TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – APRIL 19
1012 Aelfheah was murdered by Danes who had been ravaging the south of England. Aelfhear became the 29th Archbishop of Canterbury in 1005.
1689 Residents of Boston ousted their governor, Edmond Andros.
1764 The English Parliament bans the American colonies from printing paper money.
1770 Captain James Cook 1st sees Australia
1775 American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts. The “Shot Heard Round the World” took place in Concord later that day
1861 President Abraham Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate ports.
1880 The Times war correspondent telephones a report of the Battle of Ahmed Khel, the first time news is sent from a field of battle in this manner.
1892 The Duryea gasoline buggy was introduced in the U.S. by Charles and Frank Duryea.
1897 The first annual Boston Marathon was held. It was the first of its type in the U.S.
1909 Joan of Arc receives beatification by the Roman Catholic Church
1919 Leslie Irvin makes the world’s first free-fall parachute jump
1933 The United States went off the gold standard.
1938 General Francisco Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War.
1939 Connecticut finally approves the Bill of Rights.
1943 The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi rule begins.
1960 Baseball uniforms begin displaying player’s names on their backs
1981 In Davao, Philippines, thirteen people were killed when members of the New People’s Army threw hand grenades into the Roman Catholic cathedral during Easter services.
1982 NASA names Sally Ride to be the first woman astronaut.
1987 Last wild condor captured on California wildlife reserve
1993 The FBI ends a 51-day siege by storming the Branch Davidian religious cult headquarters in Waco, Texas.
1994 Rodney King award $3,800,000 in compensation of police beating
1994 Supreme Court outlaws excluding people from juries because of gender
1995 A truck bomb explodes in front of the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
2002 The USS Cole was relaunched. In Yemen, 17 sailors were killed when the ship was attacked by terrorists on October 12, 2000. The attack was blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.
2005 Germany’s Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI.
2011 Fidel Castro resigns from the Communist Party of Cuba’s central committee after 45 years of holding the title.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
