This Week in History

HISTORY, 17 Apr 2017

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

Apr 17-23

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Man strives for glory, honor, fame, so that all the world may know his name
Amasses wealth by brain and hand
Becomes a power in the land
But when he nears the end of life and looks back over the years of strife
He finds that happiness depends on none of these but love of friends.”
– Unknown

APRIL 17

2014  NASA‘s Kepler confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Discovery of the Earth-size Habitable Zone:

2013  An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.

2006  A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in Tel Aviv, killing 11 people and injuring 70.

1987  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1987:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1986  Nezar Hindawi‘s attempt to detonate a bomb aboard an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv is thwarted.

1986  The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years’ War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends.

1984  Police Constable Yvonne Fletcher is killed by gunfire from the Libyan People’s Bureau (Embassy) in London during a small demonstration outside the embassy. Ten others are wounded. The events lead to an 11-day siege of the building.

1982  Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.

1982  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1978  Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d’état in Afghanistan.

1975  The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.

Cambodian Civil War:

Khmer Rouge:

Cambodia:

History of Cambodia:

Foreign Relations of Cambodia:

Economy of Cambodia:

1973  George Lucas begins writing the treatment for The Star Wars.

George Lucas and the Star Wars:

1971 The People’s Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.

History of Bangladesh:

Bangladesh Liberation War:

1970  Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.

1969  Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.

1969  Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.

1964  Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.

1964  Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.

1961  Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.

Bay of Pigs Invasion:

Cuba and the United States:

Fidel Castro:

Cuba or the “Republic of Cuba” (Repúlica de Cuba):

Foreign Relations of Cuba:

Cuba and USSR/Russia:

Cuban Missile Crisis:

History and Culture of Cuba:

Economy of Cuba:

1951  The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.

1949  At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.

Ireland’s Withdrawal from the British Commonwealth of 1949:

History of Ireland:

Irish War of Independence:

1946  Syria obtains its independence from the French occupation.

Independence of Syria:

Modern History of Syria:

1945  World War II: Brazilian forces liberate the town of Montese, Italy, from Nazi forces.

1944  Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People’s Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.

1942  French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.

1941  World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.

History of Yugoslavia:

Yugoslavia during World War II:

AVNOJ, Yugoslavia and World War II:

1937  Daffy Duck‘s first appearance, in Porky’s Duck Hunt.

1912  Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.

1907  The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.

1905  The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

1897  The Aurora, Texas, UFO incident

Aurora, Texas, UFO Incident of 1897:

1895  The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.

1797  Citizens of Verona, Italy, begin an eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces, which will end unsuccessfully.

1797  Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.

 

 

APRIL 18

2013  A suicide bombing in a Baghdad cafe kills 27 people and injures another 65.

2007  A series of bombings, two of them being suicides, occur in Baghdad, killing 198 and injuring 251.

2007  The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5–4 decision.

1996  In Lebanon, at least 106 civilians are killed when the Israel Defense Forces shell the United Nations compound at Quana where more than 800 civilians had taken refuge.

1992  General Abdul Rashid Dostum revolts against President Mohammad Najibullah of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and allies with Ahmad Shah Massoud to capture Kabul.

Afghanistan in 1992:

Afghanistan:

History of Afghanistan:

Economy of Afghanistan:

1988  The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.

1987  US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Maralinga, Australia.

Nuclear Tests in Maralinga:

1983 A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.

1980  The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana as the country’s first President. The Zimbabwean dollar replaces the Rhodesian dollar as the official currency.

History of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe:

Economy of Zimbabwe:

1974  The Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore‘s dry port.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto:

History of Pakistan:

Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh:

Bangladesh Liberation War:

History of Bangladesh (former East Pakistan):

1968  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1961  CONCP is founded in Casablanca as a united front of African movements opposing Portuguese colonial rule.

Morocco:

History of Morocco:

Colonial Rule and Independence of Morocco:

Foreign Relations of Morocco:

Morocco and the United Nations:

Economy of Morocco:

1961  The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a cornerstone of modern international relations, is adopted.

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations:

1958  A United States federal court rules that poet Ezra Pound be released from an insane asylum.

1955  Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference (Bandung Conference).

Bandung Conference of 1955:

1951  France, West Germany and Benelux form European Coal and Steel Community.

European Coal and Steel Community:

1954  Gamal Abdel Nasser seizes power in Egypt.

Gamal Abdel Nasser:

Egypt:

History of (Modern) Egypt:

Foreign Relations of Egypt:

Egypt-Israel Relations:

Economy of Egypt:

1946  The International Court of Justice holds its inaugural meeting in The Hague, Netherlands.

International Court of Justice:

History of International Justice:

1945  Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany.

1943  World War II: Operation Vengeance, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.

Death of Isoroku Yamamoto:

1942  Pierre Laval becomes Prime Minister of Vichy France.

Vichy France and the Holocaust Collaboration:

1942  World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Japan. Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe and Nagoya are bombed.

1936  The first Champions Day is celebrated in Detroit, Michigan.

1930  BBC reported there was no news, then played out with piano music.

1915  French pilot Roland Garros is shot down and glides to a landing on the German side of the lines during World War I.

1912  The Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City.

RMS Titanic:

1909  Joan of Arc is beatified in Rome.

Joan of Arc:

Beatification and Canonization of Joan of Arc:

1906  An earthquake and fire destroy much of San Francisco, California.

1902  The Guatemala earthquake of 7.5 Mw shakes Guatemala with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing between 800–2,000.

1899  The St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.

1897  The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 (a.k.a. First Greco-Turkish War) is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.

Greco-Turkish War of 1897:

History of Modern Greece:

History of the Ottoman Empire:

1880  An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.

1864  Battle of Dybbøl: A Prussian–Austrian army defeats Denmark and gains control of Schleswig. Denmark surrenders the province in the following peace settlement.

1857  “The Spirits’ Book” by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.

The Spirits Book:

Allan Kardc and Spiritism:

1848  American victory at the battle of Cerro Gordo opens the way for invasion of Mexico.

1797  The Battle of Neuwied: French victory against the Austrians.

 

 

APRIL 19

2011  Fidel Castro resigns from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba after 45 years of holding the title.

Fidel Castro:

Cuba or the “Republic of Cuba” (Repúlica de Cuba):

Foreign Relations of Cuba:

Cuba and USSR/Russia:

Cuba and the United States:

History and Culture of Cuba:

Economy of Cuba:

2000  Security guard David Sanes killed in accidental bombing in Vieques, Puerto Rico that resulted in U.S. Navy closing down its bombing range there.

1999  The German Bundestag returns to Berlin.

1997  The 1997 Red River Flood overwhelms the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Fire breaks out and spreads in downtown Grand Forks, but high water levels hamper efforts to reach the fire, leading to the destruction of 11 buildings.

1995  Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, USA, is bombed, killing 168.

1993  South Dakota governor George Mickelson and seven others are killed when a state-owned aircraft crashes in Iowa.

1993  The 51-day FBI siege of the Branch Davidian building outside Waco, Texas, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die.

1989  A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.

1987  The Simpsons premieres as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show.

1987  USSR performs two underground nuclear tests at Perm, Russia.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1987:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

1985  Two hundred ATF and FBI agents lay siege to the compound of the neo-Nazi survivalist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord in Arkansas. The CSA surrenders two days later.

1985  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1985:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1975  India’s first satellite, Aryabhata, is launched.

1973  The Portuguese Socialist Party is founded in the German town of Bad Münstereifel.

1973  USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR.

1971  Charles Manson is sentenced to death (later commuted life imprisonment) for conspiracy to commit the Tate–LaBianca murders.

1971  Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.

1971  Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin “Operation Dewey Canyon III”, a five-day demonstration in Washington, D.C.

Vietnam War in 1971:

Anti-Vietnam War Movements:

Vietnam War Peace Talks/Negotiations:

Viet Nam War and Pertinent Events:

1971  Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president.

Sierra Leone:

History of Sierra Leone:

Economy of Sierra Leone:

1960  Students in South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.

1956  Actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Grace Kelly:

Prince Rainier of Monaco:

1954  The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan recognizes Urdu and Bengali as the national languages of Pakistan.

Pakistan:

Foreign Relations of Pakistan:

United State-Pakistan Relations:

History of Pakistan:

Economy of Pakistan:

1951  General Douglas MacArthur retires from the military.

Douglas MacArthur:

1950  Argentina becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1948  Burma joins the United Nations.

Burma/Myanmar and the United Nations:

Burma/Myanmar:

History of Burma/Myanmar:

Burmese Monarchy and the British Rule:

Foreign Relations of Burma/Myanmar:

Burma/Britain Relations:

Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar:

Some Relevant Issues on the Rohingya People and the British Rule:

Pro-Democracy Uprising, Ethnic Cleansing and Other Pertinent Issues:

Economy of Myanmar:

1943  World War II: In Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, after German troops enter the Warsaw Ghetto to round up the remaining Jews.

1943  Swiss chemist Dr Albert Hofmann deliberately takes LSD for the first time.

1942  World War II: In Poland, the Majdan-Tatarski ghetto is established, situated between the Lublin Ghetto and a Majdanek subcamp.

Lublin Ghetto, the Majdandnek Camp and the Majdan-Tatarski Ghetto:

1928  The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.

1919  Leslie Irvin of the United States makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a new kind of self-contained parachute.

1903  The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Palestine and the Western world.

1897  Léo Taxil exposes his own fabrications concerning Freemasonry

1892  Charles Duryea claims to have driven the first automobile in the United States, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1865  Funeral service for Abraham Lincoln is held in the East Room of the White House.

1855  Visit of Napoleon III to Guildhall, London

1839  The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom and guaranteeing its neutrality.

1810  Venezuela achieves home rule: Vicente Emparán, Governor of the Captaincy General is removed by the people of Caracas and a junta is installed.

1809  An Austrian corps is defeated by the forces of the Duchy of Warsaw in the Battle of Raszyn, part of the struggles of the Fifth Coalition. On the same day the Austrian main army is defeated by a First French Empire Corps led by Louis-Nicolas Davout at the Battle of Teugen-Hausen in Bavaria, part of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory.

1778  John Adams secures the Dutch Republic‘s recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands becomes the first American embassy.

1770  Marie Antoinette marries Louis XVI of France in a proxy wedding.

1770  Captain James Cook, still holding the rank of lieutenant, sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia.

1713  With no living male heirs, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 to ensure that Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would be inherited by his daughter, Maria Theresa (not actually born until 1717).

1677  The French army captures the town of Cambrai held by Spanish troops.

1608  In Ireland O’Doherty’s Rebellion is launched by the Burning of Derry

1539  Charles V and Protestants signs Treaty of Frankfurt.

 

 

APRIL 20

2015  10 people are killed in a bomb attack on a convoy carrying food supplies to a United Nations compound in Garowe in the Somali region of Puntland.

2013  An earthquake of 6.6-magnitude strikes Lushan County, Ya’an, in China’s Sichuan province, killing more than 150 people and injuring thousands.

2012  One hundred twenty-seven people are killed when a plane crashes in a residential area near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad, Pakistan.

2010  The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and beginning an oil spill that would last six months.

2008  Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.

1999  Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and injured 21 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.

1998  German terrorist group the Red Army Faction announces their dissolution after 28 years.

1986  Pianist Vladimir Horowitz performs in his native Russia for the first time in 61 years.

1986  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1985  The ATF raids The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord compound in northern Arkansas.

1984  The Good Friday Massacre, an extremely violent ice hockey playoff game, is played in Montreal, Canada.

1980  Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria as hundreds of Berber political activists are arrested.

1978  Korean Air Lines Flight 902 is shot down by the Soviet Union.

1972  Apollo 16, commanded by John Young, lands on the moon.

1968  English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood speech.

1967  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1967:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1961  Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion of US-backed Cuban exiles against Cuba.

1951  Dan Gavriliu performs the first surgical replacement of a human organ.

1951  US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enewetak.

Enewetak Atoll:

Enewetak Nuclear Test Site:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Nuclear Tests by the United States:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1946  The League of Nations officially dissolves, giving most of its power to the United Nations.

League of Nations and Its History:

1945  Twenty Jewish children used in medical experiments at Neuengamme are killed in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm school.

Children at Neuengamme:

Children and the Holocaust:

Nazi’s Human Experiments:

Comparison: Japanese Military Unit 731’s Human Experiments during WWII:

1945  World War II: Führerbunker: Adolf Hitler makes his last trip to the surface to award Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth.

1945  World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.

1939  Billie Holiday records the first civil rights song “Strange Fruit“.

1939  Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday is celebrated as a national holiday in Nazi Germany.

Adolf Hitler:

History of Nazi Germany:

1926  Western Electric and Warner Bros. announce Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.

1922  The Soviet government creates South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within Georgian SSR.

1918  Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a. The Red Baron, shoots down his 79th and 80th victims, his final victories before his death the following day.

1914  Nineteen men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a Colorado coal-miner’s strike.

Ludlow Massacre:

1902  Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.

1884  Pope Leo XIII publishes the encyclical Humanum genus.

1876  The April Uprising begins. Its suppression shocks European opinion, and Bulgarian independence becomes a condition for ending the Russo-Turkish War.

1871  The Civil Rights Act of 1871 becomes law.

1865  Astronomer Angelo Secchi demonstrates the Secchi disk, which measures water clarity, aboard Pope Pius IX‘s yacht, the L’Immaculata Concezion.

1862  Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment falsifying the theory of spontaneous generation.

1836  US Congress passes an act creating the Wisconsin Territory.

1828  René Caillié becomes the first non-Muslim to enter Timbuktu.

1818  The case of Ashford v Thornton ends, with Abraham Thornton allowed to go free rather than face a retrial for murder, after his demand for trial by battle is upheld.

1810  The Governor of Caracas declares independence from Spain.

1809  Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory.

1800  The Septinsular Republic is established.

1792  France declares war against the “King of Hungary and Bohemia“, the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.

 

 

APRIL 21

2010  The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev; it will be unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.

2004  Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.

1993  The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.

1992  The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. They discovered two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.

1989  Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

1987  The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.

1985  The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.

1976  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1976:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1975  Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

Vietnam War in 1975:

Viet Nam War and Some Pertinent Events:

History of Vietnam:

1970  The Hutt River Province secedes from Australia as the Principality of Hutt River.

1967  Greek military junta of 1967–74: A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d’état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.

1966  Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.

1964  A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.

1963  The Universal House of Justice of the Bahá’í Faith is elected for the first time.

1962  The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II.

1960  Brasília, Brazil’s capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1952  Secretary’s Day (now Administrative Professionals’ Day) is first celebrated.

1945  World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.

1941  Emmanouil Tsouderos becomes the 132nd Prime Minister of Greece.

1934  The “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax).

1925  The Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals is published in Il Mondo, establishing the political and ideological foundations of Italian Fascism.

1918  World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

1914  Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.

1898  Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.

Spanish-American War:

Timeline of the Spanish-American War:

1894  Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

1863  Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, declares his mission as “He whom God shall make manifest“.

1856  Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.

1836  Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1821  Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.

1809  Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.

1806  Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.

1792  Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.

1782  The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.

1615  The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.

1526  The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.

 

 

APRIL 22

2014  More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo‘s Katanga Province.

2013  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.

2013  Six people die in a shooting in Belgorod, Russia.

2008  The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.

2005  Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.

Japan’s War Record and Apology:

Political Apology:

Apologies and Politicians:

A Case Study on Politician’s Apology: Willy Brandt’s Apologetic Gesture at Warsaw:

2004  Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.

2000  The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom.

2000  In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.

1997  The Japanese embassy hostage crisis ends in Lima, Peru.

1997  Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.

1993  Version 1.0 of the Mosaic web browser is released.

1992  In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.

1986  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1983  The German magazine Stern claims that the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.

1977  Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.

Optical Fiber Communication:

History of Optical Fiber:

1972  Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.

Vietnam War in 1972:

Anti-Viet Nam War Movement or Opposition to United States Involvement in the Vietnam War:

Viet Nam War and Some Pertinent Events:

1970  The first Earth Day is celebrated.

Earth Day:

1969  British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.

1966  USSR performs underground nuclear test at Atyrau, Kazakhstan.

USSR Nuclear Weapons Tests in 1966:

Nuclear Test at Atyrau:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

1964  The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair opens for its first season.

1954  Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.

1951  Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.

Battle of Kapyong:

Korean War:

Korean War Timelines:

1948  Arab–Israeli War: Haifa, a major port of Israel, is captured from Arab forces.

Haifa in 1948:

Timeline of the Arab-Israeli War of 1948:

Timeline of Israel-Palestine Conflict:

1945  World War II: Führerbunker: After learning that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide is his only recourse.

1945  World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and 80 escape.

1944  World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.

1944  The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.

1944  Hitler and Mussolini meet at Salzburg.

Hitler and Mussolini:

Adolf Hitler:

History of Nazi Germany:

Benito Mussolini:

Mussolini’s Doctrine:

Timeline – Mussolini:

1930  The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.

1915   The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.

1912   Pravda, the “voice” of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.

1906 The 1906 Summer Olympics, not now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.

1898  Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.

 

 

APRIL 23

2013  At least 28 are dead and more than 70 are injured as violence breaks out in Hawija, Iraq.

2005  First YouTube video uploaded, titled “Me at the zoo“.

1997  Omaria massacre in Algeria: Forty-two villagers are killed.

1993  Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately four weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.

1993  Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.

1990  Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1985  Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.

1978  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1981:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1974  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Sary Shagan, USSR.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1974:

Sary-Shagan Test Site:

Underground Nuclear Tests:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

1971  Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacre approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Bangladesh Liberation War:

History of Bangladesh:

1968  Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.

1968 in the Vietnam War:

Anti-Viet Nam War Movement or Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War:

Viet Nam War and Pertinent Events:

Vietnam War Peace Talks/Negotiations:

Viet Nam War Overview:

1967  Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1) a manned spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov is launched into orbit.

1961  Algiers putsch by French generals.

Algiers Putsch of 1961:

Charles de Gaulle’s Policy on Algeria:

History of Algeria:

Algeria:

Foreign Relations of Algeria:

Algeria and the United Nations:

Economy of Algeria:

1955  The Canadian Labour Congress is formed by the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.

1951  American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.

1949  Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

1946  Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

1945  World War II: Adolf Hitler‘s designated successor Hermann Göring sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich, which causes Hitler to replace him with Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz.

1942  World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.

1941  World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.

Modern History of Greece:

Greek Resistance in World War II:

1940  The Rhythm Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.

1935  The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.

History of Poland:

Poland:

Foreign Relations of Poland:

Poland and Russia:

Economy of Poland:

1932  The 153-year-old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, Netherlands burns down. It is rebuilt and reopens exactly 70 years later.

1920  The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara, Turkey. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces the preparation of a temporary constitution.

Grand National Assembly of Turkey:

Ottoman Empire and World War I:

1918  World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralize the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.

1910  American President Theodore Roosevelt makes his “The Man in the Arena” speech.

Man in the Arena:

1815  The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.

History of the Ottoman Empire:

History of Serbia:

1661  King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1660  Treaty of Oliva is established between Sweden and Poland.

1655  The Siege of Santo Domingo begins during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fails seven days later.

_________________________________________

(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/april_17   to april_23; http://www.onthisday.com/events/april/17   to april/23;   http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/april_17.html.   to april_23.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace”.

Satoshi Ashikaga, having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, prefers a peaceful and prudent life, especially that in communion with nature.  His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, remind him of the invaluableness of peace.  His interest and/or expertise includes international affairs, international law, jurisprudence, economic and business affairs, project/operations or organizational management, geography, history, the environmental/ecological issues, science and technology, visual/audio documentation of nature and culture, and more. Being a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, he is currently compiling This Week in History

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 17 Apr 2017.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

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