This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
2016 Afghanistan earthquake, of 6.6 magnitude, 39 km west-southwest of Ashkasham, shakes up India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Srinagar and Pakistan.
The Paravur temple accident in which a devastating fire caused by the explosion of firecrackers stored for Vishu, kills more than one hundred people out of the thousands gathered for seventh day of Bhadrakali worship.
Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and dozens of other senior officials and dignitaries.
President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces the abrogation of the constitution and assumes all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.
The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 crashes in a snowstorm on approach to Basel, Switzerland killing 108 people.
Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
129 American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp.
World War II: The Axis powers establish the Independent State of Croatia.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner's Sons.
Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the third and final chapter of The Book of the Law.
On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of the Catholic University of America.
At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Missolonghi begin leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth's climate for the next two years.
Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia gains control of Silesia at the Battle of Mollwitz.
The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, comes into force in Great Britain.
The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
Ludovico Sforza is captured by Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama visits the Ming dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma".
Louis III and Carloman II become Kings of the Western Franks.
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
English