Today in history
1500 - Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral is the first European to discover Brazil.
1509 - Henry VIII becomes king of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.
1821 - Greek Patriarch of Constantinople is slain by Turks as reprisal for Greek massacre of Turks in the Peloponnese.
1864 - Congress authorises the use of the phrase ‘‘In God We Trust’’ on United States coins.
1915 - In first reported use of gas in a conflict, German army releases a cloud of chlorine that causes havoc among French troops at Ypres, Belgium.
1931 - Egypt and Iraq sign treaty of friendship – the first pact between Egypt and another Arab state.
1936 - Alliance between Ratana Church and Labour is cemented at a meeting between Wiremu Ra¯tana and Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage
1945 - Allied forces take Bologna in Italy during World War II.
1956 - China appoints Dalai Lama chairman of committee to prepare Tibet for regional autonomy within Chinese People’s Republic.
1990 - Pro-iranian kidnappers in Lebanon free American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.
1991 - A strong earthquake hits Costa Rica, causing extensive damage throughout that country and in western Panama.
1992 - Gasoline leaked from a nearby refinery explodes in the sewer system of Guadalajara, Mexico, ripping open streets and killing 194 people.
1995 - Hutu refugees flee the refugee camp at Kibeho, Zaire, after thousands are gunned down by soldiers or trampled to death in stampedes.
1997 - Peruvian troops storm the Japanese ambassador’s mansion in Lima, Peru, and rescue 72 hostages held for four months, but one dies on the way to the hospital. All 14 Tupac Amaru rebels and two soldiers die in the shootout.
1999 - Nato destroys Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s home in Belgrade with bombs, claiming it is part of his military machine.
2006 - Hundreds are injured in Katmandu when Nepali security open fire on tens of thousands of protesters marching toward the royal palace.
2013 - A seriously wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged in his hospital room with bombing the Boston Marathon. Today’s Birthdays Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (1724-1804); Vladimir Lenin, Russian statesman (1870-1924); Alan Bond, Australian entrepreneur and America’s Cup sponsor (1938-2015); Jack Nicholson, US actor (1937-).