HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Thursday, April 6, the 96th day of 2017. There are 269 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit. 1968 – In Richmond, Indiana’s downtown district, a double
explosion kills 41 and injures 150. 1968 – Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Leadership Election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon after. 1972 – Vietnam War: Easter Offensive: American forces begin
sustained air strikes and naval bombardments. 1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft. 1974 – The Swedish pop band ABBA wins the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo”, launching their international career. 1979 – Student protests break out in Nepal. 1984 – Members of Cameroon’s Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya. 1994 – The Rwandan Genocide begins when the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira is shot down. 1998 – Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of
reaching India. 1998 – Travelers Group announces an agreement to undertake the $76 billion merger between Travelers and Citicorp, and the merger is completed on October 8, of that year, forming Citibank. 2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment. 2005 – Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day. 2008 – The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists. 2009 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L’Aquila,
Italy, killing 307. 2010 – Maoist rebels kill 76 CRPF officers in Dantewada
district, India. 2011 – In San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, over 193 bodies were exhumed from several mass graves made by Los Zetas. 2012 – Azawad declares itself independent from the Republic
of Mali.