TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – APRIL 21
753 BC Today is the traditional date of the foundation of Rome.
43 BC Marcus Antonius was defeated by Octavian near Modena, Italy.
1509 Henry VIII is crowned King of England
1649 The Maryland Toleration Act is passed, allowing all people freedom of worship.
1689 William III and Mary II are crowned joint king and queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1785 Russian tsarina Catharina II ends noble privileges
1792 Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro
1794 NYC formally declares coast of Ellis Island publically owned, so they can build forts to protect NYC from British
1836 General Sam Houston defeats Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Texas wins independence from Mexico.
1895 Woodville Latham and his sons demonstrated their Panopticon. It was the first movie projector developed in the United States.
1898 Spanish-American War begins
1916 Bill Carlisle, the infamous ‘last train robber,’ robs a train in Hanna, Wyoming
1918 German fighter ace Baron von Richthofen, “The Red Baron,” is shot down and killed.
1934 The Surgeon’s photo, allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail
1967 Svetlana Alliluyeva (Svetlana Stalina) defected in New York City. She was the daughter of Joseph Stalin.
1980 Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. She was later disqualified for cheating.
1981 US furnish $1 billion in arms to Saudi-Arabia
1986 Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone’s vault on TV & finds nothing
1989 Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom
1992 The first exoplanets are discovered
1994 Jackie Parker became the first woman to qualify to fly an F-16 combat plane.
1995 Federal authorities arrest Timothy McVeigh in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing.
1997 The ashes of Timothy Leary, Gene Roddenberry, and 22 others blasted into space for the first space funerals.
2000 The 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act went into effect.
2003 North and South Korea agreed to hold Cabinet-level talks the following week.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
