1912: Titanic sinks
On this day, the luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic sinks just two hours after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic. When it first left port at Southampton, England, the Titanic barely escaped a collision with the steamer New York. The regal ship, which carried 2,200 passengers and crew, was considered the most luxurious ever built and unsinkable. However, just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg about 400 miles from the coast of Newfoundland. Slightly over two hours later, in the early hours of April 15, the ship sank. The ship was woefully unprepared for such an emergency, and more than 1,500 people died aboard the ship as it went down or froze to death in the icy North Atlantic waters. Most of the 700 survivors were women and children.
1994
More than 120 countries around the world finally sign the new
GATT World Trade Treaty after negotiations which lasted for seven years.
1989
Britain's worst football disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield when 95 football fans are crushed to death shortly after the start of the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Most of those killed are from Liverpool.1986
USAF planes based in
Britain, bomb
Libya in retaliation for various acts of international terrorism thought to have been ordered by Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi.
1959
In London, the Cambridge University boat sinks during the running of the annual University Boat Race on the River Thames.1955
The first
McDonald's hamburger store opens in California. Founder is a food mixer salesman called Ray Kroc.
1949
The offical end of the Nuremburg War Trials in
Germany. 1925
Author James Barrie donates his
copyright fee for the story of
Peter Pan to the Great
Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London.
1923
The drug insulin, discovered by Dr F.Banting, is first made available to the public1912
First edition of the British newspaper Daily Herald.1912
The world's first 'unsinkable' ship, the passenger liner
Titanic, strikes an iceberg in the North Sea on her maiden voyage and sinks within 3 hours. At least 1,500 passengers and crew are killed. There are 732 survivors.
1891
In New York, American inventor Thomas Edison publicly demonstrates his 'kinetoscope' - a moving picture machine.1865
America's 16th President,
Abraham Lincoln, dies less than 24 hours after being shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington by
John Wilkes Booth.
1793
Bank of England issues the first £5 notes.1755
In England, Dr
Samuel Johnson's dictionary is first published. It contains explanations and meanings for 40,000 different words.
1959
British actress Emma Thompson.1940
Former British
MP turned novelist Jeffrey Archer.
1939
Actress Claudia Cardinale.1939
British singer Marty Wilde.1929
Businessman George Cadbury.
