Today:
1. 1865: President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. He died the next day.
2. 1912: The RMS Titanic struck an iceberg late in the evening and sank early the next morning, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 people.
3. 1935: The “Black Sunday” dust storm swept across the Oklahoma Panhandle and neighboring areas during the Dust Bowl era, causing widespread ecological and agricultural devastation.
4. 1969: The first major league baseball game was played in Montreal, Canada, as the Montreal Expos faced the St. Louis Cardinals.
5. 1986: The United States launched Operation El Dorado Canyon, a series of airstrikes against Libya in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.
6. 2003: The Human Genome Project was completed, marking a milestone in genetics and biotechnology by mapping and sequencing all the genes of the human genome.
7. 2014: The extremist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, sparking international outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
8. 2016: Music legend Prince, known for hits like “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry,” passed away at the age of 57 in his home in Minnesota.
9. 2019: A fire broke out at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, causing significant damage to the historic landmark and prompting an international effort to rebuild and restore it.
10. 2021: The United States announced its intention to withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11, ending America’s longest war, which began in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks.