Did you know
In 1862, American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
April 16 in History
1862 — American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law
April 16 spans 55 recorded events across recorded history, from 1457 BC to 2024. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
55 events
1457 BC – 2024
Today in history
More major events on April 16
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1963 U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation. Source
- 1878 The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish. Source
- 1818 The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Source
Did you know
An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia, 37th Cong., Sess. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
376, known colloquially as the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act or simply Compensated Emancipation Act, was a law that ended slavery in the District of Columbia, while providing enslavers who remained loyal to the United States in the then-ongoing Civil War the ability to petition for compensation. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
Although not written by him, the act was signed by U.S. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
President Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1862. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Battle of Megiddo: The first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
Decade
The 1450s BC was a decade lasting from January 1, 1459, BC to December 31, 1450, BC.
-1457
Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Roman emperor Otho commits suicide.
Calendar year
AD 69 (LXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the consulship of Galba and Vinius. The denomination AD 69 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
69
Masada, a Jewish fortress, falls to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the First Jewish–Roman War.
Calendar year
AD 73 (LXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Domitian and Messalinus. The denomination AD 73 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
73
Pope Pelagius I is consecrated following Imperial approval by Emperor Justinian I.
Byzantine domination of the Roman papacy, 537 to 752
The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the Roman Papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for their episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii or the inhabitants of Byzantine-ruled Greece, Syria, or Sicily. Justinian I reconquered the Italian peninsula in the Gothic War (535–554) and appointed the next three popes, a practice that would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna.
556
Pope Leo II is elected head of the Catholic Church, although he will not be consecrated until 17 August.
Head of the Catholic Church from 682 to 683
Pope Leo II was the Bishop of Rome from 17 August 682 to his death on 28 June 683. One of the popes of the Byzantine Papacy, he is described by a contemporary biographer as both just and learned. He is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Martyrology.
682
Stefan Dušan, "the Mighty", is crowned Emperor of the Serbs at Skopje, his empire occupying much of the Balkans.
14th-century Serbian king and emperor
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, also known as Dušan the Mighty, was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Emperor of the Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians from 16 April 1346 until his death in 1355. Dušan is considered one of the greatest medieval Balkan conquerors.
1346
The Revolt of the Comuneros begins in Spain against the rule of Charles V.
1520 rebellion in Castile, Spain
The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, the rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling the cities of Valladolid, Tordesillas, and Toledo.
1520
Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina.
Spanish and Portuguese colonizers of the Age of Discovery
Conquistadors or conquistadores were Spanish and Portuguese colonists who explored, traded with, and conquered many parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania during the Age of Discovery. Sailing beyond the Iberian Peninsula, they established numerous colonies and trade routes, and brought much of the New World under the dominion of Spain and Portugal.
1582
The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland.
1746 battle of the Jacobite rising of 1745
The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby ending the Jacobite rising of 1745.
1746
Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster.
German politician (1729–1810)
Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg was a German politician and the most important statesman in the Principality of Münster in the second half of the 18th century. Fürstenberg was committed to a cautious and enlightened course of reform.
1780
The Spithead mutiny begins, immobilising the Channel fleet.
Two mutinies by British sailors in 1797
The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. They were the first in an increasing series of outbreaks of maritime radicalism in the Atlantic World. Despite their temporal proximity, the mutinies differed in character. The Spithead mutiny was a simple, peaceful, successful strike action to address economic grievances, while the Nore mutiny was a more radical action, articulating political ideals as well, which failed.
1797
French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor: Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre.
1792–1802 wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries. The wars are divided into two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered territories in the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries, and the Rhineland with its very large and powerful military which had been totally mobilized for war against most of Europe with mass conscription of the vast French population. French success in these conflicts ensured military occupation and the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe.
1799
The United States Senate ratifies the Rush–Bagot Treaty, limiting naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
Upper house of the US Congress
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, and the U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the Constitution to make and pass or defeat federal legislation.
1818
The French Army captures Veracruz in the Pastry War.
Land warfare force of France
The French Army is the land service branch of the French Armed Forces. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT), who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA), who in turn is responsible to the President of France. CEMAT is also directly responsible to the Ministry of Armed Forces for administration, preparation and equipment.
1838
Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars.
Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand
Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. The Māori are descended from East Polynesian settlers who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed a distinct culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori.
1847
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway opens the first passenger rail in India, from Bori Bunder to Thane.
Railway company in British India (1849–1951)
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was a predecessor of the Central Railway, whose headquarters was at the Bori Bunder railway station in Mumbai. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company was incorporated on 1 August 1849 by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company Act 1849 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It had a share capital of 50,000 pounds. On 21 August 1847 it entered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of a railway line, 56 km long, to form part of a trunk line connecting Bombay with Khandesh and Berar and generally with the other presidencies of India. The Court of Directors of the East India Company appointed James John Berkley as Chief Resident Engineer and Charles Buchanan Ker and Robert Wilfred Graham as his assistants. It was India's first passenger railway, the original 21 miles (33.8 km) section opening in 1853, between Bombay (Mumbai) and Tanna. On 1 July 1925, its management was taken over by the government. On 5 November 1951, it was incorporated into the Central Railway.
1853
The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved.
Learned society in Scotland (1808–58)
The Wernerian Natural History Society, commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as mineralogy, plants, insects, and scholarly expeditions. The Society was an offshoot of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and from its beginnings it was a rather elite organization.
1858
American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
1861–1865 conflict in the United States
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States. The South saw slavery as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.
1862
American Civil War: During the Vicksburg Campaign, gunboats commanded by acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter run downriver past Confederate artillery batteries at Vicksburg.
Military campaign of the American Civil War
The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's forces stationed there.
1863
The Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issues a declaration establishing a city of Kotka on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish.
Historical government body in Finland from 1816 to 1918
The Senate of Finland combined the functions of cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in independent Finland from 1917 to 1918.
1878
In Dodge City, Kansas, Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle.
City and county seat in Kansas, United States
Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city is known in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West.
1881
Natural Bridges National Monument is established in Utah.
National monument in San Juan County, Utah, US
Natural Bridges National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Four Corners boundary of southeast Utah, in the western United States, at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, part of the Colorado River drainage. It features the thirteenth largest natural bridge in the world, carved from the white Permian sandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation that gives White Canyon its name.
1908
The oldest indoor ice hockey arena used for the sport in the 21st century, Boston Arena, opens for the first time.
Team winter sport
Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in North America and parts of Europe, is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. The two opposing teams score by using their sticks to control and advance a vulcanized rubber hockey puck, and then shooting it into the net of the other team. Each goal is worth one point. The team with the highest score after an hour of gameplay, broken down into three 20-minute periods, is declared the winner; ties are broken in overtime or a shootout. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, including a goaltender. It is a full contact game and one of the more physically demanding team sports.
1910
Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel.
American aviation pioneer (1875–1912)
Harriet Quimby was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter. In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license and in 1912 the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. Although Quimby only flew for one year, and died at the age of 37 in a flying accident, she strongly influenced the role of women in aviation.
1912
Russian Revolution: Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd, Russia, from exile in Switzerland.
1917–1922 civil war in the Russian Empire
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It can be seen as the precursor for other revolutions that occurred in the aftermath of World War I, such as the German Revolution of 1918–1919. The Russian Revolution was a key event of the 20th century.
1917
Mohandas Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British colonial troops three days earlier.
Indian independence activist (1869–1948)
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, and to later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā, first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world.
1919
Polish–Lithuanian War: The Polish Army launches the Vilna offensive to capture Vilnius in modern Lithuania.
Conflict between Poland and Lithuania, 1919-1920
The Polish–Lithuanian War was an undeclared war fought in the aftermath of World War I between newly independent Lithuania and Poland, with fighting mainly in the Vilnius and Suwałki regions, which was part of the Lithuanian Wars of Independence and lasted from May 1919 to 29 November 1920. From the spring of 1920 onward, the conflict happened alongside the wider Polish–Soviet War and was affected by its progress. It was subject to unsuccessful international mediation at the Conference of Ambassadors and the League of Nations.
1919
The Treaty of Rapallo, pursuant to which Germany and the Soviet Union re-establish diplomatic relations, is signed.
Treaty re-establishing diplomatic and military relations between Russia and Germany
The Treaty of Rapallo was an agreement signed on 16 April 1922 between Germany and Russia under which both renounced all territorial and financial claims against each other and opened friendly diplomatic relations. The treaty was negotiated by Russian foreign minister Georgi Chicherin and German foreign minister Walther Rathenau. It was a major victory for Russia especially and also Germany, and a major disappointment to France and the United Kingdom. The term "spirit of Rapallo" was used for an improvement in friendly relations between Germany and Russia.
1922
During the Communist St Nedelya Church assault in Sofia, Bulgaria, 150 are killed and 500 are wounded.
Political and socioeconomic ideology
Communism is a political and economic ideology whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic classless order centered on common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products in society based on need. A communist society entails the absence of private property and social classes, and ultimately money and the state.
1925
World War II: The Italian-German Tarigo convoy is attacked and destroyed by British ships.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
1941
World War II: The Nazi-affiliated Ustaše is put in charge of the Independent State of Croatia by the Axis powers after Operation 25 is effected.
Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization (1929–45)
The Ustaše was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945. It was formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movement. From its inception and before the Second World War, the organization engaged in a series of terrorist activities against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It collaborated with IMRO to assassinate King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934. During World War II in Yugoslavia, the Ustaše went on to perpetrate the Holocaust and genocide against its Jewish, Serb and Roma populations, killing hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma, as well as Muslim and Croat political dissidents. The ideology of the movement combined fascism, Roman Catholicism and Croatian ultranationalism.
1941
Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD.
He intentionally takes the drug three days later on April 19.
Albert Hofmann was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann's team also isolated, named and synthesized the principal psychedelic mushroom compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Hofmann discovered the structure of chitin in 1929. He authored more than 100 scientific articles and numerous books, including LSD: Mein Sorgenkind.
1943
World War II: Allied forces start bombing Belgrade, killing about 1,100 people.
This bombing fell on the Orthodox Christian Easter.
The Allied bombing of Yugoslavia in World War II involved air attacks on cities and towns in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) and Royal Air Force (RAF), including the Balkan Air Force (BAF), between 1941 and 1945, during which period the entire country was occupied by the Axis powers. Dozens of Yugoslav cities and towns were bombed, many repeatedly. These attacks included intensive air support for Yugoslav Partisan operations in May–June 1944, and a bombing campaign against transport infrastructure in September 1944 as the German Wehrmacht withdrew from Greece and Yugoslavia. This latter operation was known as Operation Ratweek. Some of the attacks caused significant civilian casualties.
1944
World War II: The Red Army begins the final assault on German forces around Berlin, with nearly one million troops fighting in the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
Soviet army and air force from 1918 to 1946
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars to oppose the military forces of the new nation's adversaries during the Russian Civil War, especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army. In February 1946, the Red Army was renamed the "Soviet Army". Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was split between the post-Soviet states, with its bulk becoming the Russian Ground Forces, commonly considered to be the successor of the Soviet Army.
1945
World War II: The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz).
Land service branch of the U.S. military
The United States Army is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is designated as the army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As a part of the United States Department of Defense, it is one of the six armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Founded in 1784, it succeeded the Continental Army, formed in 1775 during the American Revolutionary War.
1945
World War II: More than 7,000 die when the German transport ship Goya is sunk by a Soviet submarine.
German military transport ship; sank 1945, killing thousands
MV Goya was a Norwegian freighter used as a troop transport by Germany and sunk with a massive loss of life near the end of World War II. Completed in 1940 for the Johan Ludwig Mowinckel Rederi company, the ship was named after Spanish artist Francisco Goya. Following Germany's invasion of Norway that year, she was seized by the Kriegsmarine and pressed into service as a troop transport. Near the end of the war, Goya took part in Operation Hannibal, the evacuation of German military and civilian personnel from remaining pockets held by the Germans along the Baltic Sea. Loaded with thousands of refugees, the ship was sunk on 16 April 1945 by the Soviet submarine L-3. Most of the crew and passengers died in the sinking. The sinking of Goya was one of the biggest single-incident maritime losses of life of the war, and one of the largest such losses in history, with just 183 survivors out of roughly 6,700 passengers and crew.
1945
An explosion on board a freighter in port causes Texas City in the state of Texas, United States, to catch fire, killing almost 600 people.
1947 explosions in Texas City, Texas
The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred on April 16, 1947, in the port of Texas City, Texas, United States, located in Galveston Bay. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions.
1947
Bernard Baruch first applies the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
American businessman (1870–1965)
Bernard Mannes Baruch was an American financier and statesman.
1947
The Organization of European Economic Co-operation is formed.
Intergovernmental economic organisation
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries. It was founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The OECD is a forum whose member countries describe themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform for collective problem-solving, analysis, and coordination. OECD members are highly developed countries with advanced economies typically considered efficient and high-income.
1948
In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.
Leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2011
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban communist revolutionary and statesman who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2011. He served as prime minister from 1959 to 1976, president from 1976 to 2008, and first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1965 until 2011. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, under his administration Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and socialist reforms were implemented throughout society.
1961
U.S.
civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination, which most commonly affected African Americans.
1963
Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
1961–1972 American crewed lunar exploration program
The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived in 1960 in the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in his address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.
1972
India and Bangladesh begin a five-day border conflict, but are unable to resolve the disputes about their border.
Country in South Asia
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world and among the most densely populated with a population of almost 176 million within an area of 148,461 square kilometres (57,321 sq mi). Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast. It has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal to its south and is separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the Indian state of Sikkim to its north. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre. Chittagong is the second-largest city and the busiest port of the country.
2001
The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting ten new member states to the European Union.
Expansion of the European Union
The Treaty of Accession 2003 was the agreement between the member states of the European Union and ten countries, concerning these countries' accession into the EU. At the same time it changed a number of points which were originally laid down in the Treaty of Nice.
The treaty was signed on 16 April 2003 in Athens, Greece and it entered into force on 1 May 2004, resulting in enlargement of the European Union with 10 states.
2003
Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho murders 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.
2007 mass shooting in Blacksburg, Virginia, US
The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting and mass shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an undergraduate student at the university, killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pistols before committing suicide. Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape Cho.
2007
The U.S.
Supreme Court rules in the Baze v. Rees decision that execution by lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party". In 1803, the court asserted the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.
2008
The trial for Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, begins in Oslo, Norway.
2012 trial of the Norwegian mass murderer
The trial of Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks, took place between 16 April and 22 June 2012 in Oslo District Court. Breivik was sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention on 24 August 2012. 170 media organisations were accredited to cover the proceedings, involving some 800 individual journalists.
2012
The Pulitzer Prize winners are announced.
It was the first time since 1977 that no book won the Fiction Prize.
The 2012 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on April 16, 2012, by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2011 calendar year. The deadline for submitting entries was January 25, 2012. For the first time, all entries for journalism were required to be submitted electronically. In addition, the criteria for the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting has been revised to focus on real-time reporting of breaking news. For the eleventh time in Pulitzer's history, no book received the Fiction Prize.
2012
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Sistan and Balochistan province, Iran, killing at least 35 people and injuring 117 others.
Measure of earthquake size
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with Mw or Mwg and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude It is more directly related to the energy of an earthquake than other scales, and does not saturate – that is, it does not underestimate magnitudes as other scales do in certain conditions. It has become the standard scale used by seismological authorities like the United States Geological Survey for reporting large earthquakes, replacing the local magnitude and surface-wave magnitude scales. Subtypes of the moment magnitude scale reflect different ways of estimating the seismic moment.
2013
The 2013 Baga massacre is started when Boko Haram militants engage government soldiers in Baga.
Part of Islamist insurgency in Nigeria
The Baga massacre began on 16 April 2013 in the village of Baga, Nigeria, in Borno State, when as many as 200 civilians were killed, hundreds wounded, and over 2,000 houses and businesses worth millions of Naira were destroyed. Refugees, civilians officials, and human rights organizations accused the Nigerian Military of carrying out the massacre; some military officials blamed the insurgent group Boko Haram.
2013
The South Korean ferry MV Sewol capsizes and sinks near Jindo Island, killing 304 passengers and crew and leading to widespread criticism of the South Korean government, media, and shipping authorities.
Country in East Asia
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east. South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. It has a population of about 52 million, of which half live in the Seoul metropolitan area, the ninth most populous metropolitan area in the world, with other major cities being Busan, Daegu, and Incheon.
2014
Ecuador's worst earthquake in nearly 40 years kills 676 and injures more than 230,000.
The 2016 Ecuador earthquake occurred on April 16 at 18:58:37 ECT with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The very large thrust earthquake was centered approximately 27 km (17 mi) from the towns of Muisne and Pedernales in a sparsely populated part of the country, and 170 km (110 mi) from the capital Quito, where it was felt strongly. The regions of Manta, Pedernales and Portoviejo accounted for over 75 percent of total casualties. Manta's central commercial shopping district, Tarqui, was completely destroyed. There was widespread damage across Manabí Province, and structures hundreds of kilometres from the epicenter collapsed. At least 676 people were killed and 27,732 people injured. President Rafael Correa declared a state of emergency; 13,500 military personnel and police officers were dispatched for recovery operations.
2016
The New York Times and The New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal.
American daily newspaper
The New York Times (NYT) is a newspaper based in Manhattan, New York City. The New York Times covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces and reviews. One of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the Times serves as one of the country's newspapers of record. As of August 2025, The New York Times had 11.88 million total and 11.3 million online subscribers, both the highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States by a significant margin; the total also included 580,000 print subscribers. The New York Times is published by the New York Times Company. Since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family. The current chairman and the paper's publisher is A. G. Sulzberger. The Times is headquartered at The New York Times Building in Midtown Manhattan.
2018
The historic Børsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, is severely damaged by a fire.
Historic building in Copenhagen, Denmark
Børsen, is a 17th-century commodity bourse and later stock exchange in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. The historic building is situated next to Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, on the island of Slotsholmen.
2024