Historical events on April 15
APRIL 15, 1922
U.S. senator John B. Kendrick (pictured) introduced a resolution calling for an investigation of a secret land deal involving U.S. president Warren G. Harding's administration, leading to the Teapot Dome scandal.
John Benjamin Kendrick was an American politician and cattleman who served as a United States senator from Wyoming and as the ninth
Read More
APRIL 15, 1952
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered, strategic bomber operated by the U.S. Air Force for most of the aircraft's history, made its first flight.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has
Read More
APRIL 15, 1957
The Indiaman departed Victoria Coach Station, London, as part of the first UK–India bus service.
Victoria Coach Station in the City of Westminster is the largest coach station in London, and a terminus for medium and long
Read More
APRIL 15, 1936
Two Jews were killed near Tulkarm in Mandatory Palestine, an act widely viewed as the beginning of violence within the Arab revolt.
The 1936 Tulkarm shooting of two Jews on the road between Anabta and Tulkarm took place in British Mandatory Palestine. Jews retaliated
Read More
APRIL 15, 1994
At a GATT ministerial meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, representatives of 123 countries and the European Communities signed an agreement to establish the World Trade Organization.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international
Read More
APRIL 15, 1912
More than 1,500 people on the Titanic died when the passenger liner sank after colliding with an iceberg southeast of Newfoundland.
RMS Titanic was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking
Read More
APRIL 15, 1071
Byzantine–Norman wars: After a siege of almost three years, Italo-Norman forces conquered the city of Bari, the capital of the Catepanate of Italy, ending more than five centuries of Byzantine presence in the region.
The Byzantine–Norman wars were a series of military conflicts between the Normans and the Byzantine Empire fought from c. 1040 to 1186
Read More
APRIL 15, 1947
Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the baseball color line, played his first game in Major League Baseball.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB)
Read More
APRIL 15, 2013
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev set off two pressure cooker bombs during the running of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
Dzhokhar Anzorovich "Jahar" Tsarnaev is an American domestic terrorist of Chechen and Avar descent who, along with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev,
Read More
APRIL 15, 1927
Torrential rains caused the Mississippi River to break out of its levee system in at least 145 places, resulting in the worst flooding in the history of the United States.
The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the longest river in
Read More
APRIL 15, 2019
A fire severely damaged Notre-Dame de Paris, destroying the cathedral's timber spire and much of the roof.
On 15 April 2019, at 18:18 CEST, a structural fire broke out in the roof space of Notre-Dame de Paris, a medieval Catholic cathedral in Paris, France.
(Image Credits)
"Incendie Notre Dame de Paris" by LeLaisserPasserA38 - CC BY-SA 4.0
APRIL 15, 1923
Ten Japanese-American children were killed in a racially motivated arson attack on a school in Sacramento, California.
The Nihon Shōgakkō fire, or Japanese mission school fire, was a racially motivated arson that killed ten children in Sacramento, California, on
Read More
APRIL 15, 1632
Thirty Years' War: A Swedish–German army defeated the forces of the Catholic League at the Battle of Rain, mortally wounding their commander Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly.
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European
Read More
APRIL 15, 1738
Serse, an opera by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel loosely based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London.
Serse is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738.
Read More
APRIL 15, 769
The final session of the Lateran Council, convened to rectify abuses in the papal electoral process that had led to the elevation of the antipopes Constantine II and Philip, was held in Rome.
The Lateran Council of 769 was a synod held in the Basilica of St. John Lateran to rectify perceived abuses in the
Read More
APRIL 15, 1861
At the start of the American Civil War, president Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers to quell an insurrection following the bombardment of Fort Sumter.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in
Read More
APRIL 15, 1802
English poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy encountered a "long belt" of daffodils while walking around Ullswater in the Lake District, inspiring him to pen his best-known work, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".
William Wordsworth was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with
Read More