THIS DAY IN HISTORY

[IceWizard]

Germans introduce poison gas


1915
April 22







On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by firing
more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at Ypres,
Belgium. This was the first major gas attack by the Germans, and it devastated the Allied line.

Toxic smoke has been used occasionally in warfare since ancient times, and in 1912 the
French used small amounts of tear gas in police operations. At the outbreak of World War I,
the Germans began actively to develop chemical weapons. In October 1914, the Germans
placed some small tear-gas canisters in shells that were fired at Neuve Chapelle, France,
but Allied troops were not exposed. In January 1915, the Germans fired shells loaded with
xylyl bromide, a more lethal gas, at Russian troops at Bolimov on the eastern front. Because
of the wintry cold, most of the gas froze, but the Russians nonetheless reported more than
1,000 killed as a result of the new weapon.

On April 22, 1915, the Germans launched their first and only offensive of the year. Known as
the Second Battle of Ypres, the offensive began with the usual artillery bombardment of the
enemy’s line. When the shelling died down, the Allied defenders waited for the first wave of
German attack troops but instead were thrown into panic when chlorine gas wafted across
no-man’s land and down into their trenches. The Germans targeted four miles of the front
with the wind-blown poison gas and decimated two divisions of French and Algerian colonial
troops. The Allied line was breached, but the Germans, perhaps as shocked as the Allies by
the devastating effects of the poison gas, failed to take full advantage, and the Allies held
most of their positions.

A second gas attack, against a Canadian division, on April 24, pushed the Allies further back,
and by May they had retreated to the town of Ypres. The Second Battle of Ypres ended on
May 25, with insignificant gains for the Germans. The introduction of poison gas, however,
would have great significance in World War I.

Immediately after the German gas attack at Ypres, France and Britain began developing their
own chemical weapons and gas masks. With the Germans taking the lead, an extensive
number of projectiles filled with deadly substances polluted the trenches of World War I.
Mustard gas, introduced by the Germans in 1917, blistered the skin, eyes, and lungs, and
killed thousands. Military strategists defended the use of poison gas by saying it reduced the
enemy’s ability to respond and thus saved lives in offensives. In reality, defenses against
poison gas usually kept pace with offensive developments, and both sides employed
sophisticated gas masks and protective clothing that essentially negated the strategic
importance of chemical weapons.

The United States, which entered World War I in 1917, also developed and used chemical
weapons. Future president Harry S. Truman was the captain of a U.S. field artillery unit that
fired poison gas against the Germans in 1918. In all, more than 100,000 tons of chemical
weapons agents were used in World War I, some 500,000 troops were injured, and almost
30,000 died, including 2,000 Americans.

In the years following World War I, Britain, France, and Spain used chemical weapons in
various colonial struggles, despite mounting international criticism of chemical warfare.
In 1925, the Geneva Protocol of 1925 banned the use of chemical weapons in war but did
not outlaw their development or stockpiling. Most major powers built up substantial
chemical weapons reserves. In the 1930s, Italy employed chemical weapons against Ethiopia,
and Japan used them against China.

In World War II, chemical warfare did not occur, primarily because all the major belligerents
possessed both chemical weapons and the defenses–such as gas masks, protective clothing,
and detectors–that rendered them ineffectual. In addition, in a war characterized by
lightning-fast military movement, strategists opposed the use of anything that would delay
operations. Germany, however, did use poison gas to murder millions in its extermination camps

Since World War II, chemical weapons have only been used in a handful of conflicts–the Yemeni
conflict of 1966-67, the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88–and always against forces that lacked gas
masks or other simple defenses. In 1990, the United States and the Soviet Union signed an
agreement to cut their chemical weapons arsenals by 80 percent in an effort to discourage
smaller nations from stockpiling the weapons. In 1993, an international treaty was signed
banning the production, stockpiling (after 2007), and use of chemical weapons.
It took effect in 1997.




ALSO ON THIS DAY




SPORTS
1876
First National League baseball game played

On April 22, 1876, the Boston Red Caps beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-5,
in the first official National League baseball game.  The game, which lasts a
little more than two hours, is played in "favorable" weather before 3,000 fans
at the Athletics' grounds at 25th and ... read more



SPORTS
1957
John Irvin Kennedy plays for Phillies, 

fully integrating National League

On April 22, 1957, John Irvin Kennedy becomes the first African-American player
on the Philadelphia Phillies, fully integrating the National League 10 years after
Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier. In the eighth inning
of a 5-1 loss to the Brooklyn ... read more



SOUTH AMERICA
1997
Peruvian President Fujimori orders assault 

on Japanese ambassador’s home

In Lima, Peru, Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori orders a commando assault
on the Japanese ambassador’s home, hoping to free 72 hostages held for more
than four months by armed members of the Tupac Amaru leftist rebel movement.
On December 16, 1996, 14 Tupac Amaru terrorists ... read more



1980S
1970
The first Earth Day

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental
problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time on April 22, 1970.
Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and
universities, participated in rallies, marches ... read more



WORLD WAR II
1945
Hitler admits defeat
On April 22, 1945, Adolf Hitler, learning from one of his generals that no German
defense was offered to the Russian assault at Eberswalde, admits to all in his
underground bunker that the war is lost and that suicide is his only recourse. 
Almost as confirmation of Hitler’s ... read more



21ST CENTURY
2004
Pat Tillman killed by friendly fire 

in Afghanistan

Pat Tillman, who gave up his pro football career to enlist in the U.S. Army after
the terrorist attacks of September 11, is killed by friendly fire while serving in
Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. The news that Tillman, age 27, was mistakenly
gunned down by his fellow Rangers ... read more



WESTWARD EXPANSION
1889
The Oklahoma land rush begins

At precisely high noon, thousands of would-be settlers make a mad dash into
the newly opened Oklahoma Territory to claim cheap land. The nearly two million
acres of land opened up to white settlement was located in Indian Territory,
a large area that once encompassed much of ... read more



ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1978
The Blues Brothers make their world premiere on "Saturday Night Live"

It was Marshall Checker, of the legendary Checker brothers, who first discovered
them in the gritty blues clubs of Chicago’s South Side in 1969 and handed them
their big break nine years later with an introduction to music-industry heavyweight
and host of television’s Rock .. read more



NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
1992
Sewers explode in Guadalajara, Mexico, 

killing hundreds

Dozens of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, kill more than 200 people and
damage 1,000 buildings on April 22, 1992. The series of explosions was caused
by a gas leak, the warning signs of which were ignored by the Mexican government
and the national oil company. Three ... read more



CRIME
1886
Seduction is made illegal in Ohio

Ohio passes a statute that makes seduction unlawful. Covering all men over
the age of 18 who worked as teachers or instructors of women, this law even
prohibited men from having consensual sex with women (of any age) whom
they were instructing. The penalty for disobeying this law ... read more



RED SCARE
1954
Joseph McCarthy begins hearings 

investigating U.S. Army

Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army,
which he charges with being “soft” on communism. These televised hearings gave
the American public their first view of McCarthy in action, and his recklessness,
indignant bluster and bullying tactics ... read more



AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1778
John Paul Jones leads American raid 

on Whitehaven, England

At 11 p.m. on April 22, 1778, Commander John Paul Jones leads a small detachment
of two boats from his ship, the USS Ranger, to raid the shallow port at
Whitehaven, England, where, by his own account, 400 British merchant ships
are anchored. Jones was hoping to reach the port at ... read more



WORLD WAR I
1915
Second Battle of Ypres begins

On April 22, 1915, German forces shock Allied soldiers along the Western Front
by firing more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial
divisions at Ypres in Belgium. Toxic smoke had been used occasionally in warfare
since ancient times, and in 1912, the ... read more



U.S. PRESIDENTS
1994
Former President Richard Nixon dies

On April 22, 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon dies after suffering a
stroke four days earlier. In a 1978 speech at Oxford University, Nixon admitted
he had screwed up during his presidency but predicted that his achievements
would be viewed more favorably with time. He ... read more

[IceWizard]

Judy Garland plays Carnegie Hall


1961
April 23







She was one of the biggest and most popular movie stars of all time, making her first film
appearance at the age of seven and earning the first of three Oscar nominations at 17 for
her starring role in what may well be the best-loved American movie of all time,
The Wizard of Oz. She was also a prolific recording star, selling millions of records and
winning five Grammy awards in a single year nearly three decades after starting out as
one of the youngest performers ever signed to a major record label. These accomplishments
alone would be enough to impress anyone who was somehow unfamiliar with her work,
but “to experience Judy Garland’s full power,” as the PBS series American Masters put it,
“one had to be in the auditorium when she brought her God-given gifts to bear on a suddenly
unified collection of strangers.” Never did Judy Garland so unify a collection of strangers than
on April 23, 1961 during the famous Carnegie Hall performance often called
“the greatest night in showbiz history.”

The raucous standing ovation that greeted Judy Garland when she took the stage that night
at Carnegie Hall set the tone for the evening that followed. “They were on their feet even before
the goddess grabbed the microphone,” wrote Lewis Funke for the New York Times. “And then
she sang,” wrote Judith Crist for the New York Herald, “And she sang, let it be reported, as she
hasn’t in years.” She sang 27 numbers in front of the rapturous crowd that night and was
frequently interrupted by extended ovations. Was it merely the quality of Garland’s performance
that night that earned her such an incredible reception? Perhaps it was, but it is also fair to
note that the concert took place on the one night a week that Broadway performers have
off—Sunday night—and that the audience was therefore, to say the least, a friendly one.

Judy Garland’s performance on this night in 1961 was captured on a live recording that would
go on to spend 95 weeks on the U.S. album charts (including 13 weeks at #1) and sweep the
1962 Grammys. But the experience of seeing it live was clearly something else entirely.
“She’ll be back in May,” wrote Frank Aston for the New York World-Telegram.
“Try to get tickets. Just try. This kid is still a killer.”




ALSO ON THIS DAY




ANCIENT HISTORY
1014
King Brian of Ireland murdered by Vikings

Brian Boru, the high king of Ireland, is assassinated by a group of retreating
Norsemen shortly after his Irish forces defeated them. Brian, a clan prince,
seized the throne of the southern Irish state of Dal Cais from its Eoghanacht
rulers in 963. He subjugated all of Munster ... read more



RENAISSANCE
1564
William Shakespeare born

According to tradition, the great English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare
is born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564. It is impossible to be certain
the exact day on which he was born, but church records show that he was
baptized on April 26, and three days was a ... read more



WORLD WAR I
1915
Poet-soldier Rupert Brooke dies in Greece

On April 23, 1915, Rupert Brooke, a young scholar and poet serving as an officer
in the British Royal Navy, dies of blood poisoning on a hospital ship anchored off
the Greek island of Skyros, while awaiting deployment in the Allied invasion of
the Gallipoli Peninsula. Brooke ... read more



VIETNAM WAR
1975
President Ford says that war is finished for America

At a speech at Tulane University, President Gerald Ford says the Vietnam War is
finished as far as America is concerned. “Today, Americans can regain the sense
of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by re-fighting a war.”
This was devastating news to the ... read more



SPORTS
1954
Hank Aaron hits first home run of his MLB career

On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron knocks out the first home run of his Major League
Baseball career. Twenty years later, Aaron becomes baseball’s new home run king
when he broke Babe Ruth’s long-standing record of 714 career homers.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Aaron began his ... read more



U.S. PRESIDENTS
1791
James Buchanan is born

Future President James Buchanan is born in Cove Gap near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania,
on April 23, 1791. Buchanan, remembered mostly for his administration’s corruption
and his failure to solve the country’s crisis over slavery, also inspired salacious
gossip about his love life ... read more



CRIME
1969
Sirhan Sirhan receives death penalty for assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

On April 23, 1969, Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to the death penalty after being convicted
in the assassination of politician Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972, Sirhan’s sentence was
commuted to life in prison after California abolished the death penalty.
In the early morning hours of ... read more



COLD WAR
1945
President Truman confronts Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov

Less than two weeks after taking over as president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Harry S. Truman gives a tongue-lashing to Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.
The incident indicated that Truman was determined to take a “tougher” stance with
the Soviets than ... read more



CIVIL WAR
1865
“Panic has seized the country,” writes Confederate President Jefferson Davis

Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes to his wife, Varina, of the desperate situation
facing the Confederates. “Panic has seized the country,” he wrote to his wife in Georgia.
Davis was in Charlotte, North Carolina, on his flight away from Yankee troops.
It was three weeks ... read more



AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1778
John Paul Jones burns Whitehaven, England

At 8 a.m. on April 23, 1778, John Paul Jones, with 30 volunteers from his ship,
the USS Ranger, launches a surprise attack on the two harbor forts at Whitehaven,
England. Jones’ boat successfully took the southern fort, but a second boat,
assigned to attack to the northern fort ... read more

[IceWizard]

Easter Rebellion Begins


1916
April 24








On April 24, 1916, on Easter Monday in Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood,
a secret organization of Irish nationalists led by Patrick Pearse, launches the so-called
Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule. Assisted by militant Irish
socialists under James Connolly, Pearse and his fellow Republicans rioted and attacked
British provincial government headquarters across Dublin and seized the Irish capital’s
General Post Office.

Following these successes, they proclaimed the independence of Ireland, which had
been under the repressive thumb of the United Kingdom for centuries, and by the
next morning were in control of much of the city. Later that day, however, British
authorities launched a counteroffensive, and by April 29 the uprising had been crushed.
Nevertheless, the Easter Rebellion is considered a significant marker on the road to
establishing an independent Irish republic.

Following the uprising, Pearse and 14 other nationalist leaders were executed for their
participation and held up as martyrs by many in Ireland. There was little love lost among
most Irish people for the British, who had enacted a series of harsh anti-Catholic restrictions,
the Penal Laws, in the 18th century, and then let 1.5 million Irish starve during the
Potato Famine of 1845-1852. Armed protest continued after the Easter Rebellion and in
1921, 26 of Ireland’s 32 counties won independence with the declaration of the Irish Free State.
The Free State became an independent republic in 1949. However, six northeastern counties
of the Emerald Isle remained part of the United Kingdom, prompting some nationalists to
reorganize themselves into the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to continue their struggle for
full Irish independence.






In the late 1960s, influenced in part by the U.S. civil rights movement, Catholics in Northern Ireland,
long discriminated against by British policies that favored Irish Protestants, advocated for justice.
Civil unrest broke out between Catholics and Protestants in the region and the violence escalated
as the pro-Catholic IRA battled British troops. An ongoing series of terrorist bombings and attacks
ensued in a drawn-out conflict that came to be known as “The Troubles.” Peace talks eventually
took place throughout the mid- to late 1990s, but a permanent end to the violence remained elusive.
Finally, in July 2005, the IRA announced its members would give up all their weapons and pursue
the group’s objectives solely through peaceful means. By the fall of 2006,
the Independent Monitoring Commission reported that the IRA’s military campaign to end
British rule was over.



Also known as Bloody Sunday





ALSO ON THIS DAY





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1800
Library of Congress established

President John Adams approves legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase
“such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress,” thus establishing
the Library of Congress. The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801
and were stored in the U.S. Capitol, the ... read more



MIDDLE EAST
1980
Iran hostage rescue mission ends in disaster

On April 24, 1980, an ill-fated military operation to rescue the 52 American hostages
held in Tehran ends with eight U.S. servicemen dead and no hostages rescued.
With the Iran Hostage Crisis stretching into its sixth month and all diplomatic
appeals to the Iranian government ... read more







GREAT BRITAIN
1953
Winston Churchill knighted

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain
and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
on April 24, 1953. Born at Blenheim Palace in 1874, Churchill joined the
British Fourth Hussars upon his father’s ... read more







U.S. PRESIDENTS
1945
President Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project

President Harry S. Truman learns the full details of the Manhattan Project, in
which scientists are attempting to create the first atomic bomb, on April 24, 1945.
The information thrust upon Truman a momentous decision: whether or not to
use the world’s first weapon of mass ... read more



SPACE EXPLORATION
1967
Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov killed
when parachute fails to deploy

On April 24, 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his parachute
fails to deploy during his spacecraft’s landing. Komarov was testing the spacecraft
Soyuz I in the midst of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Earlier in 1967, the U.S. ... read more







COLD WAR
1955
The Bandung Conference concludes

The Afro-Asian Conference—popularly known as the Bandung Conference because it
was held in Bandung, Indonesia—comes to a close on this day. During the conference,
representatives from 29 “non-aligned” nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East met
to condemn colonialism, decry ... read more







CIVIL WAR
1863
Union issues conduct code for soldiers

The Union army issues General Orders No. 100, which provided a code of conduct for
Federal soldiers and officers when dealing with Confederate prisoners and civilians.
The code was borrowed by many European nations, and its influence can be seen
on the Geneva Convention. The ... read more

[IceWizard]

Soviet leader Yuri Andropov writes letter to
U.S. fifth-grader Samantha Smith





1983
April 25



On April 25, 1983, the Soviet Union releases a letter that Russian leader
Yuri Andropov wrote to Samantha Smith, an American fifth-grader from
Manchester, Maine, inviting her to visit his country. Andropov’s letter came
in response to a note Smith had sent him in December 1982, asking if the
Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war. At the time, the United States
and Soviet Union were Cold War enemies.

President Ronald Reagan, a passionate anti-communist, had dubbed the
Soviet Union the “evil empire” and called for massive increases in U.S. defense
spending to meet the perceived Soviet threat. In his public relations duel
with Reagan, known as the “Great Communicator,” Andropov, who had
succeeded longtime Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, assumed a
folksy, almost grandfatherly approach that was incongruous with the
negative image most Americans had of the Soviets.

Andropov’s letter said that Russian people wanted to “live in peace, to
trade and cooperate with all our neighbors on the globe, no matter how
close or far away they are, and, certainly, with such a great country as
the United States of America.” In response to Smith’s question about
whether the Soviet Union wished to prevent nuclear war, Andropov declared,
“Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are endeavoring and doing everything
so that there will be no war between our two countries, so that there will be
no war at all on earth.” Andropov also complimented Smith, comparing
her to the spunky character Becky Thatcher from
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Smith, born June 29, 1972, accepted Andropov’s invitation and flew to the
Soviet Union with her parents for a visit. Afterward, she became an international
celebrity and peace ambassador, making speeches, writing a book and even
landing a role on an American television series. In February 1984,
Yuri Andropov died from kidney failure and was succeeded by
Konstantin Chernenko. The following year, in August 1985,
Samantha Smith died in a plane crash at age 13.









ALSO ON THIS DAY




SPORTS
1974
NFL adopts overtime for regular-season games

On April 25, 1974, the NFL adopts a new overtime rule for regular-season games to prevent
tie games. The rule change comes as part of sweeping effort to improve the action and
tempo of games. The league also moves goal posts from the front to the back of the
end zone and limits ... read more



SPORTS
1950
Chuck Cooper becomes first African American 

selected in NBA draft

On April 25, 1950, the Boston Celtics make Chuck Cooper, an All-American forward from
Duquesne University, the first African American picked in NBA draft. With the selection,
the first pick in the second round, Cooper breaks the NBA’s color barrier and
changes the league for the ... read more



NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
2015
Magnitude 7.8 earthquake 

kills thousands in Nepal

On April 25, 2015 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake tears through Nepal, killing nearly 9,000
and injuring 16,800. It was the worst such earthquake for the Asian country since 1934.
The earthquake struck shortly before noon, but the devastation continued as several
dozen aftershocks ... read more






21ST CENTURY
2014
The Flint water crisis begins

On April 25, 2014 officials from Flint, Michigan switched the city’s water supply to the
Flint River as a cost-cutting measure for the struggling city. In doing so, they unwittingly
introduced lead-poisoned water into homes, in what would become a massive
public-health crisis. ... read more



SPACE EXPLORATION
1990
Hubble Space Telescope 

placed in orbit

The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a
long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. The space telescope,
conceived in the 1940s, designed in the 1970s, and built in the 1980s, was designed
to give astronomers an ... read more






AFRICA
1859
Ground broken for 

Suez Canal

At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway
intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the
Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who
organized the colossal undertaking, delivered ... read more






U.S. PRESIDENTS
1947
President Truman inaugurates 

White House bowling alley

President Harry S. Truman officially opens the first White House bowling alley on
April 25, 1947. The two-lane bowling alley, situated in the West Wing, had been
constructed earlier that year. According to Smithsonian magazine, a group of
Truman’s fellow Missourians funded the ... read more



ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1719
"Robinson Crusoe" is published

Daniel Defoe’s fictional work The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is
published. The book, about a shipwrecked sailor who spends 28 years on a deserted
island, is based on the experiences of shipwreck victims and of Alexander Selkirk,
a Scottish sailor who spent ... read more






ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1917
Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald is born

On April 25, 1917, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport News, Virginia.
She was called “The First Lady of Song,” an honor whose meaning is captured in a
compliment paid to her by the great composer Ira Gershwin: “I never knew how
good our songs were until I heard Ella ... read more






NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
1980
Plane crashes on Canary Islands, 

killing 146

A Dan-Air Boeing 727 carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands crashes and
kills all 146 on board on April 25, 1980. This terrible crash came just three years
after another even deadlier accident at the Canary Islands airport. In 1977,
a KLM jumbo jet had collided with a ... read more






CRIME
1989
A father is exonerated after 21 years

James Richardson walks out of a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted
of killing his seven children. Special prosecutor Janet Reno agreed to the release after
evidence showed that the conviction resulted from misconduct by the prosecutor.
In addition, neighbor ... read more






WORLD WAR II
1945
Americans and Russians link up, 

cut Germany in two

On April 25, 1945, eight Russian armies completely encircle Berlin, linking up with the
U.S. First Army patrol, first on the western bank of the Elbe, then later at Torgau.
Germany is, for all intents and purposes, Allied territory. The Allies sounded the
death knell of their ... read more






WORLD WAR I
1915
Allies begin invasion of Gallipoli

On April 25, 1915, a week after Anglo-French naval attacks on the Dardanelles end in
dismal failure, the Allies launch a large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula,
the Turkish-controlled land mass bordering the northern side of the Dardanelles.
In January 1915, two ... read more

[IceWizard]

Polio vaccine trials begin


1954
April 26







On April 26, 1954, the Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 million children,
begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. Children in the
United States, Canada and Finland participated in the trials, which used for the first
time the now-standard double-blind method, whereby neither the patient nor attending
doctor knew if the inoculation was the vaccine or a placebo.

One year later, on April 12, 1955, researchers announced the vaccine was safe and
effective and it quickly became a standard part of childhood immunizations in America.
In the ensuing decades, polio vaccines would all but wipe out the highly contagious
disease in the Western Hemisphere.

Polio, known officially as poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease that has existed since
ancient times and is caused by a virus. It occurs most commonly in children and can
result in paralysis. The disease reached epidemic proportions throughout the first half
of the 20th century. During the 1940s and 1950s, polio was associated with the iron lung,
a large metal tank designed to help polio victims suffering from respiratory paralysis breathe.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio in 1921 at the age of 39 and
was left paralyzed from the waist down and forced to use leg braces and a wheelchair
for the rest of his life. In 1938, Roosevelt helped found the National Foundation for
Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes. The organization was responsible
for funding much of the research concerning the disease, including the Salk vaccine trials.

The man behind the original vaccine was New York-born physician and epidemiologist
Jonas Salk (1914-95). Salk’s work on an anti-influenza vaccine in the 1940s, while at
the University of Michigan School of Public Health, led him, in 1952 at the University of
Pittsburgh, to develop the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), based on a killed-virus strain
of the disease. The 1954 field trials that followed, the largest in U.S. history at the time,
were led by Salk’s former University of Michigan colleague, Dr. Thomas Francis, Jr.

In the late 1950s, Polish-born physician and virologist Albert Sabin (1906-1993) tested
an oral polio vaccine (OPV) he had created from a weakened live virus. The vaccine, easier
to administer and cheaper to produce than Salk’s, became available for use in America
in the early 1960s and eventually replaced Salk’s as the vaccine of choice in most countries.






Today, polio has been eliminated throughout much of the world due to the vaccine;
however, there is still no cure for the disease and it persists in a small number of
countries in Africa and Asia.





ALSO ON THIS DAY




CRIME
2012
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor found guilty of war crimes

On April 26, 2012, former Liberian president Charles Taylor is found guilty of abetting
horrific war crimes, including rape and mutilation in Sierra Leone. His conviction was
the first for war crimes by a former head of state in an international court since the
Nuremberg trials ... read more






NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT
1986
Test triggers nuclear disaster at Chernobyl

On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident occurs at the Chernobyl
nuclear power station in the Soviet Union. Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered
radiation burns in the opening days of the crisis, but only after Swedish authorities
reported the ... read more






WORLD WAR II
1937
Nazis test new air force, Luftwaffe, on Basque town of Guernica

During the Spanish Civil War, the German military tests its powerful new air force—the
Luftwaffe—on the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain. Although the
independence-minded Basque region opposed General Francisco Franco’s Nationalist
forces in the Spanish Civil War, ... read more



U.S. PRESIDENTS
1984
President Reagan visits China

On April 26, 1984, President Ronald Reagan arrives in China for a diplomatic meeting
with Chinese President Li Xiannian. The trip marked the third time a U.S. president had
traveled to China since President Richard Nixon’s historic trip in 1972
(Gerald Ford visited in 1975). read more






WESTWARD EXPANSION
1798
Mountain man James Beckwourth is born

James Beckwourth, one of only a handful of early mountain men to emerge from the
system of slavery, is born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The exact year of Beckwourth’s
birth is in dispute. Some historians suggest it may have been 1800 rather than 1798.
The uncertainty arises ... read more



ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1977
Studio 54 opens in New York City

The crowd outside 254 West 54th Street in New York City on this day in 1927 would
have been waiting for the curtain of a Puccini opera. On this day in 1957 or ’67, they
would have been waiting for a filming of an episode of Password or maybe
Captain Kangaroo. On April 26 in 1977 ... read more



ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1986
Maria Shriver marries Arnold Schwarzenegger

Almost a decade after they met at a celebrity tennis tournament, the television news
reporter Maria Shriver marries the movie actor and former bodybuilder
Arnold Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986. Politically, it seemed an unlikely match:
Shriver, then a co-anchor for the CBS ... read more






CRIME
1913
Thirteen-year-old girl murdered in Atlanta pencil factory

Thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan is found sexually molested and murdered in the
basement of the Atlanta, Georgia, pencil factory where she worked. Her murder
later led to one of the most disgraceful episodes of bigotry, injustice and mob
violence in American history. Next to ... read more






1950S
1954
Geneva Conference to resolve problems in Asia begins

In an effort to resolve several problems in Asia, including the war between the
French and Vietnamese nationalists in Indochina, representatives from the
world’s powers meet in Geneva. The conference marked a turning point in the
United States’ involvement in Vietnam. ... read more



CIVIL WAR
1865
Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth dies

John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia
farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
Twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country
when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in ... read more



WORLD WAR I
1915
Allies sign Treaty of London

On April 26, 1915, after receiving the promise of significant territorial gains,
Italy signs the Treaty of London, committing itself to enter World War I on the
side of the Allies. With the threat of imminent war looming in July 1914,
the Italian army under Chief of Staff Luigi ... read more

[IceWizard]

Rocky Marciano retires as
world heavyweight champion

1956
April 27





On April 27, 1956, world heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano retires from boxing
at age 31, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. Marciano ended his
career as the only heavyweight champion with a perfect record–49 wins in
49 professional bouts, with 43 knockouts.

Rocco Francis Marchegiano was born into a working-class family in Brockton, Massachusetts,
on September 1, 1923. After being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943, he reportedly began
boxing as a way to get out of kitchen duty and other less-than-desirable jobs. Marciano
finished his military service in 1946 and continued to box as an amateur. He tried out for
the Chicago Cubs, but his dream of becoming a pro baseball player ended when he was
soon cut from the team. He returned to boxing and fought his first professional match
on March 17, 1947, defeating Lee Epperson in a third-round knockout. Marciano went on
to win his next 15 matches by knockout. He became known as a tough fighter and powerful
puncher, but he was criticized for his awkward style, which some thought lacked finesse.

On October 26, 1951, Marciano signaled to the boxing world that he was a contender when
he faced former heavyweight champ Joe Louis and knocked him out in the eighth round.
Marciano captured the heavyweight crown in Philadelphia on September 23, 1952, when
he scored a knockout against defending champ Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round.
Marciano faced Walcott again in Chicago on May 15, 1953, and defeated him in a first-round
knockout. Marciano, nicknamed the “Brockton Blockbuster,” would successfully defend
his title five more times, with his last professional bout, against Archie Moore in New York
on September 21, 1955, ending in a ninth-round KO.



Rocky Marciano vs Joe Louis


On April 27, 1956, Marciano announced his retirement from boxing and said he had no
plans to return to the ring for a comeback. Marciano died in a small-plane crash in
Iowa on August 31, 1969.



August 31, 1969: Rocky Marciano



ALSO ON THIS DAY




EXPLORATION
1521
Navigator Ferdinand Magellan killed in the Philippines

After traveling three-quarters of the way around the globe, Portuguese
navigator Ferdinand Magellan is killed during a tribal skirmish on Mactan
Island in the Philippines. Earlier in the month, his ships had dropped
anchor at the Philippine island of Cebu, and Magellan met with ... read more



19TH CENTURY
1805
U.S. agent William Eaton leads U.S. forces “to the shores of Tripoli”

After marching 500 miles from Egypt, U.S. agent William Eaton leads a
small force of U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries against the Tripolitan
port city of Derna. The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose
Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli,
who had seized ... read more



AFRICA
1994
South Africa holds first multiracial elections

More than 22 million South Africans turn out to cast ballots in the country’s
first multiracial parliamentary elections. An overwhelming majority chose
anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to head a new coalition government
that included his African National Congress Party ... read more



AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1773
British parliament passes unpopular Tea Act

On April 27, 1773, the British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill designed
to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly
lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government and, thus, granting
it a de facto monopoly on the American tea trade.
Because ... read more



INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
4977 B.C.
Universe is created, according to Kepler

On April 27, 4977 B.C., the universe is created, according to German
mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, considered a founder
of modern science. Kepler is best known for his theories explaining the
motion of planets. Kepler was born on December 27, 1571,
in Weil der ... read more



U.S. PRESIDENTS
1822
President Ulysses S. Grant is born

Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War leader and 18th president of the United States,
is born on April 27, 1822. The son of a tanner, Grant showed little
enthusiasm for joining his father’s business, so the elder Grant enrolled
his son at West Point in 1839.
Though Grant later admitted in ... read more



19TH CENTURY
1813
Explorer Zebulon Pike killed in battle

After surviving two dangerous exploratory expeditions into uncharted
areas of the West, Zebulon Pike dies during a battle in the War of 1812.
By the time he became a general in 1812, Pike had already faced many
perilous situations.
He joined the army when he was 15, and ... read more



ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1993
D.A. announces negligence caused death of “The Crow” actor Brandon Lee

As a nearly month-long police investigation draws to a close,
North Carolina District Attorney Jerry Spivey announces on April 27, 1993
that the death of 28-year-old Brandon Lee on March 31 of that same
year during filming of The Crow was due to negligence
on the part of the ... read more






CRIME
1997
Andrew Cunanan begins his killing spree

Andrew Cunanan kills Jeffrey Trail by beating him to death with a
claw hammer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Trail’s murder set Cunanan
off on a nationwide killing spree that ended in July when he killed
himself on a houseboat in Miami Beach.
Cunanan spent most of his adult life as ... read more






CIVIL WAR
1865
Union soldiers die in steamship explosion

The steamboat Sultana explodes on the Mississippi River near
Memphis, killing 1,700 passengers including many discharged
Union soldiers. The Sultana was launched from Cincinnati in 1863.
The boat was 260 feet long and had an authorized capacity
of 376 passengers and crew. It was ... read more



INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
2009
GM announces plans to phase out Pontiac

On April 27, 2009, the struggling American auto giant General Motors (GM)
says it plans to discontinue production of its more than 80-year-old
Pontiac brand. Pontiac’s origins date back to the Oakland Motor Car,
which was founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan,
by Edward Murphy, a ... read more

[IceWizard]

Benito Mussolini executed





1945
April 28



On April 28, 1945, “Il Duce,” Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci,
are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted
to flee to Switzerland.

The 61-year-old deposed former dictator of Italy was established by his German
allies as the figurehead of a puppet government in northern Italy during the
German occupation toward the close of the war. As the Allies fought their way
up the Italian peninsula, defeat of the Axis powers all but certain, Mussolini
considered his options. Not wanting to fall into the hands of either the British
or the Americans, and knowing that the communist partisans, who had been
fighting the remnants of roving Italian fascist soldiers and thugs in the north,
would try him as a war criminal, he settled on escape to a neutral country.

He and his mistress made it to the Swiss border, only to discover that the guards
had crossed over to the partisan side. Knowing they would not let him pass, he
disguised himself in a Luftwaffe coat and helmet, hoping to slip into Austria with
some German soldiers. His subterfuge proved incompetent, and he and Petacci
were discovered by partisans and shot, their bodies then transported by truck to
Milan, where they were hung upside down and displayed publicly for revilement
by the masses.




ALSO ON THIS DAY




CRIME
1996
35 killed in Australia’s Port Arthur Massacre mass shooting

On April 28, 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant begins a killing spree that
ends in the deaths of 35 men, women and children in the quiet town of
Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia. Bryant began the day by killing an
elderly couple who were the owners of
Port Arthur’s Seascape ... read more



EXPLORATION
1789
Mutiny on the HMS Bounty

Three weeks into a journey from Tahiti to the West Indies, the HMS Bounty
is seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate.
Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a
small, open boat, and the Bounty set course for
Tubuai south of ... read more



FRANCE
1969
Charles de Gaulle resigns as leader of France

Following the defeat of his proposals for constitutional reform in a
national referendum, Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France.
A veteran of World War I, de Gaulle unsuccessfully petitioned his country
to modernize its armed forces between the wars.
After Henri Petain ... read more






VIETNAM WAR
1970
President Nixon approves Cambodian incursion

President Richard Nixon gives his formal authorization to commit
U.S. combat troops, in cooperation with South Vietnamese units,
against communist troop sanctuaries in Cambodia.
READ MORE:
How Nixon’s Invasion of Cambodia Triggered a
Check on Presidential Power Secretary of State



SPORTS
1967
Muhammad Ali refuses Army induction

On April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be
inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his
heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his
decision to forgo military service.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, read more






COLD WAR
1965
U.S. Troops land in the Dominican Republic in
attempt to forestall a “communist dictatorship”

In an effort to forestall what he claims will be a “communist dictatorship”
in the Dominican Republic, President Lyndon B. Johnson sends more than
22,000 U.S. troops to the island nation. Johnson’s action provoked protests
in Latin America and skepticism among many
in the United ... read more





1970S
1978
Afghan president is overthrown and murdered

Afghanistan President Sardar Mohammed Daoud is overthrown and
murdered in a coup led by procommunist rebels. The brutal action
marked the beginning of political upheaval in Afghanistan that resulted
in intervention by Soviet troops less than two years later.
Daoud had ruled ... read more






INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1916
Luxury car magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini is born

On April 28, 1916, Ferruccio Lamborghini, the founder of the company
that bears his name and is known for stylish, high-performance cars,
is born in Italy. After World War II, Lamborghini founded a business
making tractors from reconfigured surplus military machines,
near ... read more

[barq2]

I remember when Brandon Lee was accidentally killed on set as I was working on a low budget film at the time. In the movie I had to be shot several times with blanks while explosive squibs taped to my chest exploded and burst bags of fake blood. I had to do it twice as the timing of the squibs didn't match the blanks being fired on the first take. I still have the shell casing from one of the blanks as a memento.

As I remember The Crow producers cashed in the insurance completion bond for the movie, they bought the movie back from the insurers for $1m, then used the extra money to pay for some rather bad CGI of Brandon Lee to finish the movie. It's not a bad film, and contrary to popular myth, the shot where Lee was killed is not in the movie.

The actor who pulled the trigger and accidently killed Lee was really messed up for life. Poor guy, it really wasn't his fault at all.

Anyway, that's my anecdote related to a historical day.

[IceWizard]

U.S. Army liberates Dachau
concentration camp





1945
April 29



On April 29, 1945, the U.S. Seventh Army’s 45th Infantry Division liberates Dachau,
the first concentration camp established by Germany’s Nazi regime. A major Dachau
subcamp was liberated the same day by the 42nd Rainbow Division.

Established five weeks after Adolf Hitler took power as German chancellor in 1933,
Dachau was situated on the outskirts of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest
of Munich. During its first year, the camp held about 5,000 political prisoners, consisting
primarily of German communists, Social Democrats, and other political opponents of
the Nazi regime. During the next few years, the number of prisoners grew dramatically,
and other groups were interned at Dachau, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma peoples,
homosexuals and repeat criminals. Beginning in 1938, Jews began to comprise a major
portion of camp internees.





Prisoners at Dachau were used as forced laborers, initially in the construction and expansion
of the camp and later for German armaments production. The camp served as the training
center for SS concentration camp guards and was a model for other Nazi concentration camps.
Dachau was also the first Nazi camp to use prisoners as human guinea pigs in medical
experiments. At Dachau, Nazi scientists tested the effects of freezing and changes to
atmospheric pressure on inmates, infected them with malaria and tuberculosis and treated
them with experimental drugs, and forced them to test methods of making seawater potable
and of halting excessive bleeding. Hundreds of prisoners died or were crippled as a result
of these experiments.





Thousands of inmates died or were executed at Dachau, and thousands more were transferred
to a Nazi extermination center near Linz, Austria, when they became too sick or weak to work.
In 1944, to increase war production, the main camp was supplemented by dozens of satellite
camps established near armaments factories in southern Germany and Austria. These camps
were administered by the main camp and collectively called Dachau.

With the advance of Allied forces against Germany in April 1945, the Germans transferred
prisoners from concentration camps near the front to Dachau, leading to a general deterioration
of conditions and typhus epidemics. On April 27, 1945, approximately 7,000 prisoners,
mostly Jews, were forced to begin a death march from Dachau to Tegernsee, far to the south.
The next day, many of the SS guards abandoned the camp. On April 29, the Dachau main
camp was liberated by units of the 45th Infantry after a brief battle with the camp’s
remaining guards.

As they neared the camp, the Americans found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies
in various states of decomposition. Inside the camp there were more bodies and 30,000
survivors, most severely emaciated. Some of the American troops who liberated Dachau
were so appalled by conditions at the camp that they machine-gunned at least two groups
of captured German guards. It is officially reported that 30 SS guards were killed in this
fashion, but conspiracy theorists have alleged that more than 10 times that number were
executed by the American liberators. The German citizens of the town of Dachau were
later forced to bury the 9,000 dead inmates found at the camp.





In the course of Dachau’s history, at least 160,000 prisoners passed through the main camp,
and 90,000 through the subcamps. Incomplete records indicate that at least 32,000 of the
inmates perished at Dachau and its subcamps, but countless more were shipped to
extermination camps elsewhere.





ALSO ON THIS DAY



SPORTS
1929
Cleveland becomes first MLB team 

with numbers on back of jerseys

On April 16, 1929, the Cleveland Indians open the season with numbers on the back
of each player’s jersey, the first Major League Baseball team to do so. The numbers
make it easier for scorekeepers, broadcasters and fans to identify players.
Cleveland wins the game against the ... read more



GREAT BRITAIN
2011
Britain’s Prince William 

weds Kate Middleton

On April 29, 2011, Great Britain’s Prince William marries his longtime girlfriend
Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London. Some 1,900
guests attended the ceremony, while another 1 million spectators lined the
streets of London and an estimated 2 ... read more






BLACK HISTORY
1992
Riots erupt in Los Angeles after police officers
are acquitted in Rodney King trial

In Los Angeles, California, four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught
beating an unarmed African American motorist in an amateur video are acquitted
of any wrongdoing in the arrest. Hours after the verdicts were announced,
outrage and protest turned to violence as the ...read more





FRANCE
1429
Joan of Arc relieves Orleans

During the Hundred Years’ War, the 17-year-old French peasant Joan of Arc
leads a French force in relieving the city of Orleans, besieged by the English
since October. At the age of 16, “voices” of Christian saints told Joan to aid
Charles, the French dauphin, in gaining the read more



BLACK HISTORY
1854
First African American college chartered

By an act of the Pennsylvania legislature, Ashmun Institute, the first college
founded solely for African American students, is officially chartered.
Established in the rolling farmlands of southern Chester County, Pennsylvania,
Ashmun Institute was named after Jehudi Ashmun, the ... read more






LANDMARKS
2004
World War II monument opens in Washington, D.C.

On April 29, 2004, the World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C. to
thousands of visitors, providing overdue recognition for the 16 million U.S.
men and women who served in the war. The memorial is located on 7.4 acres
on the former site of the Rainbow Pool at the National ... read more



U.S. PRESIDENTS
1974
President Nixon announces 

release of Watergate tapes

On April 29, 1974, President Richard Nixon announces to the public that he
will release transcripts of 46 taped White House conversations in response
to a Watergate trial subpoena issued in July 1973. The House Judiciary
committee accepted 1,200 pages of transcripts the next day ... read more





WESTWARD EXPANSION
1863
Newspaper tycoon 

William Randolph Hearst is born

The newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst is born in San Francisco. He
was the only son and principle heir to western mining magnate George Hearst.
George Hearst had made a fortune with his shrewd investments in successful
western mining operations.
His son William, however, ... read more





ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1968
“Hair” premieres on Broadway

In a year marked by as much social and cultural upheaval as 1968, it was
understandable that the New York Times review of a controversial musical
newly arrived on Broadway would describe the show in political terms.
“You probably don’t have to be a supporter of Eugene McCarthy to ... read more





CIVIL WAR
1862
Union captures New Orleans

Union troops officially take possession of New Orleans, completing the occupation
that had begun four days earlier. The capture of this vital southern city was a huge
blow to the Confederacy. Southern military strategists planned for a Union attack
down the Mississippi, not from ... read more



INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
2004
The end of the road for Oldsmobile

On April 29, 2004, the last Oldsmobile comes off the assembly line at the
Lansing Car Assembly plant in Michigan, signaling the end of the 106-year-old
automotive brand, America’s oldest. Factory workers signed the last Oldsmobile,
an Alero sedan, before the vehicle was moved to ... read more





WORLD WAR II
1945
Adolf and Eva marry

During the night of April 28-29, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun marry, only hours
before they both died by suicide. Braun met Hitler while employed as an assistant
to Hitler’s official photographer. Of a middle-class Catholic background, Braun
spent her time with Hitler out of public ... read more

[IceWizard]

Adolf Hitler commits suicide
in his underground bunker





1945
April 30



On April 30, 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits
suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany
unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich.

Since at least 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would fold under the pressure
of the Allied forces. In February of that year, the German 6th Army, lured deep into the Soviet Union,
was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad, and German hopes for a sustained offensive on both
fronts evaporated. Then, in June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed at Normandy, France, and
began systematically to push the Germans back toward Berlin. By July 1944, several German military
commanders acknowledged their imminent defeat and plotted to remove Hitler from power so as
to negotiate a more favorable peace. Their attempts to assassinate Hitler failed, however, and in
his reprisals, Hitler executed over 4,000 fellow countrymen.

In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out
his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully
self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. Though he was growing increasingly mad,
Hitler continued to give orders and meet with such close subordinates as Hermann Goering,
Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels. He also married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just
one day before his suicide.

In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels
as chancellor. He then retired to his private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned
themselves and their dogs, before Hitler then also shot himself with his service pistol.

Hitler and Braun’s bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed
in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler’s ashes,
continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial
at his final resting place. Only eight days later, on May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an
unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers.






ALSO ON THIS DAY





21ST CENTURY
2004
U.S. media release graphic photos of American
soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib

On April 30, 2004, the CBS program 60 Minutes reports on abuse of prisoners
by American military forces at Abu Ghraib, a prison in Iraq. The report, which
featured graphic photographs showing U.S. military personnel torturing and
abusing prisoners, shocked the American public and ... read more






GREAT BRITAIN
1997
Big Ben stops at 12:11 pm for 54 minutes

On April 30, 1997, at exactly 12:11 pm, London's iconic Big Ben clock stops ticking.
For 54 minutes, the most famous clock in the world failed to keep time. Completed
in 1859, Big Ben has a long history of technical issues. The first bell cast for the
tower cracked before it ... read more





INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1993
World Wide Web (WWW) launches in the public domain

On April 30, 1993, four years after publishing a proposal for “an idea of linked
information systems,” computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee released the source
code for the world’s first web browser and editor. Originally called Mesh,
the browser that he dubbed WorldWideWeb became ... read more



INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1897
British physicist J.J. Thomson announces
the discovery of electrons

On April 30, 1897, British physicist J.J. Thomson announced his discovery that atoms
were made up of smaller components. This finding revolutionized the way scientists
thought about the atom and had major ramifications for the field of physics.
Though Thompson referred to them as ... read more



JAPAN
2019
Japan's Emperor Akihito abdicates

On April 30, 2019, Japan’s 85-year-old Emperor Akihito steps down from the throne,
becoming the first Japanese monarch to abdicate in over 200 years. Akihito was born
on December 23, 1933, the eldest son of Emperor Hirohito, who had ruled Japan
since 1926. Akihito was born two ... read more


Emperor Akihito and wife Michiko



GREAT DEPRESSION
1939
New York World’s Fair opens

On April 30, 1939, the New York World’s Fair opens in New York City. The opening
ceremony, which featured speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and
New York Governor Herbert Lehman, ushered in the first day of television
broadcasting in New York.
Spanning 1,200 acres at ... read more



EARLY US
1803
United States and France
conclude the Louisiana Purchase

On April 30, 1803, representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France
conclude negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, a massive land sale that
doubles the size of the young American republic. What was known as
Louisiana Territory comprised most of modern-day United ... read more



VIETNAM WAR
1975
Fall of Saigon: 

South Vietnam surrenders

The South Vietnamese stronghold of Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City)
falls to People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong on April 30, 1975. The
South Vietnamese forces had collapsed under the rapid advancement of the
North Vietnamese.
The most recent fighting had begun in ... read more



SPORTS
1993
Tennis star Monica Seles stabbed

Top women’s tennis player Monica Seles is stabbed by a deranged German man
during a match in Hamburg. The assailant, a fan of German tennis star Steffi Graf,
apparently hoped that by injuring Seles his idol Graf would be able to regain
her No. 1 ranking.
Seles became the youngest ... read more





U.S. PRESIDENTS
1789
George Washington gives first
presidential inaugural address

On April 30, 1789, George Washington is sworn in as the first American president
and delivers the first inaugural speech at Federal Hall in New York City. Elements
of the ceremony set tradition; presidential inaugurations have deviated
little in the two centuries since ... read more



ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY
1997
Controversial “coming out” episode of “Ellen” airs

On April 30, 1997, in a widely publicized episode of the ABC sitcom Ellen, TV character
Ellen Morgan (played by Ellen DeGeneres) announces that she is gay. DeGeneres, a
former stand-up comedian who was born on January 26, 1958, became part of the
ensemble cast of the ABC series ... read more



CRIME
1927
The first federal prison for women
opens in West Virginia

The Federal Industrial Institution for Women, the first women’s federal prison, opens
in Alderson, West Virginia. All women serving federal sentences of more than a year
were to be brought here. Run by Dr. Mary B. Harris, the prison’s buildings,
each named after social reformers, ... read more






INVENTIONS & SCIENCE
1948
Original Land Rover debuts at auto show

The Land Rover, a British-made all-terrain vehicle that will earn a reputation for its
use in exotic locales, debuts at an auto show in Amsterdam on April 30, 1948.
The first Land Rover, known as the Series 1, was the brainchild of Maurice Wilks,
the head designer for the British ... read more





WORLD WAR I
1917
Battle of the Boot takes place between
Anglo-Indian and Turkish forces

On April 30, 1917, the so-called Battle of the Boot marks the end of the British
army’s Samarrah Offensive, launched the previous month by Anglo-Indian forces
under the regional commander in chief, Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, against
the important Turkish railroad at Samarra ... read more