Today:
1. 1742: Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” premiered in Dublin, Ireland.
2. 1919: The Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred in Amritsar, India, where British troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians, killing hundreds.
3. 1943: The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birth.
4. 1964: Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in “Lilies of the Field.”
5. 1970: An oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, crippling the spacecraft while en route to the Moon. The crew, including Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise, safely returned to Earth after a dramatic rescue effort.
6. 1997: Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament at the age of 21.
7. 2005: Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to carrying out the bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and other attacks in the U.S., including bombings at abortion clinics and a gay nightclub.
8. 2014: The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsized and sank off the coast of South Korea, resulting in over 300 deaths, mostly high school students.
9. 2019: A fire broke out at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, causing significant damage to the iconic landmark.
10. 2021: The United States announced its decision to withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending its longest war.