TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – APRIL 9
0193 In the Balkans, the distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum.
0715 Constantine ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1483 Edward V (aged 12) succeeds his father Edward IV as king of England. He is never crowned, and disappears presumed murdered, after incarceration in the Tower of London with his younger brother Richard (the “Princes in the Tower”)
1682 Robert La Salle claims lower Mississippi River and all lands that touch it for France.
1731 British Captain Robert Jenkins loses an ear to a band of Spanish brigands, starting a war between Britain and Spain: The War of Jenkins’ Ear.
1860 The world’s first recording of the human voice is created
1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders his rebel forces to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va.
1869 The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada.
1914 The first full-color film, The World, The Flesh and the Devil, was shown in London.
1916 The German army launches its third offensive during the Battle of Verdun.
1940 Germany invades Norway and Denmark.
1959 NASA announced the selection of America’s first astronauts, including Alan Shepard and John Glenn.
1965 “TIME” magazine featured a cover with the entire “Peanuts” comic gang.
1966 The statue of Winston Churchill is dedicated at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.
1967 The first Boeing 737 takes off on its maiden flight
1981 The U.S. Submarine George Washington struck and sunk a small Japanese freighter in the East China Sea. The Nissho Maru’s captain and first mate died.
1984 Nicaragua asked the World Court to declare U.S. support for guerilla raids illegal.
1989 Hundreds of thousands marched past the White House in support of the right to abortion.
1998 The National Prisoner of War Museum opened in Andersonville, GA, at the site of an infamous Civil War camp.
2003 Baghdad falls to U.S. forces, ending the Invasion of Iraq, but resulting in widespread looting. American Marines pulled down Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad after U.S. commanders declared his rule ended.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
