Monday, April 9, 2012

9th of April

It is the 99th day of the year, with only 266 days remaining.

1585 - The expedition organized by Sir Walter Raleigh, departs England for Roanoke Island to establish a colony.

1682 - Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.

1860 - On his phonautograph machine, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice.

1865 - Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia, 26,765 troops to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the American Civil War.

1867 - Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska.

1916 - At the Battle of Verdun, German forces launch their third offensive of the battle.

1937 - The kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London, it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.

1942 - United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula.  The Japanese Navy launches an air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon, Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire, are sunk off the island's east coast.

1947 - The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride, begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws.  The riders wanted enforcement of the 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.

1969 - NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts.

1965 - The Astrodome opens in Houston, Texas.  The first indoor baseball game is also played.

1967 - The first Boeing 737 makes its maiden flight.

1992 - A U.S. Federal Court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel noriega guilty of drug and racketeering charges.  e is sentenced to 30 years in prison.

2003 - Baghdad, Iraq falls to American forces, the Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces. 

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