On this day

1755

1861

1865

1923

1924

1927

1936

1952

1955

1965

1969

1970

1984

1986

1989

1989

2013

– Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.

– President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 Volunteers to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War

– Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth.

– Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.

– Rand McNally publishes its first road atlas.

– The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flood in U.S. history, begins.

– First day of the Arab revolt in Mandatory Palestine.

– The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress

– McDonald’s restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois

– The first Ford Mustang rolls off the show room floor, two days before it is set to go on sale nationwide.

– The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

– During the Cambodian Civil War, massacres of the Vietnamese minority results in 800 bodies flowing down the Mekong River into South Vietnam.

– The inaugural World Youth Day is held in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City.

– The United States launches Operation El Dorado Canyon, its bombing raids against Libyan targets in response to a bombing in West Germany that killed two U.S. servicemen.

– Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.

– Upon Hu Yaobang’s death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People’s Republic of China.

– Two bombs explode near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, killing 3 people and injuring 264 others.

Source: Wikipedia