On this day in 1912, the ocean liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg the evening before. 1,517 people died and more than 700 people survived.
Jackie Robinson played his first major league baseball game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on this day in 1947. He previously he had only appeared in exhibition games.
U.S. F-111 warplanes attacked Libya on this day in 1986 in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5, 1986.
Pol Pot died at the age of 73 on this day in 1998. The leader of the Khmer Rouge regime thereby evaded prosecution for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians.
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth on this day in 1865. He actually died early the next morning.
On this day in 1912, the Atlantic passenger liner Titanic, on its maiden voyage hit an iceberg and began to sink. 1,517 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived.
The first edition of Noah Webster’s dictionary was published under the name "American Dictionary of the English Language” on this day in 1828.
Noah Webster Jr. (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843)
Ampex Corporation of Redwood City, CA, demonstrated the first commercial magnetic tape recorder for sound and picture.
Ampex video tape at the National Museum of American History.
On this day in 2002, Tiger Woods celebrates his third Masters victory.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern sign the Good Friday Agreement (above). They reached a peace accord on governing British ruled Northern Ireland on this day in 1998. Britain’s direct rule was ended.
On this day in 1912, the Titanic set sail from Southampton, England on it’s doomed voyage.
F. Scott Fitzgerald published "The Great Gatsby" for the first time on this day in 1925.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgeraldwas born in St. Paul, Minnesota. (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940)
Comedian Sam Kinison (above) was killed when a pickup truck ran head-on into his car on a desert road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas on this day in 1992.
Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17), the Big Bopper (28) and pilot Roger Peterson died in a plane crash in Iowa on this day in 1959.
Crash site memorial north of Clear Lake, Iowa.
The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna 9 (above) on this day in 1966.
Eileen Marie Collins is a retired NASAastronaut and a retired United States Air Forcecolonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle on this day in 1995 aboard STS-63. She was awarded several medals for her work. She has logged 38 days 8 hours and 20 minutes in outer space. Collins retired onMay 1, 2006, to pursue privateinterests.
On this day in 2003, Phillip Harvey Spector became notorious for the murder of the actress Lana Clarkson (below). He was convicted of murder in second degree.
Recently released prison mugshots of Phil Spector (AP).
Hundreds of people were feared drowned in the Red Sea on this day in 2006 after an Egyptian ferry carrying 1,400 passengers and crew sank in rough weather in one of the worst shipping disasters in the world. Rescuers found at least 200 survivors in lifeboats and were brought ashore.
Norman Percevel Rockwell(February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978)
Norman Rockwell was a 20th-century American author, painter and illustrator whose works have a broad popular appeal in the U.S. for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations that depict everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades.
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847)
Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem by an Israeli court on this day in 1961. He had been tried on charges for organizing the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.
A single-engine plane carrying U.S. Army Major Glenn Miller (above) disappeared in thick fog over the English Channel during a flight to Paris.
A US Army-Air Force C-64 Norseman Aircraft similar to the one carrying Glenn Miller.
On this day in 1791, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, went into effect following ratification by the state of Virginia.
On this day in 1890, Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, SD, during an incident with Indian police working for the U.S. government.
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney died in Los Angeles on this day in 1966.
The movie "Gone With the Wind," produced by David O. Selznick based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell, premiered at Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta on this day in 1939. The epic film starred Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.
