1836 - The Battle of San Jacinto between Texans led by Sam Houston and Mexican forces led by Santa Anna took place near present day Houston. The Texans decisively defeated the Mexican forces thereby achieving independence.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil.
Brazil's official language is Portuguese
1864 - "In God We Trust" was included on all newly minted U.S. coins by an Act of Congress.
1889 - The Oklahoma land rush began at noon with a single gunshot signaling the start of a mad dash by thousands of settlers. The were seeking to claim part of nearly two million acres made available by the federal government.
Sierra Leone - Republic Day
Swaziland - National day (Birthday of King Mswati III)
USA - Patriots' Day to commemorate the battles of Lexington and Concord. on 19 April 1775 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots%27_Day
531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persian at Ar-Raqqah (northern Syria).
1770 – Captain James Cook sights the eastern coast of what is now Australia.
1775 - At dawn in Massachusetts, about 70 armed militiamen stood face to face on Lexington Green with a British advance guard unit. An unordered 'shot heard around the world' began the American Revolution. A volley of British rifle fire was followed by a charge with bayonets leaving eight Americans dead and ten wounded.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The war begins with an American victory in Concord during the battles of Lexington and Concord. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord
1782 – John Adams secures the Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government. The house which he had purchased in The Hague, Netherlands becomes the first American embassy.
1839 – The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom and guaranteeing its neutrality.
1919 – Leslie Irvin of the United States makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a new kind of self-contained parachute.
1954 – The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan recognises Urdu and Bengali as the national languages of Pakistan.
1971 – Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president.
1971 – Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.
1975 – India's first satellite, Aryabhata, is launched.
Birthdays
1944 – James Heckman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
1800 - The Library of Congress was established in Washington, D.C. It is America's oldest federal cultural institution and the world's largest library. Among the 145 million items in its collections are more than 33 million books, 3 million recordings, 12.5 million photographs, 5.3 million maps, 6 million pieces of sheet music and 63 million manuscripts. About 10,000 new items are added each day.
1915 - In Asia Minor during World War I, the first modern-era genocide began with the deportation of Armenian leaders from Constantinople and subsequent massacre by Young Turks.
Afghanistan Victory Day
Barbados National Heroes' Day
Sierra Leone Independence Day Holiday
1945 - Twenty-three years of Fascist rule in Italy ended abruptly as Italian partisans shot former Dictator Benito Mussolini. Other leaders of the Fascist Party and friends of Mussolini were also killed along with his mistress, Clara Petacci. Their bodies were then hung upside down and pelted with stones by jeering crowds in Milan.
Birthday - James Monroe (1758-1831) the 5th U.S. President
Australia ANZAC Day
Egypt Sinai Liberation Day
Italy Liberation Day
New Zealand ANZAC Day
North Korea Army Day
Portugal Liberation Day
Swaziland National Flag Day
Tonga ANZAC Day
1967 - The first law legalizing abortion was signed by Colorado Governor John Love, allowing abortions in cases in which a panel of three doctors unanimously agreed.
Birthday
Radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937)
