April 15Birthdays
1452 Leonardo da Vinci, Italy, painter/sculptor/scientist/visionary
1469 Nanak, 1st guru of Sikhs
1684 Catherine I, empress of Russia, 1725-27
1800 James Clark Ross, explorer, British Antarctic
1845 Dave Gregory, cricketer, Australia's 1st Test captain
1858 Emile Durkheim, French sociologist
1901 Joe Davis, English snooker/billiards-world champ, 1927-46
1912 Kim II Sung, President of North Korea, 1945-94 (
see below.... )
1915 Ernest Borneman, sexual researcher psychotherapist writer/musicologist
1929 Adrian Cadbury, candy manufacturer, Cadbury, Schweppes
1933 Elizabeth Montgomery, born in Los Angeles, California, actress, Samantha/Serena-Bewitched
1936 Jack Noreiga, cricketer, 9-95 WI vs. India 1971
1940 Jeffrey Archer
1942 Kim Il Jong, son of North Korean President Kim Il Sung, 1972-94 (
see above..... )
1958 John Bracewell, NZ cricketer
1959 Emma Thompson, born in England, actress, Henry V, Howards End, Oscar-1992
1960 Philip, Belgian prince/husband of princess Paola
1963 Manoj Prabhakar, cricketer, Indian opening batsman and opening bowler
1966 Samantha Fox, English Model
Events (Slightly off topic, but anyway....)
2002 Air China flight 129 crashes into a mountain near Pusan, South Korea killing 128
1997 Baseball honors Jackie Robinson by
retiring #42 for all teams 
1997 Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Charlotte North Carolina on WXRC 95.7 FM
1994 More than 120 countries around the world finally sign the new GATT World Trade Treaty after negotiations which lasted for seven years.
1991 Europe foreign ministers lift most remaining sanctions against South Africa
1989 Britain's worst football disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield when 95 football fans are crushed to death shortly after the start of the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Most of those killed are from Liverpool.
1989 Students in Beijing pro-democracy protests
1988 Meteorite exploded above Indonesia
1986 U.S. air raids Libya, responding to La Belle disco, Berlin bombing
1986 Viv Richards century off 56 balls vs. England in Antigua Test Cricket
1983 Tokyo Disneyland opens
1969 North Korea shoots at U.S. airplane above Japanese sea
(and did it again in the 80s off the island of Sakhalin! )
1964 Manchester United footballer George Best makes his debut for Northern Ireland against Wales.
1959 Fidel Castro begins U.S. goodwill tour
1959 In London, the Cambridge University boat sinks during the running of the annual University Boat Race on the River Thames.
1955 The first McDonald's hamburger store opens in California. Founder is a food mixer salesman called Ray Kroc.
1952 1st B-52 prototype test flight
1949 The offical end of the Nuremburg War Trials in Germany.
1945 British and Canadian troops liberate Nazi camp of Bergen-Belsen
1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt buried on grounds of Hyde Park home
1945 U.S. troops occupy concentration camp Colditz
1942 George VI awards George Cross to people of Malta
1941 1st helicopter flight of 1 hr duration, Stratford, Connecticut
1931 1st walk across American backwards begins
1925 Author James Barrie donates his copyright fee for the story of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London.
1923 1st sound on film public performance shown at Rialto Theater (New York City)
1923 Insulin becomes generally available for diabetics
1922 Banting, MacLeod and Best discover insulin
1912 Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as band plays on
1901 1st British motorized burial
1900 International Exposition opens in Paris
1900 An early 50 mile race is won by an electric car in over 2 hrs
1896 1st Olympic games close at Athens, Greece
1892 General Electric Company, forms and is incorporated in New York
1891 In New York, American inventor Thomas Edison publicly demonstrates his 'kinetoscope' - a moving picture machine.
1865 President Lincoln shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater
1850 City of San Francisco incorporated
1800 James Ross discovers North Magnetic pole
1784 1st balloon flight in Ireland
1755 In England, Dr Samuel Johnson's dictionary is first published. It contains explanations and meanings for 40,000 different words.
1738 Bottle opener invented1689 French king Louis XIV declares war on Spain
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:39 pm
