TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – APRIL 8
217 Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
1513 Ponce de León claimed Florida for Spain.
1525 Albert von Brandenburg, the leader of the Teutonic Order, assumes the title “Duke of Prussia” and passed the first laws of the Protestant church, making Prussia a Protestant state.
1730 1st Jewish congregation in US consecrates synagogue, “Shearith Israel, NYC”
1766 1st fire escape patented, wicker basket on a pulley & chain
1832 Some 300 American troops of the 6th Infantry leave Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, to confront the Sauk Indians in what would become known as the Black Hawk War.
1879 Milk is sold in glass bottles for 1st time
1886 William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
1913 The 17th Amendment is ratified, requiring direct election of senators.
1935 The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was approved by Congress to help alleviate joblessness during the Great Depression.
1943 U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases to common carriers and public utilities.
1946 The League of Nations assembled for the last time.
1952 President Truman orders the seizure of U.S. steel mills to prevent a strike.
1953 The bones of Sitting Bull were moved from North Dakota to South Dakota.
1959 One of the first modern programming languages is created. The Common Business-Oriented Language or COBOL was primarily designed by a woman, Grace Hopper.
1962 Bay of Pigs invaders get thirty years imprisonment in Cuba.
1968 Gangsters Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke commit the Air France robbery, stealing $420,000
1977 The Clash release their debut album of the same name
1983 In front of a live audience of 20 tourists, David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear
1987 Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigned over remarks he had made. While on ABC’s “Nightline” Campanis said that blacks “may not have some of the necessities” to hold managerial jobs in major-league baseball.
1988 Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, 52, was defrocked by the Assemblies of God following the disclosure of his involvement with a prostitute. (Swaggart was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but had returned after only three months.)
1988 Former U.S. President Reagan aid Lyn Nofzinger was sentenced to prison for illegal lobbying for Wedtech Corp.
1994 Smoking banned in Pentagon & all US military bases
2004 Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups
2006 Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
