| *1772 | English economist David Ricardo, who gave systematized and classical form to the rising social science of economics in the 19th century, is believed to have been born on or about this day. | |
| 2002 | The USS Cole was relaunched. In Yemen, 17 sailors were killed when the ship was attacked by terrorists on October 12, 2000. The attack was blamed on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. | |
| 2000 | In the Philippines, Air Philippines GAP 541 crashed while preparing to land. 131 people were killed. | |
| 2000 | Letters written by Greta Garbo were put on exhibit. The letters were made public ten years after Garbo's death. | |
| 2000 | The Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma that killed 168 people. | |
| 1998 | Wang Dan, a leader of 1989 Tienanmen Square pro democracy protests, was freed by the Chinese government. | |
| 1995 | The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, was destroyed by a bomb. It was the worst bombing on U.S. territory. 168 people were killed including 19 children, and 500 were injured. Timothy McVeigh was found guilty of the bombing on June 2, 1997. | |
| 1995 | In what was the worst act of terrorism in U.S. history up to that time, a truck bomb nearly destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 and injuring more than 500 people. | |
| 1994 | A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to Rodney King for violation of his civil rights. | |
| 1993 | The Branch-Davidian’s compound in Waco, TX, burned to the ground. It was the end of a 51-day standoff between the cult and U.S. federal agents. 86 people were killed including 17 children. Nine of the Branch Davidians escaped the fire. | |
| 1993 | After a 51-day standoff with U.S. federal agents, some 80 members of the millennialist Branch Davidian religious group perished in a fire at their compound near Waco, Texas. | |
| 1989 | A giant asteroid passed within 500,000 miles of Earth. | |
| 1989 | A gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa. 47 sailors were killed. | |
| 1989 | In El Salvador, Attorney General Alvadora was killed by a car bomb. | |
| 1987 | In Phoenix, AZ, skydiver Gregory Robertson went into a 200-mph free-fall to save an unconscious colleague 3,500 feet from the ground. | |
| 1987 | The last California condor known to be in the wild was captured and placed in a breeding program at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. | |
| 1982 | NASA named Sally Ride to be first woman astronaut. | |
| 1977 | Alex Haley received a special Pulitzer Prize for his book "Roots." | |
| 1975 | India launched its first satellite with aid from the USSR. | |
| 1975 | Aryabhata, the first unmanned Earth satellite built by India, was launched from the Soviet Union by a Russian-made rocket. | |
| 1971 | Russia launched the Salyut into orbit around Earth. It was the first space station. | |
| 1967 | Surveyor 3 landed on the moon and began sending photos back to the U.S. | |
| 1960 | Baseball uniforms began displaying player's names on their backs. | |
| 1958 | The San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers played the first major league baseball game on the West Coast. | |
| 1956 | American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco, becoming Princess Grace. | |
| 1956 | Actress Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The civil ceremony took place on April 18. | |
| 1951 | General Douglas MacArthur gave his "Old Soldiers" speech before the U.S. Congress. In the address General MacArthur said that "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." | |
| 1951 | Shigeki Tanaka won the Boston Marathon. Tanaka had survived the atomic blast at Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. | |
| 1943 | The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi rule began. The Jews were able to fight off the Germans for 28 days. | |
| 1943 | The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an act of resistance by Polish Jews under Nazi occupation, began this day and was quelled four weeks later, on May 16. | |
| 1939 | Connecticut approved the Bill of Rights for the U.S. Constitution after 148 years. | |
| 1938 | General Francisco Franco declared victory in the Spanish Civil War. | |
| 1933 | U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation that removed the U.S. went off of the gold standard. | |
| 1927 | In China, Hankow communists declared war on Chaing Kai-shek. | |
| 1897 | The first annual Boston Marathon was held. It was the first of its type in the U.S. | |
| 1892 | The Duryea gasoline buggy was introduced in the U.S. by Charles and Frank Duryea. | |
| 1882 | English naturalist Charles Darwin, who died this day in 1882, had a revolutionary effect on modern society when he published his theory of evolution by natural selection in his book On the Origin of Species (1859). | |
| 1861 | Thaddeus S. C. Lowe sailed 900 miles in nine hours in a hot air balloon. | |
| 1861 | The Baltimore riots resulted in four Union soldiers and nine civilians killed. | |
| 1861 | U.S. President Lincoln ordered a blockade of Confederate ports. | |
| 1852 | The California Historical Society was founded. | |
| 1839 | The Kingdom of Belgium was recognized by all the states of Europe when the Treaty of London was signed. | |
| 1802 | The Spanish reopened the New Orleans port to American merchants. | |
| 1794 | Tadeusz Kosciuszko forced the Russians out of Warsaw. | |
| 1782 | The Netherlands recognized the new United States. | |
| 1775 | The American Revolution began as fighting broke out at Lexington, MA. | |
| 1775 | Launched this day in 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the American Revolution was an effort by 13 British colonies in North America (with help from France, Spain, and the Netherlands) to win their independence. | |
| 1770 | Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales, Australia. Cook originally named the land Point Hicks. | |
| 1764 | The English Parliament banned the American colonies from printing paper money. | |
| 1713 | Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which gave women the rights of succession to Hapsburg possessions. | |
| 1689 | Residents of Boston ousted their governor, Edmond Andros. | |
| 1587 | English admiral Sir Francis Drake entered Cadiz harbor and sank the Spanish fleet. | |
| 1539 | Emperor Charles V reached a truce with German Protestants at Frankfurt, Germany. | |
| 1012 | Aelfheah was murdered by Danes who had been ravaging the south of England. Aelfhear became the 29th Archbishop of Canterbury in 1005. | |
