On April 6th...

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1199 King Richard I of England died.

1320 The Scots reaffirmed their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

1385 John, Master of the Order of Aviz, was made King John I of Portugal.

1483 Painter Raphael was born.

1520 Painter Raphael died.

1522 Explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives on a South Pacific island.

1528 Engraver Albrecht Dürer died.

1652 Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company under John of Riebeeck.

1722 Tsar Peter the Great of Russia ended a tax on men with beards.

1782 King Raksin of Siam was overthrown in a coup d'état.

1789 The first session of the first U. S. Congress began in New York City, New York.

1808 John Jacob Astor incorporated the American Fur Company.

1830 Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church at Fayette, New York.

1841 The cornerstone for the Mormon temple at Nauvo, Indiana, was laid.

1846 Slave Dred Scott filed suit in a Missouri court asking to be declared free.

1860 Joseph Smith III created the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

1862 The Battle of Shiloh (Tennessee) was fought.

1866 The Grand Army of the Republic was formed.

1869 John Wesley Hyatt patented Celluloid.

1877 Jamie Anderson won the British Golf Open.

1886 The City of Vancouver, British Columbia, was incorporated.

1889 George Eastman began selling flexible rolled film.

1890 Airplane builder Anthony Fokker was born.

1892 Journalist Lowell Thomas was born.

1893 The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah, was dedicated.

1896 The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece.

1903 Dutch railroad and dock workers went on strike.

1906 The first animated cartoon was copyrighted.

1909 A small party of Arctic explorers led by Robert E. Peary became the first men to reach the North Pole.
1909 The first credit union in the United States opened.

1914 The American Radio Relay League was founded.

1917 The United States declared war on Germany.

1919 Bavaria proclaimed itself a Soviet republic.

1925 A British Air flight became the first to offer an in-flight movie.

1926 Varney Airlines pilot Leon Cuddleback made the first contract airmail flight from Pasco, Washington, to Elko, Nevada, in a Swallow Mail Plane.
1926 The Montreal Maroons defeated the Victoria Cougars, 3 games to 1, for the Stanley Cup.

1929 Pianist André Previn was born.

1930 Bakery executive Joseph Dewar invented the Hostess Twinkie.
1930 The first transcontinental glider tow was completed.

1931 "Little Orphan Annie" debuted on NBC-Radio.

1936 A tornado killed 203 persons in Gainesville, Georgia.
1936 Horton Smith won the Masters Golf Tournament.

1937 Country Merle Haggard was born.
1937 Actor Billy Dee Williams was born.

1938 Roy J. Plunkett invented Teflon.

1941 Italian forces holding Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, surrendered to British and Ethiopian forces.
1941 Craig Wood won the Masters Golf Tournament.
1941 Musician Zamfir was born.

1942 Film director Barry Levinson was born.

1943 British and U. S. armies linked up in North Africa.

1947 Jimmy Demaret won the Masters Golf Tournament.
1947 Actor John Ratzenberger was born.

1952 Sam Snead won the Masters Golf Tournament.
1952 Actress Marilu Henner was born.

1954 The first "TV dinners" were put on sale by Swanson & Sons.

1958 A Capitol Airlines Viscount airplane crashed while attempting to land at Tri-City Airport near Midland, Michigan, killing all 44 persons aboard.
1958 Arnold Palmer won the Masters Golf Tournament.

1960 Fifty-seven persons died when a motor launch capsized in a storm in the Persian Gulf.

1961 A gunpowder and ammunition store exploded in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 23 persons.

1964 A bus plunged into the Alucura River near Sebinkarahisar, Turkey, killing 35 persons.

1965 Early Bird (Intelsat I) was placed in geostationary orbit over the Atlantic Ocean, making it the world's first commercial communications satellite.

1967 Trans World Airlines retired its last propellor-driven airliner, making it the first major U.S. airline to have an all-jet fleet.

1968 Hemisfair '68 opened in San Antonio, Texas.

1969 A Chinese freighter collided with an oil barge on the Mississippi River at New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 25 crewmen.

1971 Composer Igor Stravinsky died.

1973 Pioneer 11 was launched on a mission to Jupiter and Saturn.

1977 The Kingdome, in Seattle, Washington, opened with a 7-0 loss by the Seattle Mariners to the California Angels.

1980 Post It Notes were introduced.

1981 Yugoslavia sent troops to Kosovo.

1984 Eleven people were in space at the same time.
1984 Members of Cameroon's Republican unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the government of Paul Biya.

1985 Sudan suspended its constitution.

1989 Orel Hershiser ended his record 59 consecutive innings scoreless streak.

1992 The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Cleveland Indians 2-0 in the first game atCamden Field.
1992 Duke defeated Michigan 71-51 for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
1992 Author Isaac Asimov died.

1994 An airplane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down.

1996 Actress Greer Garson died.

1998 Singer Wendy Williams died.
1998 Country singer Tammy Wynette died.

2000 Habib Bourguiba, the first President of Tunisia, died.

2004 Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas was removed from office by impeachment.
2004 Connecticut defeated Tennessee 70-61 for the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.

2005 Prince Rainier of Monaco died.

2009 A magnitude 6.3 earthquake near L'Aquila, Italy, killed at least 253 people.
2009 North Carolina defeated Michigan State 89-72 for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

2010 Connecticut defeated Stanford 53-47 for the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.

2012 Painter Thomas Kinkade died.

2013 A suicide bombing at an election campaign tent in Baquba, Iraq, killed 22 persons and injured 60.

2015 Duke defeated Wisconsin 68-63 for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

2016 Singer Merle Haggard died.

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This page was last updated on April 05, 2018.