This day in history...

On April 9, 1682, French explorer Robert De La Salle, exploring the interior of the North American continent, arrives at the mouth of the Mississippi River, names the entire basin area "La Louisiane," after French King Louis XIV, and claims the territory for France.

On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, having been driven from the Confederate capital of Richmond and blocked from joining an advancing Confederate force from North Carolina, surrenders his remaining 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.

On April 9, 2003, just three weeks into the invasion of Iraq, U.S. forces topple a bronze statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad’s Firdos Square, symbolizing the end of the Iraqi president’s long, often brutal reign, and a major early victory for the United States.


On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward P. King Jr. surrenders at Bataan, Philippines—against General Douglas MacArthur’s orders—and 78,000 troops (66,000 Filipinos and 12,000 Americans), are taken captive by the Japanese. It is the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender. The prisoners are at once led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan peninsula, to San Fernando, on what became known as the "Bataan Death March." At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, and kicked them on the way; those who became too weak to walk were bayoneted.

On April 9, 1940, German warships enter major Norwegian ports, from Narvik to Oslo, deploying thousands of German troops and occupying Norway. At the same time, German forces occupy Copenhagen, among other Danish cities.

On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduces America’s first astronauts to the press: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr. and Donald Slayton. The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury, America’s first manned space program.

 

April 9, 1978 saw one of the craziest one-two individual performances in NBA history. On the final day of the regular season, George Gervin of San Antonio held a narrow lead - just a couple of percentage points - over David Thompson of Denver for the league scoring title. Denver was at Detroit on Sunday afternoon, San Antonio at New Orleans that night. With Denver's playoff position already locked up, Nuggets coach Larry Brown gave Thompson permission to go after the crown. Thompson would later say he just played his normal game, but he scored a record-32 points in the 1st quarter, on the way to a 73-point game. That left Gervin needing 59 points to win the title. The Iceman was up to the challenge, scoring 53 in the first half, on the way to a 63 point night. Keep in mind, there was no 3-point line at the time.

 

On April 10, 1866, NYC philanthropist and former diplomat Henry Bergh founds the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Bergh held a diplomatic post at the Russian court of Czar Alexander II during the Lincoln Administration, and while in Russia was horrified to witness work horses beaten by their peasant drivers. Within 10 days of its founding, the ASPCA would convince the New York state legislature to pass America's first law protecting animals from cruelty.


On April 10, 1970, Paul McCartney sends the press a "self interview" in promotion of his 1st solo album, McCartney. In it, he says he never expects to collaborate again with Beatles songwriting partner John Lennon. The press interprets the statement as McCartney's announcement that the Beatles are breaking up.

On April 10, 1963, a seemingly minor engine room problem leads to the loss of the USS Thresher in the Atlantic Ocean, killing the entire crew. One hundred and twenty-nine sailors and civilians were lost when the atomic sub unexpectedly plunged to the sea floor roughly 300 miles off the coast of New England.

 

On April 11, 1945, the American Third Army liberates the Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany, a camp that will be judged second only to Auschwitz in the horrors it imposed on its prisoners.

On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba.

On April 11, 2015, Barack Obama and Raul Castro meet in Panama City, Panama. It is the first official meeting between the heads of state of the United States and Cuba since 1961. Each expressed a willingness to return the two nations to a state of normal diplomatic relations.

On April 11, 1979, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin flees the Ugandan capital of Kampala as Tanzanian troops and forces of the Uganda National Liberation Front close in. Two days later, Kampala fell and a coalition government of former exiles took power.

On April 11, 1951, President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of command of the U.S. forces in Korea, replacing him with General Matthew Ridgeway. The firing of MacArthur set off a brief uproar among the American public, but Truman remained committed to keeping the conflict in Korea a “limited war.”

 

On April 12, 1861, Confederate shore batteries open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Bay. After next 34 hours of near continuous bombardment, U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrenders the fort. Two days later, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issus a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern “insurrection.”


On April 12, 1633, chief inquisitor Father Vincenzo Maculani da Firenzuola, appointed by Pope Urban VIII, begins the inquisition of physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei. Galileo was charged with heresy for teaching the belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Despite his scientific arguments, Galileo is found guilty the following June. He agrees to stop teaching the "heresy" and will spend the rest of his life in house arrest. It will take the church 300 years to admit its error and clear Galileo's name.

On April 12, 1961,Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. Flying aboard Vostok 1, the 27-year-old test pilot is merely a passenger; flight control is entirely automated. The flight lasts an hour and 48 minutes, and Gagarin is also the first man to orbit the planet.

On April 12, 1981, the space shuttle Columbia is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, becoming the first reusable manned spacecraft to travel into space. Piloted by astronauts Robert L. Crippen and John W. Young, the Columbia undertook a 54-hour space flight of 36 orbits before successfully touching down at California’s Edwards Air Force Base on April 14. Among those attending the Columbia launch is the greatest band in history, Rush. Here is their musical tribute to the feat, "Countdown."

 

On April 13, 1970, NASA Mission Control in Houston receives a simple message from Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell: "Houston, we've had a problem here." An oxygen tank has exploded aboard their spacecraft, 2 days after launch, altitude; roughly 200,000 miles. Within moments, Mission Control will declare Apollo 13's planned mission - a landing on the moon's Fra Mauro highlands - aborted, and the mission becomes the rescue of astronauts Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise.

On April 13, 1742, George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah, debuts in Dublin, Ireland. The libretto (lyric) is written by evangelical scholar Charles Jennens, as a response to the rising of Enlightenment thought that he found irreligious. Jennens drew on various works to compose what he felt was a concise statement of Christian doctrine, and handed it over to his friend Handel. It took him just 24 days to write the accompanying score that has made the Messiah one of music's most inspirational works. In modern times it has become more commonly associated with Christmas (in particular, its "Hallelujah" chorus), although Jennens originally wrote it as an Easter celebration.


On April 13, 2000, American heavy metal band Metallica sues Napster, Inc for copyright infringement, racketeering and unlawful use of digital audio interface on devices. Napster is a popular peer-to-peer file sharing that emphasized sharing of music, mainly in MP3 audio format. Speaking to the House Judiciary Committee, Metallica co-founder and drummer Lars Ulrich explained the band decided to sue after learning their song "I Disappear" was receiving radio airplay before its release. The leak of the song was traced to Napster, where, it found, other Metallica songs were also being downloaded for free. Although the band never received damages, their songs were removed from Napster and more than 300,000 users were banned from the service. This was the first of a series of rulings against Napster that led to its liquidation under Chapter 7 in 2011.

 

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The shooting occurs just after 10 pm. Lincoln is carried to a boarding house across the street, where he dies the following morning at 7:22, the first president to be assassinated. The assassin is actor John Wilkes Booth, a southern sympathizer who had at first organized a conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln the previous month. When that failed and the South surrendered, the conspirators - 7 in all - changed their plans to the assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward, the intent being to throw the government into disarray. Seward is stabbed and wounded in his home the same night, but the conspirator who was to target Johnson lost his nerve. Booth would by shot and killed by Union troops after refusing to give himself up on April 26. Three of the remaining 6 conspirators are captured and hanged on July 7. John Surratt fled the country, is captured in Egypt and extradited, but was acquitted. The remaining 2 conspirators were never charged.


On April 14, 1818, American attorney Noah Webster publishes the first edition of his American Dictionary of the English Language. Webster’s dictionary is one of the first lexicons to include distinctly American words.

On April 14, 1986, the United States launches air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and citizens. The raid involves more than 100 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft. Five military targets and “terrorism centers” are hit, including the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.

On April 14, 1918, two pilots from the U.S. First Aero Squadron engage in America’s first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft. In a battle fought almost directly over the Allied Squadron Aerodome at Toul, France, U.S. fliers Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow succeed in shooting down two German planes. Over the next few weeks, Campbell will shoot down a total of five enemy planes, making him America's first "flying ace."

 

On April 15, 1947, 28-year old Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball when he steps onto Ebbets Field with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The son of Georgia sharecroppers, Robinson was the 1st 4-sport athlete in UCLA history. After a stint in the army, Robinson played a season of Negro League ball, followed by a year in the Dodgers' minor league system. Despite the hostility he faced for breaking the color line and the difficulties of playing and traveling in the days of Jim Crow laws, Robinson would play in 6 All Star games in his 10-year career, winning the NL batting title and MVP in 1949. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1962, and died in 1972. In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of his major league debut, his uniform number 42 was retired by every team.


On April 15, 1912 at 2:20am, the RMS Titanic sinks 2 and a half hours after striking an icebeg, about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It was her maiden voyage. Of the more than 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, 1,514 do not survive. The Titanic's loss leads to sweeping changes in maritime regulations regarding travel safety, including the mandate that all ships carry enough lifeboats for all aboard. (Below: the sinking of the Titanic, sketched by a crewman of the rescuing ship HMS Carpathia, as described by Titanic survivor Jack Thayer the morning after the sinking)


On April 15, 2013, two bombs go off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding more than 260 other people in attendance. Four days later, after an intense manhunt that shut down the Boston area, police capture one of the bombing suspects, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; his older brother and fellow suspect, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died following a shootout with law enforcement earlier that same day.