1652 – Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, is established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck
1865 – Battle of High Bridge, fought near Farmville, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
1889 – George Eastman begins selling Kodak flexible roll film for the first time
1941 – German bombardment of Piraeus (munitions ship explodes)
1957 – NYC ends trolley car service
1973 – Federal court rules in favor of the Smothers Brothers in breach of contract lawsuit against CBS-TV, awarding them $776,300 USD
1982 – Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center from White Sands
1991 – 145th Grand National: In Canadian distillery Seagram’s final year of race sponsorship, New Zealand-bred chestnut gelding Seagram wins, ridden by Nigel Hawke
1992 – British Radio Authority licenses Virgin and TV-AM radio licenses
2002 – France beats Ireland 44-5 at Stade de France, Saint Denis to complete a Grand Slam and win the Six Nations Rugby Championship; their 13th title
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 6th April 2025
1652 – Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, is established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck
1865 – Battle of High Bridge, fought near Farmville, Virginia (Appomattox Campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
1889 – George Eastman begins selling Kodak flexible roll film for the first time
1941 – German bombardment of Piraeus (munitions ship explodes)
1957 – NYC ends trolley car service
1973 – Federal court rules in favor of the Smothers Brothers in breach of contract lawsuit against CBS-TV, awarding them $776,300 USD
1982 – Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center from White Sands
1991 – 145th Grand National: In Canadian distillery Seagram’s final year of race sponsorship, New Zealand-bred chestnut gelding Seagram wins, ridden by Nigel Hawke
1992 – British Radio Authority licenses Virgin and TV-AM radio licenses
2002 – France beats Ireland 44-5 at Stade de France, Saint Denis to complete a Grand Slam and win the Six Nations Rugby Championship; their 13th title
Today in History for 6th April 2025
Historical Events
1896 – First modern Summer Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece; American athlete James Connolly becomes the first modern Olympic champion when he wins the triple jump (then 2 hops and a jump); later places 3rd in long jump and 2nd in high jump
1903 – In Holland, railroad and dock workers go out on strike, but the government passes anti-strike bills, calls out troops, and promptly ends the strike on the 13th April
1939 – US and UK agree on joint control of Canton and Enderbury Is (Pacific)
1954 – US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1986 – Soccer ball juggled non-stop for 14:14 hrs
1987 – 22nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams Jr, Randy Travis, and Reba McEntire win
Famous Birthdays
1773 – James Mill, Scottish philosopher and historian (History of British India), born in Angus, Scotland (d. 1836)
1886 – “Smokey” Joe Williams, American Baseball HOF pitcher (NgL, Mexico, Caribbean 1905-32; no-hitter 1919 NY Lincoln Giants), born in Seguin, Texas (d. 1951)
1890 – André-Louis Danjon, French astronomer (invented Danjon astrolabe), born in Caen, France (d. 1967)
1924 – Charlie Rouse, American hard bop tenor saxophonist (Thelonious Monk Quartet; Sphere), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1988)
1960 – Warren Haynes, American rock and blues guitarist (The Allman Brothers Band), born in Asheville, North Carolina
1965 – Rica Reinisch, German DR, 100m/200m backstroke (Olympic gold 1980)
Famous Deaths
912 – Nottker “the Stamelaar”, benedictine monk/poet, dies at about 71
1605 – John Stow, English historian (Survey of London), dies
1902 – Gleb Uspensky, Russian author (Power of the Soil), dies at 58
1989 – Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, American diver (Olympic gold 3m springboard 1924; 10m platform 1928), dies at 86
2014 – Jacques Castérède, French composer and pianist (Pandora’s Box), dies at 87
2016 – Dennis Davis, American jazz, rock and funk drummer (Roy Ayers; David Bowie, 1975-80; Stevie Wonder), dies of cancer at 66
Famous Deaths for 5th April 2025
1723 – J Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect (Hofburg, Vienna), dies at 66
1952 – Charles Collett, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (1922-41), dies at 80
1986 – Manly Wade Wellman, sci-fi author (Devil’s Planet), dies at 82
2001 – Malcolm Shepherd [2nd Baron Shepherd], Politician (L) and Leader of the House of Lords (1974-76), dies at 82
2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish soldier (b. 1915)
2020 – Margaret Burbidge, British-American astronomer and educator (faint object spectrograph of the Hubble Space), dies at 100
2020 – Ed Biles, American football coach (College: Xavier 1962-68; NFL: Houston Oilers 1981-83), dies from leukemia at 88
2021 – Philip K Chapman, Australian astronaut (Apollo 14 support), dies at 86
2022 – Joaquim Carvalho, Portuguese soccer goalkeeper (6 caps; Sporting CP), dies at 84
2022 – Bobby Rydell [Ridarelli], American pop singer (“Wild One”; “Wildwood Days”), and actor (Bye Bye Birdie), dies of pneumonia at 79
Historical Events for 5th April 2025
456 – Saint Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop
1242 – Russian Prince of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky defeats the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice
1894 – 11 strikers killed in riot at Connellsville, Penn
1922 – WDZ-AM in Decatur IL begins radio transmissions
1967 – ’76er Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA record of 41 rebounds
1970 – WSNS TV channel 44 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting
1984 – Galt MacDermot and William Dumaresq’s musical “The Human Comedy”, based on the novel by William Saroyan, opens at Royale Theater, NYC; runs for 13 performances
2009 – 44th Academy of Country Music Awards: Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley win
2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks
2021 – Italy scraps its 1914 film censorship law that could ban films on moral and religious grounds
Today in History for 5th April 2025
Historical Events
1975 – American tennis #1 Chris Evert wins her 3rd WTA Tour Championship at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; beats Martina Navratilova 6-4, 6-2
1990 – NY Rangers beat NY Islanders 2-1 in 1st game of preliminary
1991 – Space Shuttle STS 37 (Atlantis 8) launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida
1992 – The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Lee Trevino win his second Champions Tour major by 1 stroke from Jack Nicklaus
1996 – John Bobbitt is put under house arrest in Las Vegas for 120 days
2009 – Kraft Nabisco Championship Women’s Golf, Mission Hills CC: Brittany Lincicome eagles the final hole to win her first major title, 1 stroke ahead of fellow American Cristie Kerr
Famous Birthdays
1882 – Don Blackie, Australian cricket spin bowler (3 Tests, 14 wickets, BB 6/94; Victoria), born in Bendigo, Australia (d. 1955)
1886 – Jacques Handschin, Swiss musicologist (Der Toncharakter), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1955)
1901 – Alexander Alexeieff, Russian-French painter and graphic artist, born in Kazan, Russia (d. 1982)
1906 – Grady Sutton, American actor (The Bank Dick; The Pruitts of Southhampton), born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 1995)
1917 – Richard Yardumian, American composer (Come Creator Spirit), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1985)
1956 – Diamond Dallas Page, American professional wrestler, born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey
Famous Deaths
1617 – Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (Versa est in luctum), dies at 62
1908 – Gaetano Coronaro, Italian conductor, pedagogue, and composer (La Creola), dies at 55
1969 – Shelby Storck, American television producer, dies at 52
1994 – Marlon Riggs, American writer, director and producer (Ethnic notions), dies at 37
2005 – Dale Messick [Dalia Messick], American comic strip artist (Brenda Starr, Reporter), dies at 98
2011 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American scientist, (1976 Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine, for work on Hepatitis B), dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 4th April 2025
1930 – Vladimir Majakovski, Russian poet, dies
1961 – Simion Stoilow, Romanian mathematician (b. 1873)
1970 – Victor Otto Stomps, German writer and publisher, dies at 72
1980 – Woodrow Wilson “Red” Sovine, American country music singer, dies following a heart attack leading to a car crash at 62
1983 – Jacqueline Logan, American actress and silent film leading lady (WAMPAS Baby Star), dies at 78
1985 – Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and Welsh language writer, dies at 94
1991 – Max Frisch, Swiss writer and playwright (I’m Not Stiller, Firebugs), dies at 79
1992 – Samuel Reshevsky, Polish-American chess grandmaster (World C’ship 3rd 1948; 8 x US C’ship gold), dies of a heart attack at 80
2011 – Scott Columbus, American heavy metal drummer (Manowar, 1983–91 and 1994–2008), takes his own life at 54
2018 – Gertrude Jeannette, African American taxi driver, playwright and film and stage actress (Shaft, Cotton Comes to Harlem), dies at 103
Historical Events for 4th April 2025
1737 – Anthony van Heim installed as Dutch pension advisor
1818 – Congress decides on the US flag: 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces liberate Hungary from German occupation, establishing their own communist satellite state. This was celebrated as Liberation Day until 1989.
1957 – Heitor Villa-Lobos’ 10th Symphony premieres French Radio National Orchestra, conducted by the composer, in Paris
1964 – Deposed President João Goulart leaves Brazil under threat of arrest, moves into life of exile in Uruguay, and later Argentina
1973 – World Trade Center, then the world’s tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.
1987 – “Always and Forever” second studio album by Randy Travis (Billboard Album of the Year 1988)
1996 – Revival of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s stage drama “Inherit the Wind”, starring George C. Scott and Charles Durning, opens at Royale Theater, NYC; runs for 45 performances
1999 – The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Graham Marsh of Australia wins his second Champions Tour major by 3 strokes from Larry Nelson
2011 – 73rd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Butler, 53-41; Huskies’ point guard Kemba Walker scores 16 points
Today in History for 4th April 2025
Historical Events
1552 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony begins an alliance with Russian Anikey Stroganov
1833 – St Etienne-Lyons railway fully opens in France
1862 – Peninsular Campaign, launched in southeastern Virginia, aimed at capturing Richmond during US Civil War begins, Confederate victory (US Civil War)
1900 – Assassination attempt on Prince of Wales, later British King Edward VII when shot by Jean-Baptiste Sipido in protest over Boer war
1969 – Haskell Karp receives the 1st temporary artificial heart, implanted by surgeon Denton Cooley at Texas Heart Institute in Houston
1975 – British sitcom “The Good Life” starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith debuts on BBC One
Famous Birthdays
1740 – Wolfgang Nicolaus Haueisen, German organist, composer, and pedagogue, born in Oehrenstock, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1804)
1945 – Bryan Andrews, New Zealand cricketer (NZ medium-pacer, toured Australia 1973-74), born in Christchurch, New Zealand
1949 – Larry Lingle, American rock guitarist (The Four Seasons, 1979-93), born in Kansas City, Missouri
1952 – Gregg Hansford, Australian motorcycle racer (10 x GP wins) and touring car racer (Bathurst 1993), born in Brisbane, Australia (d. 1995)
1957 – Kelso, American racehorse, born in Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky (d. 1983)
1963 – David Gavurin, English pop guitarist and songwriter (The Sundays – “Here’s Where the Story Ends”; “Summertime”), born in the UK
Famous Deaths
1617 – John Napier, Scottish mathematician and inventor (logarithms), dies from effects of gout at 67
1734 – Johann C van Erckel, old Catholic theologist, dies at about 79
1947 – William O’Donnell, Irish politician (Teachta Dála, 1943-47), dies at 71
1951 – Al Christie, Canadian-born pioneering film director and producer (Nestor Film Company), dies at 69
1987 – C. L. Moore, American science fiction and fantasy writer (Judgment Night), dies at 76
1988 – Ludwig Stiel, German pianist, composer, and conductor, dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 3rd April 2025
1680 – Shivaji Bhonsle [Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj], Indian warrior and founder of the Maratha Empire, dies of fever and dysentery around the age of 52
1728 – James Anderson, Scottish lawyer (b. 1662)
1747 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter, dies at 89
1797 – Nonnosus Madlseder, German composer and Benedictine Monk, dies at 66
1917 – Arthur Graeme West, British writer and war poet (The Diary of a Dead Officer), killed by a sniper at about 25
1962 – Benny “Kid” Paret, American welterweight boxer, dies after a fight at 24
2001 – Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey, American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, dies at 74
2016 – Bill Henderson, American jazz singer (“Señor Blues”), and actor (Dreams – “Torpedo”), dies at 90
2020 – Tom Dempsey, American NFL kicker (Pro Bowl, First-team All-Pro 1969; New Orleans Saints; longest winning field goal, 63 yards), dies of COVID-19 complications at 73
2022 – June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 and 1997–2020 – “Dot”; Sitting Target), dies at 95