This day in history

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April 30Th
1789 George Washington first Presidential inauguration


In New York City, George Washington, the great military leader of the American Revolution, is inaugurated as the first president of the United States.

1803 Louisiana Purchase Concluded
On April 30, 1803, representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France conclude negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, a massive land sale that doubles the size of the young American republic.

1939 NBC made first television broadcast in United States
On April 30, 1939, the New York World’s Fair opens in New York City. The opening ceremony, which featured speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and New York Governor Herbert Lehman, ushered in the first day of television broadcasting in New York

1945 Adolf ಠ▄ಠ commits *******
On this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf ಠ▄ಠ commits ******* by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head.

1975 South Vietnam Surrenders
Having crushed the last major organized opposition before Saigon, the North Vietnamese got into position for the final assault. In Saigon, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned and transferred authority to Vice President Tran Van Huong before fleeing the city on April 25. By April 27, the North Vietnamese had completely encircled Saigon and began to maneuver for a complete takeover.
When they attacked at dawn on April 30, they met little resistance. North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace and the war came to an end





 
http://www.kickassfacts.com/25-kickass-and-funniest-events-in-history/
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1. After WWI, the Australian military started “The Great Emu War” where they tried to cull emus with machine guns. Six days after the first engagement, 2,500 rounds of ammunition had been fired and no emu was killed. It was declared an emu victory in the end. – Source

From the file "The more Things Change":
2. In the entire state of Ohio in 1895, there were only two cars on the road, and the drivers of these two cars crashed into each other2. – Source

4. The first “Mooning” in recorded history was 66 AD, where a Roman solider mooned Jewish pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. This caused a riot, an over-response by the Roman military, and the death of thousands. – Source

9. During the opium war, the Chinese set monkeys on fire and launched them at British ships in an attempt to cause chaos. – Source

10. Between the announcement of Germany’s surrender during WW2 on radio to Joseph Stalin addressing of the nation 22 hours later, Russia literally ran out of vodka. – Source
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http://www.totallyuselessknowledge.com/history.php
April Fools Day started in France after the adoption of a reformed calender by Charles IX in 1564. Up till that time, New Year celebration began March 21 and ended April 1. When New Year's was changed, some people still celebrated on April 1. These people became known as "April Fools."

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."

For US Elder Folk:
In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile services (two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not re-number the other channel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2 and up, but no channel 1.

The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life".

Sheriff came from Shire Reeve. During early years of feudal rule in England, each shire had a reeve who was the law for that shire. When the term was brought to the United States it was shortened to Sheriff.

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

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https://funfactz.com/today-in-history/
 
Today in History May 1st

1805 The state of Virginia passes a law requiring all freed slaves to leave the state, or risk either imprisonment or deportation.

1863 The Battle of Chancellorsville begins as Union Gen. Joe Hookerstarts his three-pronged attack against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

1867 Reconstruction in the South begins with black voter registration.

1877 President Rutherford B. Hayes withdraws all Federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.

1898 The U.S. Navy under Commodore George Dewey defeats the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines.

1915 The luxury liner Lusitania leaves New York Harbor for a voyage to Europe.

1931 The Empire State Building opens in New York.

1937 President Franklin Roosevelt signs an act of neutrality, keeping the United States out of World War II.

1944 The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first combat jet, makes its first flight.

1948 North Korea is established.

1950 Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry called Annie Allen.

1960 Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane is shot down over Russia.

1961 Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba.

1968 In the second day of battle, U.S. Marines, with the support of naval fire, continue their attack on a North Vietnamese Division at Dai Do.

1970 Students from Kent State University riot in downtown Kent, Ohio, in protest of the American invasion of Cambodia.

1986 The Tass News Agency reports the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

2011 Osama Bin Laden is killed in Abbottabad Pakistan by US Navy SEALS in Operation Neptune Spear.
 
May 2nd

1972 After nearly five decades as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), J. Edgar Hoover dies, leaving the powerful government agency without the administrator who had been largely responsible for its existence and shape.

1939 New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig benches himself for poor play and ends his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130. “The Iron Horse” was suffering at the time from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

1803 The United States purchased the Louisiana Territoryfrom France at a rate of less than three cents per acre for 828,000 square miles (2,144,520 square km), which soon proved to be a tremendous bargain

1611 The King James Version of the Bible was first published.
 
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