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Today April 8th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
1271 – In Syria, sultan Baybars conquers the Krak of Chevaliers.
1513 – Explorer Juan Ponce de León declares Florida a territory of Spain.
1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
1767 – Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese invaders.
1808 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore was promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
1832 – Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield – Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against Austria-Hungary.
1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
1893 – The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
1895 – The Supreme Court of the United States declares income tax to be unconstitutional in Pollock v. Farmers Loan & Trust Co.
1899 – Martha Place becomes the first woman to be executed in an electric chair.
1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of the Book of the Law.
1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
1916 – In Corona, California, racecar driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three and badly injuring five spectators.
1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City s financial district.
1929 – Indian Independence Movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
1940 – World War II: Great Britain and France announce that they have mined Norwegian territorial waters to prevent their use by German supply ships.
1942 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad – Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases to common carriers and public utilities.
1946 – The last meeting of the League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations, is held.
1950 – India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat-Nehru Pact.
1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by Kenya s British rulers.
1957 – The Suez Canal in Egypt is reopened.
1960 – The U.S. Senate approves the Civil Rights Act of 1960 despite Southern senators marathon filibuster effort.
1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after take off. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
1973 – Thirty-two terrorist bombings in Cyprus take place.
1974 – Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth s record of 714.
1975 – Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball s first African American manager.
1985 – Bhopal disaster: India files suit against Union Carbide for the disaster which killed an estimated 2,000 and injured another 200,000.
1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially-charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
1989 – South Africa: The Democratic Party is formed from the merger of four parties.
1989 – The two Greek Communist parties, along with smaller left-wing parties, merge to form the Coalition of the Left and Progress in Greece.
1990 – New Democracy wins the national election in Greece.
1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
1999 – Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
2000 – Nineteen Marines are killed when an V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona.
2004 – Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
2004 – U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the 9/11 Commission.
2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
2008 – The construction of the world s first building to integrate wind turbines completes, in Bahrain.
Births
1320 – King Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (d. 1604)
1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician (d. 1593)
1605 – King Philip IV of Spain, (d. 1665)
1641 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (d. 1704)
1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (d. 1770)
1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer, inventor, and mathematician (d. 1796)
1818 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (d. 1892)
1818 – King Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (d. 1890)
1827 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican politician, medical doctor and diplomat (d. 1898)
1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer (d. 1933)
1859 – Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (d. 1938)
1865 – Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist (d. 1940)
1869 – Harvey Cushing, American neuorosurgeon (d. 1939)
1871 – Clarence Hudson White American photographer (d. 1925)
1874 – Stanislaw Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
1875 – King Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
1883 – R. P. Keigwin, English academic (d. 1972)
1888 – Dennis Chavez, American politician (d. 1964)
1889 – Sir Adrian Boult, British conductor (d. 1983)
1892 – Richard Neutra, American architect (d. 1970)
1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian actress (d. 1979)
1896 – Yip Harburg, American lyricist (d. 1981)
1904 – John Hicks, British economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1989)
1904 – Hirsch Jacobs, American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner (d. 1970)
1905 – Helen Joseph, South African anti-apartheid activist (d. 1992)
1905 – Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
1906 – Raoul Jobin, French Canadian tenor (d. 1974)
1908 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentine film director (d. 1987)
1910 – George Musso, American football player (d. 2000)
1911 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
1911 – Emil Cioran, Romanian philosopher and essayist (d. 1995)
1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian Nazi
1912 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
1914 – María Félix, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
1918 – Betty Ford, First Lady of the United States
1918 – Glendon Swarthout, American author (d. 1992)
1919 – Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
1920 – Carmen McRae, American jazz singer (d. 1994)
1921 – Alfie Bass, English actor (d. 1987)
1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (d. 2003)
1921 – Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
1923 – George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
1923 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (d. 1997)
1924 – Frédéric Back, German-born Canadian short film director and screenwriter
1924 – Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English soldier and historian (d. 2006)
1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect
1926 – Shecky Greene, American comedian
1926 – Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian
1928 – Leah Rabin, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (d. 2000)
1928 – Monty Sunshine, English jazz clarinetist
1929 – Walter Berry, Austrian bass-baritone (d. 2000)
1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer/composer (d. 1978)
1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian (d. 1996)
1930 – Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma
1931 – John Gavin, American actor and politician
1933 – Fred Ebb, American composer (d. 2004)
1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (d. 2007)
1935 – Albert Bustamante, American politician
1937 – Seymour Hersh, American journalist
1938 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian United Nations Secretary General
1940 – John Havlicek, American basketball player
1941 – Darlene Gillespie, Canadian-born American actress
1941 – Peggy Lennon, American singer (The Lennon Sisters)
1941 – Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer
1942 – Roger Chapman, British rock singer (Family, Streetwalkers)
1942 – Douglas Trumbull, American film director
1943 – Tony Banks, British politician (d. 2006)
1943 – Michael Bennett, American dancer/choreographer (d. 1987)
1943 – Miller Farr, American football player
1944 – Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor
1944 – Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
1945 – Derrick Walker, British racing team owner
1946 – Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
1946 – Stuart Pankin, American actor
1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor
1947 – Tom DeLay, American politician
1947 – Steve Howe, English guitarist (Yes, Asia, GTR)
1947 – Robert Kiyosaki, American investor
1947 – Larry Norman, American singer/songwriter
1947 – Pascal Lamy, Director-General of WTO
1948 – Michael Leshner, Canadian lawyer and gay rights advocate
1949 – John Madden, English film director
1949 – Brenda Russell, American singer/songwriter
1950 – Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer
1954 – G.V. Loganathan, American professor (d. 2007)
1954 – Gary Carter, American baseball player
1955 – Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
1955 – Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist
1955 – David Wu, Taiwanese-born American politician
1956 – Christine Boisson, French actress
1956 – Jim Piddock, English actor, writer and producer
1957 – Fred Smerlas, American football player
1960 – John Schneider, American actor
1961 – Richard Hatch, American reality television personality
1962 – Izzy Stradlin, American musician (Guns N Roses)
1963 – Julian Lennon, English musician and singer
1963 – Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
1963 – Alec Stewart, English cricketer
1963 – Seth Tobias, American financial commentator (d. 2007)
1964 – Lisa Guerrero, American sports broadcaster
1964 – Biz Markie, American rapper/disc jockey
1964 – John McGinlay, Scottish footballer
1965 – Michael Niko Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1966 – Mark Blundell, British racing driver
1966 – Mazinho, Brazilian footballer
1966 – Bobby Ologun, Nigerian television personality
1966 – Robin Wright Penn, American actress
1967 – Arwyn Davies, Welsh actor
1968 – Patricia Arquette, American actress
1968 – Patricia Girard-Léno, French athlete (100 m hurdles)
1968 – Tracy Grammer, American folk singer
1972 – Paul Gray, American bassist (Slipknot)
1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
1973 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
1973 – Alex S. Gonzalez, American baseball player
1974 – Chino XL, American rapper
1974 – Holger Hott Johansen, Norwegian orienteerist
1974 – Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian American writer
1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
1975 – Timo Pérez, Dominican baseball player
1977 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (d. 2008)
1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer
1978 – Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
1978 – Bernt Haas, Swiss footballer
1979 – Jeremy Guthrie, American baseball player
1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish guitarist and singer (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Kylähullut)
1980 – Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
1980 – Katee Sackhoff, American actress
1981 – Brian Burres, American baseball player
1981 – Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
1982 – Judy Star, Canadian porn star
1983 – Allu Arjun, Indian film actor
1983 – Adrian Bellani, American actor
1984 – Júlia Liptáková, Slovakian model
1984 – Taran Noah Smith, American actor
1984 – Kirsten Storms, American actress
1986 – Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
1986 – Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
1986 – Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress, model and singer
1987 – Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
1989 – Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer
1992 – Shelby Young, American actress
Deaths
217 – Caracalla, Roman Emperor (b. 186)
956 – Gilbert of Chalon, Duke of Burgundy
1143 – John II Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1087)
1364 – King John II of France (b. 1319)
1461 – Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
1586 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer and theologian (b. 1522)
1587 – John Foxe, English writer (b. 1516)
1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1611)
1697 – Niels Juel, Danish admiral (b. 1629)
1704 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist (b. 1624)
1704 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (b. 1641)
1725 – John Wise, English clergyman (b. 1652)
1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg (b. 1676)
1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
1857 – Mangal Pandey, Indian soldier (b. 1827)
1861 – Elisha Otis, American elevator builder (b. 1811)
1870 – Charles de Bériot, Belgian composer (b. 1802)
1906 – Auguste D, First recorded Alzheimer s victim (b. 1850)
1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist (b. 1848)
1920 – Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
1936 – Robert Bárány, Austrian physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1876)
1942 – Kostas Skarvelis, Greek songwriter (b. 1880)
1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish-born ballet dancer (b. 1890)
1958 – Ethel Turner, Australian author (b. 1872)
1965 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
1973 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist and sculptor (b. 1881)
1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Catholic archbishop of Toronto (b. 1894)
1978 – Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (b. 1894)
1981 – Omar Bradley, U.S. general (b. 1893)
1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1894)
1985 – J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (b. 1897)
1986 – Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer (b. 1967)
1990 – Ryan White, American AIDS activist (b. 1971)
1991 – Dead (musician), Swedish metal singer (b. 1969)
1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1907)
1993 – Marian Anderson, American contralto (b. 1897)
1994 – François Rozet, French Canadian actor (b. 1899)
1996 – George W. Jenkins, American businessman (b. 1907)
1996 – Ben Johnson, American actor (b. 1918)
1996 – León Klimovsky, Argentine film director (b. 1906)
1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer and composer (b. 1947)
2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
2002 – María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
2004 – Enda Colleran, Gaelic footballer (b. 1941)
2005 – Eddie Miksis, American baseball player (b. 1926)
2005 – Onna White, Canadian choreographer (b. 1924)
2006 – Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (b. 1923)
2007 – Carey W. Barber, American clergyman (b. 1905)
2007 – Sol LeWitt, American artist (b. 1928)
2008 – Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (b. 1928)
2008 – John Button, Australian politician (b. 1933)
2008 – Stanley Kamel, American actor (b. 1943)
Holidays and observances
Buddha s Birthday in Japan
Saint Walter of Pontoise (d. 1099)
Saint Constance
Saint Julie Billiart of Namur (d. 1816).
International Day of the Roma
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