TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018

On this day in history: 0715 - Constantine ended his reign as Catholic Pope. 1770 - Captain James Cook arrived in Botany Bay. 1838 - The National Galley opened in London.

1865 - Ruthless bushranger, “Mad” Dan Morgan, is shot dead.

1900 - British forces routed the Boers at Kroonstadt, South Africa.

1903 - Australian navy ship HMQS Gayundah, previously involved in a mutiny on the Brisbane River, transmits the first wireless message received from a ship at sea to an Australian wireless station.

1916 - The German army launched it’s third offensive during the Battle of Verdun. 1917 - The Battle of Arras began as Canadian troops began a massive assault on Vimy Ridge.

1918 - Latvia proclaimed its independence.

1921 - The Russo-Polish conflict ended with signing of Riga Treaty.

1940 - Germany invaded Norway and Denmark. 1945 - At Bari, Italy, the Liberty exploded and killed 360 people. The ship was carrying aerial bombs. 1947 - The Ghost of Point Hicks legend is spawned when a newspaper reports on the mysterious disappearance of a lighthouse keeper from Cape Everard, Victoria. 1957 - The Suez Canal was cleared for all shipping. 1963 - Winston Churchill became the first honorary US citizen.

1967 - The first Boeing 737 was rolled out for use. 1968 - Murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was buried.

1991 - Georgia voted to secede from the USSR. 1998 - More than 150 Muslims died in stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on last day of the haj pilgrimage. 1999 - In Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh of the ruling Popular Rally for Progress and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy was elected president.

1999 - In Niger, President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was assassinated. Daouda Malam Wanke was designated president two days later.