25th April 1859: Construction begins on the Suez Canal at the northern Egyptian port town of Port Said
The canal was designed as a sea-level waterway stretching approximately 120 miles across the Isthmus of Suez, and its completion in 1869, ten years after work began, significantly reduced travel time between Europe and ...
25 Apr 0s
24th April 1932: Mass trespass of Kinder Scout in the Peak District protests against limited access to open countryside
The Kinder Mass Trespass involved approximately 400 people walking to the Kinder Scout plateau in deliberate defiance of the landowners, in a protest in favour of the right to ...
24 Apr 0s
23rd April 1516: The Reinheitsgebot beer purity law first introduced in Bavaria
Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria signed the Reinheitsgebot, a law to ensure the purity of beer that specified a limited number of ...
23 Apr 0s
22nd April 1915: Poison gas used effectively in the First World War at the Second Battle of Ypres
Over five thousand French Algerian, Moroccan and territorial troops died within ten minutes of the chlorine gas being ...
22 Apr 0s
21st April 1526: First Battle of Panipat marks the beginning of Mughal rule in India and the end of the Lodi dynasty
Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, had established a power base in Kabul but the victory at Panipat gave him control of Delhi and Agra, allowing him to establish the foundations of what would become the Mughal Empire in ...
21 Apr 0s
20th April 1965: Houston Astrodome’s skylight windows painted to reduce glare from the sun
Painting the windows of the Astrodome significantly improved the situation for the players, but in turn led to the grass inside dying from a lack of light. It was replaced with an artificial alternative, which became known as ...
20 Apr 0s
19th April 1775: The Battles of Lexington and Concord mark the beginning of the American Revolutionary War
As the British troops arrived in Lexington, they encountered a small group and, although the exact events that unfolded are unclear, a shot was fired that initiated the first skirmish of the American Revolutionary ...
19 Apr 0s
18th April 1942: The Doolittle Raid marks the first American air operation to strike the Japanese mainland
The Doolittle Raid saw sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers demonstrate Japan’s vulnerability to air raids, and forced the Japanese military to divert resources to homeland ...
18 Apr 0s
