Today in History

March 27th:
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1980 Mount St Helens



On March 27th a series of pyroclastic flows began and becomes active after 123 years leading to an earthquake struck below the north face of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, triggering the largest landslide in recorded history and a major volcanic eruption that scattered ash across a dozen states.

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens - Wikipedia

 

March 30th:

1856 A unity of Nations:



The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War

Treaty of Paris (1856) - Wikipedia

 

March 30th:
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1867 Alaska Purchase:



US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 ($109 million in 2018), roughly 2 cents an acre
On March 29, 1867, Stoeckl and Seward completed the draft of a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States, and the treaty was signed early the following day.

Alaska Purchase | History, Cost, & Significance | Britannica

Alaska Purchase (Historic Document) - On This Day

 

March 30th:

• 1965 Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others

On March 30, 1965, the Viet Cong detonated a car-bomb outside the embassy.
The attack occurred when a Vietnamese policeman began arguing with the driver of a car parked in front of the embassy but the driver refused to leave and then another Viet Cong member drove up alongside the car and fired on the policeman
Quickly following the brief exchange of fire, the car, which contained 300 pounds of plastic explosives, detonated in front of the embassy killing two Americans, one female CIA employee, Barbara Robbins and another American, as well as 19 Vietnamese and one Filipino serving in the U.S. Navy along with injuring 183 others.
The U.S. Congress appropriated $1 million to reconstruct the embassy in a new location following the attack and although retaliatory raids on North Vietnam were suggested, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson refused.
Following the attack, South Vietnamese Foreign Minister Tran Van Do posthumously decorated Barbara Robbins and the Filipino navy serviceman with the Medal of Honor First Class

 

March 30th:

• 1981 US President Ronald Reagan is shot

...and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, three others are also wounded

Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan - Wikipedia

 

APRIL 1st:

• 1934 Clyde Barrow kills two young highway patrolmen, H. D. Murphy and Edward Bryant Wheeler,

At the intersection of Route 114 near Grapevine, Texas. Bonnie Parker's role in the murders helps turn public perception against the gang for good,
An eyewitness account said that Barrow and Parker fired the fatal shots, and this story received widespread coverage.
Methvin later claimed that he fired the first shot, after mistakenly assuming that Barrow wanted the officers killed.
Barrow joined in, firing at Patrolman Murphy

 

Today in History April 1st

1997 The Great April Fools Day Blizzard

 

APRIL 4th:

1581 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford



Francis Drake - Wikipedia

 

APRIL 4th:
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1958 Cheryl Crane (14), daughter of actress Lana Turner
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.... Stabs to death organized crime figure Johnny Stompanato


.. her mother's boyfriend, in self-defense; crime later ruled a "justifiable homicide"

Johnny Stompanato homicide - Wikipedia

 

APRIL 4th: ***** Martin Luther King Shot Dead

• 1968 US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee

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AP ShortDocs: The Assassination of MLK Jr., 50 Years Later - YouTube

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. - Wikipedia

 

• 1968 (Continued)

Riots break out in over 100 cities in the United States following the assassination of African-American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.
- - - - - - -

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination Sparked Uprisings in Cities Across America | History| Smithsonian Magazine

 

April 7th:

• 1805 Lewis and Clark Expedition leaves Fort Mandan

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(on the Missouri River near what is now Washburn, North Dakota), beginning their journey to the Pacific Ocean

• Explorers and Leaders

. . .
Merriweather Lewis . . .& Clark Expedition William Clark
=
Interpreter and GuideSacagawea

Lewis and Clark Expedition leaves Fort Mandan and heads home (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

 

April 10th:

1912 RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton


.
. . on for her maiden (and final) voyage.
3,537 passengers and crew were on board the ship.

TIMELINE (somerford.dorset.sch.uk)

 

April 10th:

• 1957 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
• 1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1981 France performs nuclear test
• 1986 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

 

April 11th:
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1961 Trial of Adolf Eichmann for war crimes, begins.

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After fleeing to Argentina at the end of the Second World War, he was kidnapped by Israeli agents in 1960 and taken back to Israel to stand trial in Jerusalem
Eichmann trial - Wikipedia

 

April 11th:

• -1968 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs 1968 Civil Rights Act

President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. On this date:

Civil Rights Act of 1968 - Wikipedia

 

Today in History April 15, 1912

 

April 17th:
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1961 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs


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Bay of Pigs Invasion - Wikipedia

 

April 17th:
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1976 Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley wins her second WTA Tour Championship



.... at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; beats Chris Evert 6–3, 5–7, 6–3

1976 US Open – Women's singles - Wikipedia

 

April 17th:
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2011 "Game of Thrones", based on the fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin premieres on HBO
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"The Starks" - of Winterfell

Game of Thrones - Wikipedia