1547 – Henry VIII of England (b. 1491) dies. His nine-year-old son, Edward VI becomes King, and the first Protestant ruler of England.
1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
1813 – Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d’état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War.
1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.’s biggest snowfall, causes the city’s greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
1943 – Dick Taylor, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, and The Mekons) was born.
1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist was born.
1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia was born.
1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first US television appearance
1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, that dumped 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one-day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas most affected.
1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission – Space Shuttle Challenger explodes after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.
2013 – Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has decided to abdicate in order for her son Prince Willem-Alexander to take over the crown. She had recorded a televised address to declare her intentions and announced that she would formally step down on April 30th.
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