History on April 14, yyyy
Today is Saturday, April 14, the 105th day of 2012. There are 261 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 14, 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 PM ship’s time and began sinking. (The ship went under two hours and 40 minutes later with the loss of 1,514 lives.)
On this date:
In 1775, the first American society for the abolition of slavery was formed in Philadelphia.
In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster’s “American Dictionary of the English Language” was published.
In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth during a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington.
In 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store, The Golden Rule, in Kemmerer, Wyo.
In 1910, President William Howard Taft became the first US chief executive to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game as the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0.
In 1931, King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile, and the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
In 1939, the John Steinbeck novel “The Grapes of Wrath” was first published by Viking Press.
In 1949, the “Wilhelmstrasse Trial” in Nuremberg ended with 19 former Nazi Foreign Office officials sentenced by an American tribunal to prison terms ranging from four to 25 years.
In 1956, Ampex Corp. demonstrated its videotape recorder at the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters Convention in Chicago.
In 1960, the musical “Bye Bye Birdie” opened on Broadway.
In 1981, the first test flight of America’s first operational space shuttle, the Columbia, ended successfully with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
In 1986, Americans got word of a US air raid on Libya (because of the time difference, it was the early morning of April 15 where the attack occurred.) French feminist author Simone de Beauvoir died in Paris at age 78.
Ten years ago:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being ousted and arrested by his country’s military.
Tiger Woods became only the third player to win back-to-back Masters titles; he closed with a 1-under 71 to claim a three-stroke victory over Retief Goosen.
Five years ago:
Riot police beat and detained protesters as thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally in Moscow against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.
A car bomb exploded near one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines in Karbala, Iraq, killing 47 people.
Entertainer Don Ho died in Honolulu, Hawaii, at age 76.
One year ago:
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi rolled defiantly through the streets of Tripoli the same day NATO air strikes shook the city.
North Korean confirmed it was holding an American who was detained in November 2010, reportedly for proselytizing. (Eddie Jun was freed in May 2011.)
ABC canceled two of its longtime soap operas, “One Life to Live” and “All My Children.“
Features • History | WayBackWhen™ •
Congratulations to Hunter Ashley for getting a 2nd place in the Discus throw. He may be a Freshman, but he can definately out throw a lot of sophmores, Juniors and seniors. Way to go Hunter. Practice always pays off. Proud of you.