 - Charles the Great affirms Pippins promise of Quiercy
1106 - Fire in Venice
1320 - The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the
Declaration of Arbroath.
1327 - Italian poet Petrarch 1st sets eyes on his beloved
Laura
1362 - Robber bastion Tard-Venus strikes at Brignais France
1385 - John, Master of the Order of Aviz, is made king John
I of Portugal.
1516 - A Willaert installed as singer of cardinal Ippolito I
d'Este
1634 - Heeren XIX asks "to secure Eylands Curacao"
1652 - Cape Colony, the 1st European settlement in South
Africa, established by Dutch East India Company under John of Riebeeck
1663 - King Charles II signs Carolina Charter
1664 - France & Saksen sign alliance
1667 - An earthquake devastates Dubrovnik, then an
independent city-state.
1672 - France declares war on Netherlands
1712 - Slave revolt in NY
1722 - Peter the Great ends tax on men with beards
1724 - Duke of Newcastle becomes English minister of Foreign
Affairs
Russian Tsar Peter the GreatRussian Tsar Peter the Great
1727 - Denmark signs Covenant of Hannover
1757 - English king George II fires minister William Pitt Sr
1782 - Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Siam (modern day
Thailand), who is overthrown in a coup d'état.
1789 - 1st US Congress begins regular sessions, Federal
Hall, NYC
1808 - John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur
Company.
1815 - English militia shoots prisoners, 100's killed
1830 - Joseph Smith & 5 others organizes Mormon church
in Seneca Co, NY
1841 - Cornerstone laid for 2nd Mormon temple, Nauvoo,
Illinois
1848 - Jews of Prussia granted equality
1859 - US recognizes Liberal government in Mexico's War of
Reform
1860 - Joseph Smith III, creates the Reorganized Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by reorganizing the previous church organized
by his father, Joseph Smith, Jr.
1862 - Battle of Shiloh, Union defeats Confederacy in SW
Tennessee
1865 - Battle of Sayler's Creek during US Civil War, 1/4rd
of Lee's army cut off
1865 - Skirmish at High Bridge VA (Appomattox) during US
Civil war;
1866 - G.A.R. forms
Religious Leader Joseph Smith JrReligious Leader Joseph
Smith Jr 1869 - 1st plastic, Celluloid, patented
1883 - Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Speckled
Band" (BG)
1886 - City of Vancouver BC incorporated
1886 - Declaration of Berlin neutralizes Tonga
1889 - George Eastman places Kodak Camera on sale for 1st
time
1890 - French troops under capt Archinard occupy Segu,
West-Sudan
1893 - Andy Bowen & Jack Burke box 7 hrs 19 mins to no
decision (111 rounds)
1893 - Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City dedicated
1896 - 1st modern Olympic games open in Athens Greece [3/25
OS] American, James Connolly, wins 1st Olympic gold medal in mod history
1900 - James J Jeffries KOs Jack Finnegan in 1 for
heavyweight boxing title
1903 - General railroad strike against
"worgwetten" (anti-strike laws)
1903 - The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins,
forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Israel and the
Western world.
1906 - 1st animated cartoon copyrighted
1909 - 1st credit union forms in US
1909 - North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary &
Matthew Henson
1912 - Electric starter 1st appeared in cars
1916 - German parliament OKs unrestricted submarine warfare
1917 - US declares war on Germany, enters World War I
Pacifist and Spiritual Leader Mahatma GandhiPacifist and
Spiritual Leader Mahatma Gandhi 1919 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi orders a
General Strike.
1920 - French troop attacks Main/Darmstadt/Hanau
1923 - The first Prefects Board in Southeast Asia is formed
in Victoria Institution, Malaysia.
1924 - 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful
around-the-world flight
1924 - Italy fascists receives 65% of vote of parliament
1924 - Völkische Block (nazi's) receives 17.8% of vote in
Bayern
1925 - 1st film shown on an airplane (British Air)
1926 - Stanley Cup: Montl Maroons beat Victoria Cougars
(WHL), 3 games to 1
1930 - 1st transcontinental glider tow completed
1930 - Hostess Twinkies invented by bakery executive James
Dewar
1931 - 1st Scottsboro (Ala) trial begins - 9 blacks accused
of rape
1931 - 1st broadcast of "Little Orphan Annie" on
NBC-radio
1934 - 418 Lutheran ministers arrested in Germany
1935 - H Levitt sinks 499 basketball free throws, misses
& sinks 371 more
1936 - 3rd Golf Masters Championship: Horton Smith wins,
shooting a 285
1936 - ANP begins telex service in Amsterdam
1936 - Tornado, kills 203 & injuring 1,800 in
Gainesville Georgia
1938 - Teflon invented by Roy J Plunkett
1939 - Great Britain & Poland sign military pact
1939 - US & UK agree on joint control of Canton &
Enderbury Is (Pacific)
1941 - 8th Golf Masters Championship: Craig Wood wins,
shooting a 280
1941 - Begin oper Bestrafung-Germany bomb attacks Belgrade
(17,000 die)
1941 - British general Gambier-Parry caught in North Africa
1941 - German bombardment on Piraeus (munitions ship
explodes)
1941 - Italian held Addis Ababa surrenders to British &
Ethiopian forces
1943 - British & US army link up in Africa during WW II
1943 - British offensive at Wadi Akarit, South-Tunisia
1943 - Lou Jansen, leader of illegal Dutch political party
(CPN) arrested
1944 - Jewish nursery at Izieu-Ain France overrun by Nazis
1945 - Coevorden freed from nazis
1945 - Japanese giant battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa
1945 - Massive kamikaze-attack on US battle fleet near
Okinawa
1945 - US marines explore Tsugen Shima near Okinawa
1947 - 11th Golf Masters Championship: Jimmy Demaret wins,
shooting a 281
Playwright Arthur MillerPlaywright Arthur Miller 1947 - 1st
Tony Awards: Arthur Miller, David Wayne & Patricia Neal win for theatrical
achievements
1950 - John F Dulles becomes advisor to US Sect of State
Acheson
1952 - 16th Golf Masters Championship: Sam Snead wins,
shooting a 286
1954 - Mont Canadiens score 3 goals in 56 sec in playoff
game against Det
1954 - TV Dinner was 1st put on sale by Swanson & Sons
1954 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1955 - "3 for Tonight" opens at Plymouth Theater
NYC for 85 performances
1955 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1955 - Yemen: failed coup by Abdullah Seif el-Islam
1956 - Polish communist Gomulka freed from prison
1957 - NYC ends trolley car service
1957 - USSR performs nuclear test (atmospheric tests)
1957 - Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis buys the
Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founds Olympic Airlines.
1958 - 22nd Golf Masters Championship: Arnold Palmer wins,
shooting a 284
1959 - 31st Academy Awards - "Gigi," Susan Hayward
& David Niven win
1964 - Egypt & Belgium restore diplomatic relations
1965 - Intelsat 1 ("Early Bird") 1st coml
geosynchronous comm satellite
1966 - Mihir Sen swims Palk Strait between Sri Lanka &
India
French President Georges PompidouFrench President Georges
Pompidou 1967 - Premier Georges Pompidou forms new French government
1968 - 94.5% of East German voters approve new socialist
constitution
1968 - Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Dave
Davis
1968 - Gunpowder stocks at a sporting-goods store explode,
killing 43 (Va)
1968 - HemisFair 1968 opens in San Antonio, Texas
1968 - In Richmond, Indiana's downtown district, a double
explosion kills 41 and injures 150.
1972 - Egypt drops diplomatic relations with Jordan
1973 - Harbor strike in Gent/Antwerp, Belgium
1973 - Indies troops invade Sikkim
1973 - Pioneer 11 launched toward Jupiter & Saturn
1973 - Roberto Clemente Day, Pirates retire his #
1973 - US launches Pioneer 11 to Jupiter & Saturn
1973 - Yankee Ron Blomberg becomes 1st designated hitter, he
walks
1973 - Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.
1974 - 200,000 attend rock concert "California
Jam" in Ontario
Baseball Player Roberto ClementeBaseball Player Roberto
Clemente 1974 - Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Earl Anthony
11/16
1974 - Yankees 1st home game at Shea Stadium, beat Indians
6-1
1975 - "Night... Made America Famous" closes at
Barrymore NYC after 75 perfs
1975 - "Rocky Horror Show" closes at Belasco
Theater NYC after 45 perfs
1975 - Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand
Junction, Colo
1975 - Fastest hat trick by a Wash Cap 3 mins 26 secs (Stan
Gilbertson)
1976 - 1st quadrophonic movie track: "Ladies &
Gentlemen the Rolling Stones"
1977 - Judge rules Beatles 1962 Hamburg album can be
released
1977 - Kingdome opens, Seattle Mariners 1st game, loses to
Angels 7-0
1978 - Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh by inn & 193 to win
Ranji Trophy
1980 - 9th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by
Donna Caponi Young
1980 - Gordie Howe completes a record 26th season
1980 - Post It Notes, introduced
1981 - Yugoslav government sends troops to Kosovo
1982 - Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center from White
Sands
1982 - Largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in Minn
52,279
1983 - Caps 2-Isles 5-Patrick Div Semifinals- Isles hold 1-0
lead
1984 - 11th Space Shuttle Mission (41-C)-Challenger 5 is
launched
1984 - 1st time 11 people in space
1984 - Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully
attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.
1985 - Bombay beat Delhi by 90 runs to win the Ranji Trophy
final
1985 - Sudan suspends constitution after coup under general
Swarreddahab
1985 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 - 15th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Pat
Bradley
1986 - Soccer ball juggled non-stop for 14:14 hrs
1987 - 22nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis
& Hank Williams Jr
1987 - Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler
1987 - Al Campanis appears on Niteline saying blacks may not
be equiped to be in baseball management, sparking a racial controversy
1988 - Black pole explorer M Henson buried next to R Peary
in Arlington
1988 - NJ Devils' 1st playoff game; lose to Isles 4-3 (OT)
in 1st round
1989 - Orel Hershiser ends his record 59 consecutive
scoreless streak
1991 - Former child actor Adam Rich arrested for breaking
into a pharmacy
1991 - NY-NJ Knights 1st home game (Giant Stad) lose to
Frankfurt 27-17
1991 - Subhana, becomes 1st Australian woman to become a Zen
teacher
Soccer player Diego MaradonaSoccer player Diego Maradona
1991 - Argentine soocer star Diego Maradona suspended for 15 month by Italian
League for testing positive for cocaine use
1992 - 1st game at Camden Field, Balt-Orioles beat Indians
2-0
1992 - 54th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Duke beats
Michigan 71-51
1992 - Britain Radio Authority licenses Virgin & TV-AM
radio licenses
1992 - Microsoft announced Windows 3.1, upgrading Windows
3.0
1992 - Oriole Park at Camden Yards opens, beating Cleveland
2-0
1992 - Serbian troops begin siege of Sarajevo
1992 - US Supreme Court rules a Nebraska farmer was
entrapped by postal agents into buying mail-order child pornography
1992 - Voting begins on choice of Elvis postage stamps
1992 - A general strike is declared by communist groups in
Nepal.
1993 - 1st test flight of Ilyushin IL-96M (Moscow)
1993 - Florida Marlins 1st lost ever (4-2 to LA Dodgers)
1994 - 1st scheduled Indians night game at Jacobs Field is
rained out
1994 - Chuck Jones found guilty of breaking into Marla
Maples home
1994 - Liberal Supreme Court Justice Blackmun (Roe v Wade)
resigns
1994 - Palestinian suicide bomber kills 7 Israelis &
himself
1994 - Rockwell B-1B Lancers break 11 world speed records
1994 - The Rwandan Genocide begins when the aircraft
carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien
Ntaryamira is shot down.
1995 - "Having Our Say" opens at Booth Theater NYC
for 308 performances
1996 - Albert Belle shows off his arm by hitting Sports
Illustrated photographer Tony Tomsic in the hand prior to a game
1997 - "3 Sisters" closes at Criterion Theater NYC
1997 - 9th Seniors Golf Tradition: Gil Morgan wins
1997 - Annika Sorenstam wins LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge
1997 - Brad Faxon wins Freeport-McDermott Golf Classic
1997 - Progress M-34 Launch (Russia)
1997 - Twelve Bridges LPGA Classic
1998 - Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of
hitting India.
2004 - Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of
Lithuania to be peacefully removed from the post by impeachment.
2005 - Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes the Iraqi
president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day.
2006 - NZSL (New Zealand sign language) is made an official
language of New Zealand
2009 - A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila,
Italy, killing at least 253.
2012 - US F-18 Hornet crashes into side of apartment
building in Virginia with no fatalities
2013 - 22 people are killed and 60 are injured by a suicide
bombing at an election campaign tent in Baquba, Iraq
2013 - 11 people are killed in an attack on a village in
Midlu, Nigeria
2013 - Bayern Munich win their 23rd German Bundesliga title
with 6 games to spare
2013 - 48th Academy of Country Music Awards: Luke Bryan,
Miranda Lambert & Jason Aldean wins
1199 - English King Richard I was killed by an arrow at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in France. 1652 - Jan van Riebeeck established a settlement at Cape Town, South Africa. 1789 - The first U.S. Congress began regular sessions at the Federal Hall in New York City. 1814 - Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates at Fountainebleau. He was allowed to keep the title of emperor. 1830 - Joseph Smith and five others organized the Mormon Church in western New York. 1830 - Relations between the Texans and Mexico reached a new low when Mexico would not allow further emigration into Texas by settlers from the U.S. 1862 - The American Civil War Battle of Shiloh began in Tennessee. 1865 - At the Battle of Sayler's Creek, a third of Lee's army was cut off by Union troops pursuing him to Appomattox. 1875 - Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the multiple telegraph, which sent two signals at the same time. 1896 - The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece. 1903 - French Army Nationalists were revealed for forging documents to guarantee a conviction for Alfred Dryfus. 1909 - Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson claimed to be the first men to reach the North Pole. 1916 - Charlie Chaplin became the highest-paid film star in the world when he signed a contract with Mutual Film Corporation for $675,000 a year. He was 26 years old. 1917 - The U.S. Congress approved a declaration of war on Germany and entered World War I on the Allied side. 1924 - Four planes left Seattle on the first successful flight around the world. 1927 - William P. MacCracken, Jr. earned license number ‘1’ when the Department of Commerce issued the first aviator’s license. 1931 - "Little Orphan Annie" debuted on the NBC Blue network. 1938 - The United States recognized the German conquest of Austria. 1941 - German forces invaded Greece and Yugoslavia. 1945 - "This is Your FBI" debuted on ABC radio. 1953 - Iranian Premier Mossadegh demanded that the shah's power be reduced. 1957 - Trolley cars in New York City completed their final runs. 1959 - Hal Holbrook opened in the off-Broadway presentation of "Mark Twain Tonight." 1965 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the use of ground troops in combat operations in Vietnam. 1967 - In South Vietnam, 1,500 Viet Cong attacked Quangtri and freed 200 prisoners. 1981 - A Yugoslav Communist Party official confirmed reports of intense ethnic riots in Kosovo. 1983 - The U.S. Veteran's Administration announced it would give free medical care for conditions traceable to radiation exposure to more than 220,000 veterans who participated in nuclear tests from 1945 to 1962. 1985 - William J. Schroeder became the first artificial heart recipient to be discharged from the hospital. 1987 - Dennis Levine began a two-year jail term for insider trading. 1987 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 2,400 for the first time. 1987 - Sugar Ray Leonard took the middleweight title from Marvin Hagler. 1988 - Mathew Henson was awarded honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Henson had discovered the North Pole with Robert Peary. 1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) announced that he would retire from the National Hockey League (NHL) following the playoffs of the current season. 1998 - Citicorp and Travelers Group announced that they would be merging. The new creation was the largest financial-services conglomerate in the world. The name would become Citigroup. 1998 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 9,000 points for the first time. 1998 - Federal researchers in the U.S. announced that daily tamoxifen pills could cut breast cancer risk among high-risk women. 1998 - Pakistan successfully tested medium-range missiles capable of attacking neighboring India.
1830 Joseph Smith and five others organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York. 1862 The Battle of Shiloh in the American Civil War began. 1896 First modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece. 1909 Robert Peary and Matthew Henson became the first to reach the North Pole. 1917 U.S. declared war on Germany and entered World War I. 1994 The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a plane crash.
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/apr06.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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