240 BC – 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
1282 – The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.
1296 – Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England.
1422 – Ketsugan, Zen teacher, performs exorcisms to free aizoji temple
1778 – Playwright Voltaire crowned with laurel wreath
1796 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, discovers the construction of the heptadecagon
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris after defeating Napoleon.
1822 – The Florida Territory is created in the United States.
1841 – The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens.
1842 – Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.
1853 – Vincent van Gogh, Groot-Zundert, Netherlands, artist, painter and pioneer of Expressionism (The Potato Eaters, Irises)
1855 – Origins of the American Civil War: Bleeding Kansas – “Border Ruffians” from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.
1856 – Russia signs Peace of Paris, ending the (1st) Crimean War
1867 – Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2-cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.
1870 – 15th Amendment to the US constitution is adopted, guarantees right to vote regardless of race
1870 – Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.
1874 – Charles Lightoller, English 2nd officer on the RMS Titanic (d. 1952) was born.
1885 – The Battle for Kushka triggers the Panjdeh Incident which nearly gives rise to war between the British Empire and Russian Empire.
1899 – German Society of Chemistry issues an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.
1909 – Queensboro Bridge opens, linking Manhattan & Queens
1913 – Richard Helms, American diplomat, 8th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 2002) was birthed.
1919 – McGeorge Bundy, American diplomat, (Skull & Bones) 6th United States National Security Advisor (d. 1996) was birthed.
1919 – Gandhi announces resistance against Rowlatt Act
1937 – Warren Beatty, Richmond Va, actor (Bonnie & Clyde, Shampoo, Dick Tracy) Born
1938 – Klaus Schwab, German economist, founded the World Economic Forum was born.
1939 – Detective Comics #27 is released, introducing Batman.
1940 – Jerry Lucas, Middletown Ohio, NBA center (Oly-gold-60, NY Knicks) Born
1940 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Jingwei.
1941 – Graeme Edge, English singer-songwriter and drummer (Moody Blues) was born.
1944 – Allied bombing raid on Nuremberg. Along the English eastern coast 795 aircraft are despatched, including 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitos. The bombers meet resistance at the coasts of Belgium and the Netherlands from German fighters. In total, 95 bombers are lost, making it the largest RAF Bomber Command loss of World War II.
1945 – Eric Clapton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Yardbirds, Cream, The Dirty Mac, Blind Faith, and Free Creek) was born.
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces invade Austria and capture Vienna; Polish and Soviet forces liberate Danzig.
1945 – The Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II, and at the end of the war Austria like Germany was divided into 4 Zones: American, British, French and Russian with Vienna similarly divided but at its center was an International Zone, sovereignty of which alternated at regular intervals between the 4 Powers.
1949 – A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.
1953 – Albert Einstein announces revised unified field theory
1961 – The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed in New York City.
1962 – MC Hammer, American rapper, dancer, and actor was born.
1964 – Tracy Chapman, US singer/songwriter (Freedom Now, I Got a Fast Car) Born
1965 – Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the United States Embassy, Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
1965 – Piers Morgan, English journalist was birthed.
1966 – Joey Castillo, American drummer and songwriter (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Danzig, Sugartooth, and Zilch) was born.
1969 – Loyalists bomb water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland in the hope that the attacks would be blamed on the IRA and on elements of the civil rights movement, which was demanding an end to discrimination against Catholics admitted FALSE FLAG!
1970 – Miles Davis Bitches Brew released
1972 – Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.
1972 – Northern Ireland’s Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and ‘direct rule’ from Westminster is introduced
1976 - Israel kills 6 Palestinians protesting land confiscation
1979 – Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility. FALSE FLAG!
1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Another two people are wounded at the same time.
1983 – New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) begins trading in crude oil future
1984 – US ends participation in multinational Lebanon “peace force”
1986 – James Cagney, actor (Public Enemy! White Heat! – Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies in NY at 86
1987 – An anonymous foreign buyer purchased Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece ‘Sunflowers’ for nearly $36.3 million
1988 – Richard Sherman, Compton California, NFL cornerback (Seahawks), Born
1991 – William Kennedy Smith allegedly rapes a woman (found not guilty) Later Retried and found guilty.
1992 – Man accidentally backs in A’s Jose Canseco’s $225,000 Lamborghini
1995 – Paul A. Rothchild, American record producer (Doors) (b. 1935) died.
1999 – A jury in Portland, Oregon, in a landmark case ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades
2002 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (b. 1900) died.
2004 – Alistair Cooke, English-born journalist (b. 1908) Dies
2005 – Robert Creeley, American poet (b. 1926) Dies
2006 – The United Kingdom Terrorism Act 2006 becomes a law.
2007 – The military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay has convicted Australian detainee David Hicks for providing material support for terrorism. Hicks accepted a plea deal in exchange for a maximum sentence of seven years in an Australian prison. Hicks said in his plea agreement that he was never subjected to illegal treatment while in US custody. The deal prevents Hicks from talking about his case for the next twelve months and prohibits him from ever profiting from his story.
2008 – Dith Pran, The Killing Fields Photographer (b. 1942) Dies
2012 – Spanish Government cuts 27 Billion Euros from its budget in one of its toughest austerity driver in history
2012 – Mastercard and Visa announce a massive breach in security with over ten million compromised credit card numbers
2012 – American Mega Millions lottery hits a world record lottery amount of 640 million dollars
2013 – Phil Ramone, South-African born American music producer, dies from an aortic aneurysm at 79