On This Day May 1

When the Empire State Building was constructed in New York between 1930 and 1931, it cost $41 million to build. The building was officially dedicated by President Herbert Hoover on May 1, 1931.At 381 meters (1,250 feet) tall it was the tallest building in the world for the following forty-one years after it was completed. It is named after the popular nickname for New York, The Empire State.

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On This Day April 30

George Washington was elected as America's first President in 1789 as a Federalist. Washington won 69 electoral votes, John Adams 34 votes. No one else received more than nine. He was inaugurated on April 30, 1789. As president, Washington pulled in a salary of $25,000 a year. That's roughly $1 million in today's currency. Apparently excited by his newfound purchasing power, Washington started living it up, reportedly buying leopard-skin robes for all his horses.

Washington's inauguration

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On This Day April 29

Charles Dickens started his first tour giving readings from his works on April 29, 1858. He made 129 appearances in 49 different towns throughout the UK. In his lifetime Dickens made more money from his lectures than he did from his novels. During his 1867 reading tour of USA, the Americans went into a frenzy about Dickens. He gave 76 performances for which he earned $228,000. After expenses of $39,000 Dickens was able to bank nearly £19,000.

Charles Dickens public reading 1867

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On This Day April 28

The first horse-drawn omnibus service was started by a businessman named Stanislas Baudry in the French city of Nantes in 1823 using two spring-suspended carriages, each for 16 passengers. It was a success and Baudry moved to Paris and launched the first omnibus service there on April 28, 1828. The service ran every 15 minutes between La Madeleine and La Bastille. Soon, there were 100 omnibuses in service in Paris, with 18 different itineraries. A journey cost 25 centimes.

Illustration of the car "Entreprise Générale des Omnibus" on an old map of Paris 

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On This Day April 27

John Milton published Paradise Lost, written in 12 books in 1667. Blind and impoverished, he sold his copyright for Paradise Lost on April 27, 1667 to Samuel Simmons, a London Bookseller, for a paltry £5, plus another £5 after three additions of 1500 copies had been sold. Paradise Lost was the first great poem written in blank verse. Milton wrote in the preface: "The troublesome and modern bondage of Rhyming."

Title page of Paradise Lost, London: 1667, by John Milton 

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On This Day April 26

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine. The accident occurred when the fourth reactor suffered a huge power increase. This led to the core of the reactor exploding. Due to this explosion, large amounts of radioactive particles were released into the atmosphere. Because there was no containment building to trap the radiation, large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated.

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On This Day April 25

The first execution by guillotine was performed on highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier at 3.30 in the afternoon on April 25, 1792. He was beheaded in front of what is now the city hall of Paris. Pelletier was instantly decapitated, which did not please the crowd. They felt it was too swift and clinical to provide proper entertainment, as compared to previous execution methods, such as hanging, death-by-sword, or breaking at the wheel.

 A replica of the Halifax Gibbet, an early guillotine, or decapitating machine. By Paul Glazzard, 

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On This Day April 24

On April 24, 1792 Dietrich, Mayor of Strasbourg, remarked that the French soldiers had no spirited marching song. That night, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a young captain of engineers, picked up his violin and composed the words and music of a stirring song. De Lisle sung his tune for the first time during a patriotic banquet at Dietrich's home. We now know it as the famous France national anthem  "La Marseillaise."

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On This Day April 23

After Charles II returned from exile in Europe he was received in London on his 30th birthday to public acclaim. He marked his Restoration to the English  throne by riding over London Bridge with 300 gentlemen, brandishing swords and wearing ‘cloth-of-silver’ doublets. Charles was crowned at Westminster Abbey on April 23, 1661. He was the last sovereign to make the traditional procession from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey the day before the coronation.

Coronation portrait by John Michael Wright, c. 1661

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On This Day April 22

On April 22, 1500, Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral and his crew became the first Europeans to land in Brazil when they anchored at Monte Pascoal. On landing there, Cabral built a wooden cross and together with his crew they knelt before it and kissed it. This was to demonstrate to the natives their veneration for the cross. Cabral named this new land, “Vera Cruz,” meaning “True Cross,” though it soon became known as ‘Brazil’ after the brazilwood found on the coast.

Romantic depiction of Cabral's first landing in Brazil

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On This Day April 21

Eighteen-year-old Henry VIII ascended to the English throne after his father, Henry VII died on April 21, 1509. He was the first English king to be addressed as "your majesty". Before then, "Your Highness" or "Your Lord King" was always used. Henry's military and diplomatic successes against France and Scotland set England on the road to becoming a major European power.

Eighteen-year-old Henry VIII after his coronation in 1509

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On This Day April 20

Published on April 20, 1841, Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue was the first ever detective story. The short story established many tropes that would become common elements in mystery fiction: the eccentric but brilliant detective, the bumbling constabulary, the storytelling device where the detective announces his solution and then explains the reasoning leading up to it. Though widely read and admired, Murders in the Rue Morgue did not popularize the genre.

Poe's original manuscript for "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"

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On This Day April 19

Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier married on April 19, 1956 in a large formal ceremony at Monaco's Cathedral of St. Nicholas. The three-hour public event was televised and was watched by thirty million people, a huge amount of viewers for the time. Grace Kelly wore an elaborate ivory dress created by Hollywood designer Helen Rose. Four hundred fifty yards of silk and lace were used to make the bride's wedding gown.

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On This Day April 18

An earthquake struck the coast of Northern California including San Francisco at 5:13 a.m. on April 18, 1906 with a moment magnitude of 7.8. Devastating fires broke out in the city that lasted for several days. As a result, about 3,000 people died and over 80% of San Francisco was destroyed. The death toll from the earthquake and resulting fire remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history.

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On This Day April 17

13 months after she was imprisoned in the Tower of London, Princess Elizabeth was recalled to court on April 17, 1555 to attend the final stages of her half sister Mary 1st's apparent pregnancy.  Once Elizabeth was recalled to court, her future hinged on if Mary was going to give birth to a healthy child. When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no one believed any longer that she could have a child and Elizabeth's succession as Queen Elizabeth I seemed assured.

The Lady Elizabeth in about 1546, by an unknown artist

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On This Day April 16

The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart. Stuart pressed as far south as Derby, but The English Catholics failed to rise and the Jacobite army retreated into Scotland. At The Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746, the Scots lost within the first hour 1,500 men while the government troops had lost a mere 50. When Stuart realized the battle was lost he gave the order "Every man for himself".

The Battle of Culloden, oil on canvas, David Morier, 1746.

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On This Day April 15

Shrek was a castrated male sheep belonging to Bendigo Station, near Tarras, New Zealand. He gained international fame in 2004, after avoiding being caught and shorn by hiding in caves for six years.When finally found on April 15, 2004, Shrek was shorn by a professional in 20 minutes. His fleece contained enough wool to make 20 large men's suits.

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On This Day April 14

On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln went to attend the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.  During the third act of the production, John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland, entered the presidential box and fired a pistol at point-blank range into the back of Lincoln's head. After remaining in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15th.

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

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On This Day April 13

"The Messiah" was first performed at The Great Music Hall at Fishamble Street, Dublin on April 13, 1742, as part of a charity series of concerts that George Frideric Handel was invited to give by the Lord Lieutenant. The Anglo German composer led the concert from the harpsichord. So great was the demand for the first performance that men were asked to attend without their swords and women without the hoops in their skirts so more people could be fitted in. 

The Great Music Hall where Messiah was first performed

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On This Day April 12

Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. Gagarin was born in the Smolensk region of the Soviet Union. He became a pilot in 1957 and on April 12, 1961 completed one orbit of the Earth, taking 108 minutes from launch to landing. The world's first astronaut sarcastically commented that upon reaching outer space during his spaceflight, he failed to see God.

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On This Day April 11

On April 11, 1689, William III (Prince of Orange) and Mary II were crowned at Westminster as joint monarchs by the Bishop of London. (The Archbishop of Canterbury refused to officiate). Mary II, governed the realm for William, while he was away fighting, but acted on his advice. Each time he returned to England, Mary gave up her power to him unbegrudgingly. There was a widespread admiration in Britain for Mary and less so for the often absent William.

Mary II and William III

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On This Day April 10

Early 15th century Portuguese explorers discovered bananas in Western Africa and took them to the Canary Islands. The word “banana” is the native word for the fruit in Guinea.  In 1516, Friar Tomas sailed to the Caribbean bringing banana roots with him; and planted bananas there, thus beginning the banana's future in American life. When bananas went on display in fruitier Thomas Johnson's London shop on April 10, 1633, it was the first time the fruit had been seen in Britain.

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On This Day April 9

In 1939 the celebrated African American contralto Marian Anderson was refused permission to sing in Washington's Constitution Hall because of her race. The racism incident placed Anderson into the spotlight of the international community. With the aid of Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open-air concert on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C , for an audience of 75,000.

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On This Day April 8

Prince George (the future George IV) originally agreed to marry his first cousin Princess Caroline of Brunswick in return for payment of his gambling debts. On seeing the ugly, obese and vulgar Princess Caroline for the first time the day before their wedding and kissing her George  asked for a glass of brandy." They married at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace on April 8, 1795. The German bride wore a elaborate dress of silver tissue and lace and a velvet robe lined with ermine.

Marriage of Prince George & Princess Caroline of Brunswick

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On This Day April 7

The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Anderson's delightful account of the mermaid who wanted to be a whole human, was first published on April 7, 1837. Critics hated Hans Christian Andersen's early fairy tales, so he delayed publishing The Little Mermaid for a year. Anderson wrote 168 fairy tales all of them written with simplicity and wisdom. Many of their moral meanings were intended for adults. The great Dane himself did not rate his fairy tales very highly.

The Little Mermaid is found by the Prince illustration by Edmund Dulac

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On This Day April 6

The Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town in 1652 as a port of call on the way from the Netherlands to the East Indies. The first colonial administrator was Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck who arrived in Cape Town on April 6, 1652 and was Commander of the Cape until 1662. As there were very few native people living in the Cape, slaves were brought from Indonesia, Madagascar and India to work at the colony.

Charles Davidson Bell's painting of Jan van Riebeeck arriving in Table Bay

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On This Day April 5

After the death of Queen Elizabeth I, James VI of Scotland was proclaimed king of England. On April 5, 1603 James left Edinburgh for London, promising to return every three years (a promise he did not keep). Local lords received him with lavish hospitality along the route and James was amazed by the wealth of his new land and subjects. When he entered London just over a month later, he was mobbed by a crowd of spectators.

Portrait after John de Critz, c. 1606

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On This Day April 4

On April 4, 1968, 39-year-old civil rights campaigner Dr Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed by James Earl Ray, when leaving his room at Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee, to attend a dinner at the home of the Reverend Samuel (Billy) Kyles. On the night before he was assassinated, he had prophetically said in a speech at Memphis "I've been to the mountain top.... I've looked over and seen the Promised Land." He was alluding to Moses who just before his death had seen the Promised Land from a mountaintop.

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On This Day April 3

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler and his lifelong business partner Wilhelm Maybach developed in 1885 a precursor of the modern petrol (gasoline) engine. They were granted a German patent for their engine design on April 3, 1885. Daimler and Maybach subsequently fitted their engine to a bicycle to create the first internal combustion motorcycle. The design was patented five months later.

Replica of the Daimler-Maybach Reitwagen. Wikipedia Commons

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On This Day April 2

Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited by Europeans. Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León first sighted Florida on April 2, 1513, before setting foot on the land on Easter Sunday 1513. In de León's Spanish tongue, the Easter festival was known as “Pascua Florida”, meaning the Passover of Flowers after the many flowers decorating the church on that day. Thus the newly discovered land was named “Florida”.

17th century Spanish engraving (colored) of Juan Ponce de León

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