1139 – The Second Lateran Council opened in Rome.

1534 – Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, set sail from St. Malo to explore the North American coastline.

1653 – In England, Oliver Cromwell expelled the Long Parliament for trying to pass the Perpetuation Bill that would have kept Parliament in the hands of only a few members.

1657 – English Admiral Robert Blake fought his last battle when he destroyed the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay.

1689 – The siege of Londonderry began. Supporters of James II attacked the city.

1775 – American troops began the siege of British-held Boston.

1792 – France declared war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia. It was the start of the French Revolutionary wars.

1809 – Thomas Jefferson sells indentured servant to newly elected President James Madison

1809 – Napoleon defeated Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria.

1832 – Hot Springs National Park was intially created by an act of the U.S. Congress. It was the first time a piece of land was set aside by the U.S. government to preserve the area for recreation. The area was made a national park on March 4, 1921.

1836 – The U.S. territory of Wisconsin was created by the U.S. Congress.

1837 – Erastus B. Bigelow was granted a patent for his power loom.

1841 – In Philadelphia, PA, Edgar Allen Poe’s first detective story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” was published in Graham’s Magazine.

1861 – Robert E. Lee resigned from U.S. Army.

1865 – Safety matches were first advertised.

1879 – First mobile home (horse drawn) was used in a journey from London to Cyprus.

1902 – Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.

1912 – Fenway Park opened as the home of the Boston Red Sox.

1916 – Sir Roger Casement landed in Ireland to incite rebellion against the British. Casement, a British diplomat, was captured within hours and was hanged for high treason on August 3.

1916 – Chicago’s Wrigley Field held its first Cubs game with the first National League game at the ballpark. The Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings.

1919 – The Polish Army captured Vilno, Lithuania from the Soviets.

1940 – The First electron microscope was demonstrated by RCA.

1942 – Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of “true reconciliation with Germany.”

1945 – Soviet troops began their attack on Berlin.

1945 – During World War II, Allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

1953 – Operation Little Switch began in Korea. It was the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war. Thirty Americans were freed.

1953 – The Boston marathon was won by Keizo Yamada with a record time of 2:18:51.

1959 – “Desilu Playhouse” on CBS-TV presented a two-part show titled “The Untouchables.”

1961 – FM stereo broadcasting was approved by the FCC.

1962 – The New Orleans Citizens’ Council offered a free one-way ride for blacks to move to northern states.

1967 – U.S. planes bombed Haiphong for first time during the Vietnam War.

1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.

1972 – The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.

1977 – Woody Allen’s film “Annie Hall” premiered.

1981 – A spokesman for the U.S. Nave announced that the U.S. was accepting full responsibility for the sinking of the Nissho Maru on April 9.

1982 – The Activision game Pitfall! was released for the Atari 2600 game system.

1984 – Britain announced that its administration of Hong Kong would cease in 1997.

1985 – In Madrid, Santiago Carillo was purged from the Communist Party. Carillo was a founder of Eurocommunism.

1987 – In Argentina, President Raul Alfonsin quelled a military revolt.

1988 – The U.S. Air Forces’ Stealth (B-2 bomber) was officially unveiled.

1989 – Scientist announced the successful testing of high-definition TV.

1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet head of state to visit South Korea.

1992 – The worlds largest fair, Expo ’92, opened in Seville, Spain.

1998 – Kenyan runner Moses Tanui, 32, won the Boston Marathon for the second time. He also registered the third fastest time with 2 hours 7 minutes and 34 seconds.

1999 – Jane Seymour received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

on-this-day.com

American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode through the towns of Massachusetts, giving the warning that the Regulars were coming out. Later, the phrase “the British are coming” was attributed to Revere even though it is unlikely he used that wording.

Source: history.com

1521 – Martin Luther confronted the emperor Charles V in the Diet of Worms and refused to retract his views that led to his ex-communication.

1676 – Sudbury, Massachusetts, was attacked by Indians.

1775 – American revolutionaries Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rode though the towns of Massachusetts giving the warning that the Regulars were coming out. Later, the phrase “the British are coming” was attributed to Revere even though it is unlikely he used that wording.

1791 – National Guardsmen prevented Louis XVI and his family from leaving Paris.

1818 – A regiment of Indians and blacks were defeated at the Battle of Suwann,9 Suwannee) in Florida, ending the first Seminole War.

1834 – William Lamb became prime minister of England.

1838 – The Wilkes’ expedition to the South Pole set sail.

1846 – The telegraph ticker was patented by R.E. House

1847 – U.S. troops defeated almost 17,000 Mexican soldiers commanded by Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo. (Mexican-American War)

1853 – The first train in Asia began running from Bombay to Tanna.

1861 – Colonel Robert E. Lee turned down an offer to command the Union armies during the U.S. Civil War.

1877 – Charles Cros wrote a paper that described the process of recording and reproducing sound. In France, Cros is regarded as the inventor of the phonograph. In the U.S., Thomas Edison gets the credit.

1895 – New York State passed an act that established free public baths.

1906 – San Francisco, CA, was hit with an earthquake. The original death toll was cited at about 700. Later information indicated that the death toll may have been 3 to 4 times the original estimate.

1910 – Walter R. Brookins made the first airplane flight at night.

1923 – Yankee Stadium opened in the Bronx, NY. The Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1. John Phillip Sousa’s band played the National Anthem.

1924 – Simon and Schuster, Inc. published the first “Crossword Puzzle Book.”

1934 – The first Laundromat opened in Fort Worth, TX.

1937 – Leon Trotsky called for the overthrow of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

1938 – Superman made his debut when he appeared in the first issue of Action Comics. (Cover date June 1938)

1938 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt threw out the first ball preceding the season opener between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics.

1942 – James H. Doolittle and his squadron, from the USS Hornet, raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

1942 – The Vichy government capitulated to Adolf Hitler and invited Pierre Laval to form a new government in France.

1943 – Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was shot down by American P-38 fighters.

1945 – American war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa. He was 44 years old.

1946 – The League of Nations was dissolved.

1949 – The Republic of Ireland was established.

1950 – The first transatlantic jet passenger trip was completed.

1954 – Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power in Egypt.

1956 – Actress Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco were married. The religious ceremony took place April 19.

1960 – The Mutual Broadcasting System was sold to the 3M Company of Minnesota for $1.25 million.

1978 – The U.S. Senate approved the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.

1980 – Rhodesia became an independent nation of Zimbabwe.

1983 – The U.S. Embassy in Beirut was blown up by a suicide car-bomber. 63 people were killed including 17 Americans.

1984 – Daredevils Mike MacCarthy and Amanda Tucker made a sky dive from the Eiffel Tower. The jump ended safely.

1985 – Ted Turner filed for a hostile takeover of CBS.

1985 – Tulane University abolished its 72-year-old basketball program. The reason was charges of fixed games, drug abuse, and payments to players.

1989 – Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.

1999 – Wayne Gretzky (New York Rangers) played his final game in the NHL. He retired as the NHL‘s all-time leading scorer and holder of 61 individual records.

2000 – The Nasdaq had the biggest one-day point gain in its history.

2002 – The Amtrack Auto Train derailed in a remote area of north Florida. Four people were killed and 133 were injured.

2002 – The city legislature of Berlin decided to make Marlene Dietrich an honorary citizen. Dietrich had gone to the United States in 1930. She refused to return to Germany after Adolf Hitler came to power.