You may wish to write about the following historical events.
Dates are given 3 months in advance to allow you time for research
and writing.
Please be sure to cross-check all information as
part of your research and let us know of any errors.
| In 3 months (April
2012): |
500 years ago
(10
Apr 1512)
|
Birth of King James V of Scotland
|
400 years ago
(11 Apr 1612) |
Death of Edward Wightman, English Baptist
preacher, the last person in England to be burned at the
stake for heresy |
200 years ago
(20 Apr 1812) |
Death of George Clinton, Vice President
of the United States (1805-12), one of the Founding
Fathers of the United States |
200 years ago
(30 Apr 1812) |
Louisiana became the 18th U.S. state |
150 years ago
(16 Apr 1862) |
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln abolished
slavery in the District of Columbia |
100 years ago
(5 Apr 1912) |
Birth of John Le Mesurier, award-winning
British film and television actor, best known as Sergeant
Wilson in the comedy series 'Dad's Army' |
100 years ago
(12 Apr 1912) |
Death of Clara Barton, American teacher,
nurse and humanitarian who founded the American Red Cross |
100 years ago
(15 Apr 1912) |
The British liner 'RMS Titanic' sank
in the Atlantic after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage
to New York. More than 1,500 people were killed |
100 years ago
(15 Apr 1912) |
Birth of Kim Il-sung, communist leader of
North Korea (1948-94) |
100 years ago
(16 Apr 1912) |
American aviator Harriet Quimby became the
first woman to fly a plane across the English Channel |
100 years ago
(20 Apr 1912) |
Two notable U.S. baseball stadiums opened
on this day: Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, and Navin
Field (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit, Michigan (demolished
2008-9) |
100 years ago
(20 Apr 1912) |
Death of Bram Stoker, Irish novelist and
short story writer, best known for his novel 'Dracula' |
100 years ago
(21 Apr 1912) |
Birth of Marcel Camus, award-winning French
film director |
100 years ago
(22 Apr 1912) |
'Pravda', the official newspaper
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was first published.
(Ceased publication 1996) |
90 years ago
(3 Apr 1922) |
Joseph Stalin was elected as the first General
Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
80 years ago
(10 Apr 1932) |
In the German presidential election Paul
von Hindenburg was elected for a second term, defeating Adolf
Hitler. Hindenburg had intended retiring, but was persuaded
to stand as the only person who could defeat Hitler |
75 years ago
(17 Apr 1937) |
Daffy Duck made his debut appearance in
the Warner Brothers' cartoon 'Porky's
Duck Hunt' |
75 years ago
(26 Apr 1937) |
Spanish Civil War: German planes bombed
the Basque town of Guernica |
75 years ago
(28 Apr 1937) |
Birth of Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq
(1979-2003). (Executed 2006) |
70 years ago
(9 Apr 1942) |
World War II: the Bataan Death March. The
Japanese forced 75,000 captured Philippines and American
troops to march for 6 days without food or water to a prisoner
of war camp. Thousands died |
70 years ago
(15 Apr 1942) |
World War II: Britain awarded the George
Cross to the island of Malta in recognition of the bravery
of its people |
60 years ago
(21 Apr 1952) |
Death of Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps,
British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1947-50),
known for his harsh policies which rescued the country from
economic crisis |
60 years ago
(28 Apr 1952) |
World War II: the war between the Allied
Powers and Japan officially ended as the Treaty of Peace
with Japan (also known as the Treaty of San Francisco) went
into effect. The Republic of China signed a separate treaty
with Japan (the Treaty of Taipei) on this day |
60 years ago
(30 Apr 1952) |
The diary of Anne Frank - a Jewish
girl who died during the Holocaust - was published
in English as 'The Diary of a Young Girl' |
50 years ago
(10 Apr 1962) |
Death of Stuart Sutcliffe, British bass
guitarist (The Beatles) |
50 years ago
(21 Apr 1962) |
The Seattle World's Fair (Century
21 Exposition) opened in Seattle, Washington, USA. (The Space
Needle tower was constructed for this fair) |
50 years ago
(26 Apr 1962) |
Ranger 4 became the first U.S. space probe
to land on the Moon, crashing on the far side |
40 years ago
(4 Apr 1972) |
U.S. President Richard Nixon authorised
the bombing of North Vietnam in response to the Easter Offensive,
sparking protests across the USA |
40 years ago
(10 Apr 1972) |
The Biological Weapons Convention was signed
in London, Washington, D.C. and Moscow. It banned the use,
development, manufacture, sale or transfer, and stockpiling
of biological weapons. (Effective from Mar 1975) |
40 years ago
(16 Apr 1972) |
NASA launched Apollo 16 to the Moon. This
was the first manned landing in the lunar highlands, though
the landing was nearly aborted after an engine crisis |
40 years ago
(22 Apr 1972) |
British rowers John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook
became the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean.
(They took 361 days) |
30 years ago
(2 Apr 1982) |
The Falklands War began. Argentina invaded
the Falkland Islands |
30 years ago
(15 Apr 1982) |
Death of Arthur Lowe, award-winning British
actor, best known as Captain Mainwaring in the popular comedy
series 'Dad's Army' |
30 years ago
(17 Apr 1982) |
Queen Elizabeth II signed the Canada Act
into law, severing Canada' last ties with Britain
and making it wholly independent |
30 years ago
(25 Apr 1982) |
Israel withdrew its troops from the Sinai
Peninsula, as agreed under the Camp David Accords of 1978 |
30 years ago
(25 Apr 1982) |
Death of Celia Johnson, British stage, film
and television actress ('Brief Encounter', 'The
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', and many other roles) |
25 years ago
(1 Apr 1987) |
U.S. President Ronald Reagan declared AIDS
'public health enemy No. 1' |
25 years ago
(2 Apr 1987) |
Death of Buddy Rich, American jazz drummer
and bandleader, considered the greatest jazz drummer of all
time |
25 years ago
(3 Apr 1987) |
The late Duchess of Windsor's jewellery
was sold at an auction in Geneva, Switzerland for £31
million ($50m) - six times the expected figure |
25 years ago
(5 Apr 1987) |
Fox Broadcasting Company launched its first
prime-time TV schedule |
25 years ago
(19 Apr 1987) |
'The Simpsons' was first broadcast
as a cartoon short on 'The Tracey Ullman Show' in
the USA |
20 years ago
(2 Apr 1992) |
American Mafia boss John Gotti was convicted
of 13 counts of murder, racketeering and obstruction of justice.
(On 23rd June he was sentenced to life imprisonment) |
20 years ago
(5 Apr 1992) |
Balkan conflict - the Siege of Sarajevo,
Bosnia began. (Ended Feb 1996) |
20 years ago
(5 Apr 1992) |
Death of Sam Walton, American retail executive,
founder of Wal-Mart - the biggest retail sales chain
in the USA |
20 years ago
(6 Apr 1992) |
Death of Isaac Asimov, prolific Russian-born
American writer and biochemist, known for his hugely successful
science fiction stories and popular science books |
20 years ago
(9 Apr 1992) |
Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega
was convicted of drug trafficking, racketeering and money
laundering at a court in Miami, Florida, USA. (Sentenced
to 40 years in prison - later reduced to 30) |
20 years ago
(12 Apr 1992) |
Disneyland Paris (also known as Euro Disney)
opened in France |
20 years ago
(16 Apr 1992) |
The President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah,
was forced to resign as his regime collapsed. (He was briefly
replaced by acting president Abdul Rahim Hatef until 28th
when Islamic rebels seized power) |
20 years ago
(23 Apr 1992) |
The world's largest McDonald's
fast-food restaurant opened in Beijing, China |
20 years ago
(27 Apr 1992) |
Betty Boothroyd became the first woman Speaker
of Britain's House of Commons |
20 years ago
(29 Apr 1992) |
Los Angeles riots, USA. A jury acquitted
four police officers of the (videotaped) beating of African-American
motorist Rodney King, sparking six days of riots in which
53 people were killed |
10 years ago
(1 Apr 2002) |
The Netherlands legalised euthanasia |
10 years ago
(11 Apr 2002) |
American congressman James Traficant was
convicted of bribery, racketeering and corruption |
10 years ago
(15 Apr 2002) |
Death of Damon Knight, American science
fiction writer, editor and critic, founder of the Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) |
10 years ago
(16 Apr 2002) |
Death of Robert Urich, American actor, best
known for his starring roles in the TV series 'Vega$' and 'Spenser:
For Hire' |
10 years ago
(16 Apr 2002) |
Death of Ruth Fertel, American entrepreneur,
founder of Ruth's Chris Steak Houses |
10 years ago
(18 Apr 2002) |
American actor Robert Blake was arrested
for the murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley in May 2001.
(He was acquitted in March 2005 but found liable in a civil
case in November 2005) |
10 years ago
(18 Apr 2002) |
Death of Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer
and adventurer, best known for the 'Kon-Tiki' and 'Ra' expeditions
which were intended to prove that earlier civilisations could
have crossed the oceans |
10 years ago
(25 Apr 2002) |
Death of Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes,
American rapper, singer and songwriter, member of TLC |
10 years ago
(27 Apr 2002) |
Death of Ruth Handler, American businesswoman,
co-founder of the Mattel toy company, creator of the Barbie
doll |
The Date-A-Base Book 2012 gives
details of over 2,250 historic anniversaries (more than
three times as many as
our standard lists
such as the one above), and covers the whole year from January
to December 2012. Just one article sale will pay for your copy
many times over. Click
here for more details and the complete listing for January 2012
