Emperor Haile Selassie visited Jamaica, 1966
Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, had been the central figure in the Rastafarian faith since the foundation of the movement in the early 1930s. The indigent population in Jamaica…
U.S. Congress authorised two-cent coin, 1864
On 22nd April 1864 the U.S. Congress passed an Act to authorise the issuance of a two-cent coin. This Act also gave the the U.S. Treasury discretionary powers to decide…
Shakespeare died, 1616
On 23rd April 1616 William Shakespeare died at the age of 52 at his home in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, Shakespeare is also…
West German embassy siege in Stockholm, 1975
On the 24th April 1975, members of a group of armed revolutionary group from Germany known as the Red Army Faction entered the West German embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. They…
Guillotine used for first time, 1792
On 25th April 1792, a highwayman called Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier received the dubious honour of being the first person executed using the guillotine. The device was named after Joseph-Ignace Guillotin who…
Tanganyika and Zanzibar unite, 1964
On 26th April, 1964, the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was born. In October of that year the country was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania (a portmanteau of…
Duel of the Mignons, 1578
During the French Wars of Religion, two factions developed at court. One loyal to Henry III, King of France (pictured on the left) and the other supporters of Henry, Duke…
French abolished slavery for the second time, 1848
On 26th August 1789, just over a month after the fall of the Bastille, the National Constituent Assembly adopted The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.…
Alfred Hitchcock died, 1980
On 29th April 1980, the ‘Master of Suspense’, film director Alfred Hitchcock died of renal failure at his home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles. Just a few months earlier, he had…
Louisiana Purchase Treaty signed, 1803
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the Seven Years War between Great Britain and France. One of the articles required that the French give up all their…