Post by MacBeth on Apr 2, 2009 5:58:08 GMT -5
In 1459, Vlad the Impaler impales thousands of merchants and burghers of the town of Brasov, in Transylvania. Some estimate as many as 30,000 impalements, but it was probably more on the order of 2,000.
In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in present-day Florida.
In 1792, the US Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
In 1860, the first Italian Parliament met at Turin.
In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, because of advancing Union forces.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy." (Congress declared war four days later.)
In 1932, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in the Bronx, N.Y., where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man called "John" in exchange for Lindbergh's kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)
In 1968, the influential science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey," produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington.
In 1974, a streaker interrupts actor David Niven during his presentation at the Academy Awards. Niven's off-the-cuff remark -- "probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping and showing off his shortcomings" -- was actually prepared in advance.
In 1979, a mishap in a secret Soviet biological warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk results in the release of airborne anthrax spores, killing 66. Livestock fifty kilometers away also die.
In 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)
In 1999, the Labor Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate fell to a 29-year low of 4.2 percent in March 1999.
In 2002, Israel seized control of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, beginning a 39-day standoff.
In 2004, a judge in New York declared a mistrial in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco executives after a juror apparently received an intimidating letter and phone call for supposedly siding with the defense. (Former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark H. Swartz were convicted in a retrial of looting Tyco of more than $600 million in corporate bonuses and loans; each was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.) Flags of seven new NATO members from former communist Europe rose at alliance headquarters in Brussels for the first time, marking the biggest expansion in NATO's 55-year history.
In 2005, Pope John Paul II, who'd led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.
In 2007, in its first case on climate change, the US Supreme Court declared in a 5-4 ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
In 2009, President George W. Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who'd helped broker peace in Northern Ireland but couldn't survive a scandal over his collection of cash from businessmen, announced he would resign.
In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in present-day Florida.
In 1792, the US Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
In 1860, the first Italian Parliament met at Turin.
In 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, because of advancing Union forces.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy." (Congress declared war four days later.)
In 1932, aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and John F. Condon went to a cemetery in the Bronx, N.Y., where Condon turned over $50,000 to a man called "John" in exchange for Lindbergh's kidnapped son. (The child, who was not returned, was found dead the following month.)
In 1968, the influential science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey," produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington.
In 1974, a streaker interrupts actor David Niven during his presentation at the Academy Awards. Niven's off-the-cuff remark -- "probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping and showing off his shortcomings" -- was actually prepared in advance.
In 1979, a mishap in a secret Soviet biological warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk results in the release of airborne anthrax spores, killing 66. Livestock fifty kilometers away also die.
In 1982, several thousand troops from Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain. (Britain seized the islands back the following June.)
In 1999, the Labor Department reported that the nation's unemployment rate fell to a 29-year low of 4.2 percent in March 1999.
In 2002, Israel seized control of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, beginning a 39-day standoff.
In 2004, a judge in New York declared a mistrial in the grand-larceny case against two former Tyco executives after a juror apparently received an intimidating letter and phone call for supposedly siding with the defense. (Former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark H. Swartz were convicted in a retrial of looting Tyco of more than $600 million in corporate bonuses and loans; each was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison.) Flags of seven new NATO members from former communist Europe rose at alliance headquarters in Brussels for the first time, marking the biggest expansion in NATO's 55-year history.
In 2005, Pope John Paul II, who'd led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years, died in his Vatican apartment at age 84.
In 2007, in its first case on climate change, the US Supreme Court declared in a 5-4 ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
In 2009, President George W. Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who'd helped broker peace in Northern Ireland but couldn't survive a scandal over his collection of cash from businessmen, announced he would resign.