9th April 1860: First known audio recording made by French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville on his phonautograph
Scott developed the phonautograph, which used a horn to collect sound waves and direct them onto a membrane, and made a recording of a fragment of the song “Au Clair de la Lune” on 9 April ...
9 Apr 0s
8th April 1904: Times Square in New York given its name
Times Square in New York was given its name shortly after the offices of The New York Times moved to the ...
8 Apr 0s
7th April 1739: Legendary British highwayman Dick Turpin executed in York after being convicted of horse theft
Turpin committed numerous highway robberies and soon became one of the most notorious criminals of his time, though he was ultimately executed for horse ...
7 Apr 0s
6th April 1917: The USA declares war on Germany in WW1
The United States entered the First World War after Congress declared war on the German ...
6 Apr 0s
5th April 1621: The Mayflower returns to England from the settlement at Plymouth, having carried the Pilgrim fathers to America
To the ship’s crew the voyage to the New World was just a delivery contract between the Pilgrims and the ship’s master, Christopher ...
5 Apr 0s
4th April 1841: US President William Henry Harrison dies 32 days after taking office, ending the shortest presidency in US history
Shortly after his inauguration, Harrison developed a cold that worsened into pneumonia from which he died. As well as becoming the first U.S. president to die in office this also marked the shortest presidency in US ...
4 Apr 0s
3rd April 1882: American outlaw Jesse James shot dead by fellow gang-member Robert Ford
As James stood on a chair and turned to clean a dirty picture frame in his house, Robert Ford shot him in the back of the head from virtually point-blank ...
3 Apr 0s
2nd April 1877: Zazel performs the first recorded human cannonball act at the Royal Aquarium in London
The human cannonball act was developed by "The Great Farini" and performed by 17-year-old Rossa Matilda Richter, who was propelled over 6 metres at a show in the theatre of London’s Royal ...
2 Apr 0s
