1828 – First American Dictionary: its author Noah Webster registers its copyright for publication.
1865 – US President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington; he dies a day later.
1902 – J.C. Penny open his first store, The Golden Rule Store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1906 – US President Theodore Roosevelt denounces “muckrakers” in US press, taken from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.
1910 – President Taft begins tradition of throwing out ball on opening day of baseball season.
1912 – RMS Titanic hits an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. off Newfoundland.
1918 – Douglas Campbell is 1st US ace pilot (shooting down 5th German plane)
1925 – 1st regular-season Cubs game to be broadcast on radio (WGN)
1935 – Black Sunday: Severe dust storm ravages the US Midwest, led to the region being named “the Dust Bowl”
1945 – American planes bomb Tokyo & damage the Imperial Palace.
1955 – Elston Howard becomes the 1st African American to wear the NY Yankees uniform.
1960 – American record company Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr., is incorporated as Motown Record Corporation.
1971 – Supreme Court upheld busing as means of achieving racial desegregation.
1980 – 52nd Academy Awards: “Kramer vs Kramer”, Dustin Hoffman & Sally Fields win.
1983 – US President Ronald Reagan signs $165 billion Social Security rescue.
1992 – “Guys & Dolls” opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 1143 performances.
1994 – US F-15 accidentally shoots down 2 US helicopters over Iraq, 26 die.
2002 – 66th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Tiger Woods becomes the third player to claim back-to-back Masters, 3 strokes ahead of Retief Goosen of South Africa.
2017 – “The Fate of the Furious” directed F. Gary Gray, starring Vin Diesel and The Rock opens worldwide – highest-grossing weekend at $532 million.
2020 – IMF warns the global economy expected to contract by 3% in 2020 due to COVID-19 “Great Lockdown”, steepest downturn since the Great Depression.
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