240 BC – The first recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.

1822 – The Florida Territory was created in the United States.

1842 – Ether anesthesia was used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.

1855 – Origins of the American Civil War: “Border Ruffians” from Missouri invaded Kansas and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature.

1867 – Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2-cent/acre ($4.19/km2), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.

1870 – Texas was readmitted to the United States Congress following Reconstruction.

1939 – The Heinkel He 100 fighter set a world airspeed record of 463 mph.

1944 – World War II: Allied bombers conducted their most severe bombing run on Sofia, Bulgaria.

1944 – Out of 795 Lancasters, Halifaxes and Mosquitos sent to attack Nuremberg, 95 bombers did not return, which made it the largest RAF Bomber Command loss of the war.

1965 – Vietnam War: A car bomb exploded in front of the United States Embassy, Saigon, and killed 22 and wounded 183 others.

1967 – The cover picture of Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album was photographed by Michael Cooper.

1972 – Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive began after North Vietnamese forces crossed into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

1979 – Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament (MP), was killed by a car bomb as he exited the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility.

1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; three others were wounded in the same incident.

1984 – World’s most valuable tip – New York police detective Robert Cunningham offered waitress Phyllis Penzo half of $1 lottery ticket. On the following day, they won $6 million.

2017 – SpaceX conducted the world’s first reflight of an orbital class rocket.

---

To report an issue or typo with this article – CLICK HERE