Welcome to Today In History for Friday, April 26, 2024.

On this day in history ..

• 0757 - Paolo Orsini replaces his brother Pope Stephen II, as Paul I
• 1220 - German king Frederick II grants bishops sovereign rights
• 1478 - 1st Easter
• 1478 - Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo & kill Giuliano de'Medici
• 1514 - Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn
• 1532 - Sultan Suleiman through Hungary on away to Vienna
• 1564 - William Shakespeare baptized
• 1607 - 1st British to establish an American colony land at Cape Henry, Va
• 1654 - Jews are expelled from Brazil
• 1655 - Dutch West Indies Co denies Peter Stuyvesant's desire to exclude Jews from New Amsterdam
• 1677 - Emperor Leopold I forms University of Innsbruck
• 1709 - Frisian viceroy Johan Willem Friso marries countess Maria Louisa
• 1721 - Smallpox vaccination 1st administrated
• 1755 - 1st Russian university opens (Moscow)
• 1777 - Sybil Ludington, 16, rode from NY to Ct rallying her fathers militia
• 1803 - Meteorites fall in L'Aigle, France
• 1814 - King Louis XVIII lands on Calais, from England
• 1819 - Odd Fellows Lodge forms
• 1828 - Russia declares war on Turkey to support Greece's independence
• 1835 - Fr‚d‚ric Chopins "Grand Polonaise Brillante," premieres in Paris
• 1841 - "Bombay Gazette" begins publishing on silk
• 1853 - Dutch King William III disbands 2nd Chamber
• 1855 - Composer Gioacchino Rossini leaves Italy
• 1865 - Battle of Durham Station, NC (Greensboro)
• 1865 - Battle of Ft Tobacco, VA
• 1865 - Confederate Gen J E Johnston surrenders Army of Tenn, at Durham NC
• 1887 - Huntsville Electric Co forms to sell electricity
• 1890 - Henry Morton Stanley inaugurated in London
• 1893 - 1st Cleveland Board of Park Commissioners forms
• 1900 - AL opener in Cleve draws 6,500
• 1904 - Bell Telephone Company of Antwerp Belgium forms
• 1905 - Cubs Jack McCarthy becomes only major league player to throw out 3 runners at plate in 1 game, all were ends of a double play
• 1906 - 1st motion pictures shown in Hawaii
• 1907 - Jamestown, Va Tercentenary Exposition opens
• 1912 - 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)
• 1913 - Panama-Pacific International Exposition opens in SF
• 1913 - Sun Yet San calls for revolt against pres Yuan Shikai in China
• 1915 - Italy secretly signes Pact of London with Britain, France & Russia
• 1920 - H Shapley & H D Curtis hold "great debate" on nature of nebulae
• 1923 - English prince Albert (George VI) marries lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
• 1925 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Edna Ferber for "So big"
• 1926 - Germany & Russia sign neutrality/peace treaty
• 1926 - Karachai Autonomous Region forms in RSFSR (until 1943)
• 1928 - Madame Tussaud's waxwork exhibition opens in London
• 1929 - 1st non-stop England to India flight lands
• 1931 - Lou Gehrig hits a HR but is called out for passing a runner, mistake costs him AL home run crown; he & Babe Ruth tie for season
• 1932 - Jean Anouilh's "L'Ermine," premieres in Paris
• 1933 - Jewish students are barred from school in Germany
• 1935 - Frank Boucher is given NHL's Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship permanently for winning it 7 of 11 years
• 1936 - Dmitri Shostakovitch completes his 4th Symphony
• 1937 - German Luftwaffe destroys Basque town of Guernica in Spain
• 1938 - Austrian Jews required to register property above 5,000 Reichsmarks
• 1941 - A tradition begins, 1st organ at a baseball stadium (Chicago Cubs)
• 1941 - Potatoes rationed in Holland
• 1942 - Coal mine explosion kills 1,549 at Honkeiko Manchuria
• 1942 - Luftwaffe bombs Bath
• 1944 - 1st B-29 attacked by Japanese fighters, one fighter shot down
• 1944 - Papandreou govt in Greece forms
• 1945 - Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, leader of France's Vichy collaborationist regime during WW II, arrested for treason
• 1947 - "Bless the Bride" musical opens in London
• 1950 - Last horse race at Havre de Grace Track in Md, is run
• 1950 - U of Miami ends William & Mary straight tennis match victories at 82
• 1951 - Queen Juliana opens Brielsche Mausoleum
• 1952 - Patty Berg scores 64, best competitive round of golf by a woman
• 1952 - US minesweeper "Hobson" rams aircraft carrier "Wasp," kills 176
• 1954 - Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva
• 1954 - Nationwide test of Salk anti-polio vaccine begins
• 1957 - Jamestown, Va 350th Anniversary Festival opens
• 1959 - Cuba invades Panama
• 1959 - Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Betsy Rawls Golf Open
• 1961 - French paratroopers' revolt suppressed in Algeria
• 1961 - Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
• 1962 - 1st Lockheed A-12 flies
• 1962 - Ariel 1 Launch (1st UK Satellite)
• 1962 - Ranger 4 crash lands on (backside of) Moon
• 1962 - Red Sox Bill Monbouquette no-hits White Sox 1-0
• 1962 - US/UK launch Ariel; 1st international payload
• 1964 - 18th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat SF Warriors, 4 games to 1
• 1964 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
• 1964 - Tanganyika & Zanzibar form United Republic of Tanganyika & Zanzibar
• 1965 - Ives' 4th Symphony premieres
• 1966 - Arnold "Red" Auerbach retires as Boston Celtic's coach
• 1967 - "Hallelujah, Baby!" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 293 perfs
• 1967 - KSPS TV channel 7 in Spokane, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1967 - San Marco 2 Launch (1st Equatorial Launch)
• 1968 - Students seize administration building at Ohio State
• 1968 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1968 - US underground nuclear test, "Boxcar," 1 megaton device
• 1969 - "Celebration" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 110 performances
• 1969 - "George M!" closes at Palace Theater NYC after 435 performances
• 1969 - Firestone World Bowling Tournament (Mercury Open) won by Jim Godman
• 1970 - "Company" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 690 performances
• 1971 - Heaviest rains ever in Bahia district of Brazil, 15" in 24 hrs
• 1971 - SF lightship replaced by automatic buoy
• 1971 - Turkey state of siege proclaimed
• 1973 - "2 Gentlemen of Verona," musical opens in London
• 1973 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1974 - Landslide in Huancavelica Province Peru creates a natural dam
• 1974 - Malta adopts constitution
• 1974 - Yankees trade Peterson, Beene, Kline & Buskey to Indians for Chambliss, Tidrow & Upshaw
• 1975 - Mario Soares' Socialist Party wins 1st free election in Portugal
• 1975 - Penguins 0-Isles 1-Quarterfinals-Isles win series 4-3
• 1975 - Phillies Mike Schmidt's 2 HRs ties NL record of 11 HRs in April
• 1976 - Pan Am begins non-stop flights NYC-Tokyo
• 1977 - NY's famed disco Studio 54 opens
• 1978 - France sends troops to Chad
• 1978 - NASA launches space vehicle S-201
• 1980 - Gerard Nijboer runs Dutch record marathon (2:09:01)
• 1980 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1980 - Iran begins scattering US hostages from US Embassy
• 1980 - Longest jump by a jet boat is set at 120'
• 1980 - Phillies' Steve Carlton pitches his 6th 1-hitter (beats Cards)
• 1981 - "Copperfield" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 13 performances
• 1981 - Beth Solomon wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
• 1981 - Largest US bank robbery (Tucson Ariz), more than $33 million stolen
• 1982 - Argentina surrenders to Britain on S Georgia near Falkland Island
• 1982 - CBS radio begins youth oriented broadcast Radio Radio
• 1982 - Gene Michael becomes NY Yankee manager for 2nd time
• 1982 - Rod Stewart is mugged, gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche
• 1983 - Bruins 2-Isles 5-Wales Conf Championship-Isles hold 1-0 lead
• 1983 - Dow Jones Industrial Avg breaks 1,200 for 1st time
• 1983 - San Antonio spurs beat Denver Nuggets, 152-133 in NBA playoff game
• 1984 - Liverpool's Cavern Club reopens
• 1984 - Pres Reagan visits China
• 1986 - Actor/body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger weds newscaster Maria Shriver
• 1986 - Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marshall Holman
• 1986 - France performs nuclear test
• 1986 - Game between Angels & Twins delayed for 9 minutes by strong winds
• 1986 - Worst nuclear disaster, 4th reactor at Chernobyl USSR explodes, 31 die
• 1987 - "Barbara Cook: A Concert..." closes at Ambassador NYC after 13 perfs
• 1988 - 1st TNN Viewers choice awards-Randy Travis wins in 5 categories
• 1988 - NBA approves addition of 3rd referee in 1988-89 season
• 1988 - NY Met Davey Johnson becomes 2nd manager to record 400 victory in 1st 4 years (Al Lopez did it 1st)
• 1989 - AT&T announces NJ's 201 area code will split into 908 & 201
• 1989 - Mike Tyson is ticketed for driving 71 MPH in 30 mile zone in Albany
• 1990 - "Accomplice" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 52 performances
• 1990 - 126 die in a (6.9) earthquake in China
• 1990 - Danny Wood of New Kids, steps on a stuffed animal & twists his ankle
• 1990 - NY court of appeals ends 2« year legal battle over 1988 America's Cup by refusing jurisdiction of case
• 1990 - Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller's record of pitching 12 1-hitters
• 1991 - "Dinosaurs" premieres on ABC-TV
• 1991 - 23 killed in Kansas & Okla by tornadoes
• 1991 - Soccer star Diego Maradona, suspended for using cocaine, arrested in Argentina for possession & distribution of illegal narcotics
• 1992 - "Grand Hotel" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 1,018 perfs
• 1992 - "Growing Pains," final episode on ABC TV
• 1992 - "Jelly's Last Jam" opens at Virginia Theater NYC for 569 performances
• 1992 - "Master Builder" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 45 performances
• 1992 - "Metro" closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 13 performances
• 1992 - "Who's The Boss," final episode after 8 years on ABC TV
• 1992 - Alex Haley, (Roots), wins 1992 Ellis Island Award, posthumously
• 1992 - Maggie Will wins LPGA Sara Lee Golf Classic
• 1992 - Ozzie Smith steals his 500th base
• 1993 - "Shakespeare for My Father" opens at Helen Hayes NYC for 266 perfs
• 1993 - Boeing 737 crashes at Aurangabad, kills 56
• 1993 - NBC announces Conan O'Brien to replace David Letterman
• 1993 - STS-55 (Columbia) launches into orbit
• 1994 - 26.9øC in Prestebakke Norway (Norwegian April high temp record)
• 1994 - Mad About You actress Leila Kenzel (33) weds Neil Monaco (34)
• 1994 - Taiwan Airbus A-300 crashes at Nagoya Japan, 262 killed
• 1994 - 1st multi-racial election in South Africa begins [3 days] Dr Nomaza Paintin in NZ is 1st black South African to vote
• 1995 - Baseball season begins after lengthy strike
• 1995 - Coors Field, opens in Denver, Rockies beat Mets 11-9 in 14 innings
• 1996 - Shaun Pollock takes 4 wkts in 4 balls for Warwickshire in B&H
• 1996 - Sotherby ends 4 day auction of Jackie O stuff-take in $34.5 million
• 1997 - "Life," opens at Barrymore Theater NYC
• 1998 - wins Chick-fil-A Golf Charity Championship