Today in History, 15/4

HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE

1689 - France's King Louis XIV declares war on Spain.

1715 - Prussia, Saxony, Poland, Hanover and Denmark form alliance against Sweden, and war is declared.

1862 - A bill ending slavery in the US District of Columbia becomes law.

1865 - Andrew Johnson becomes the 17th US president after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

1912 - The passenger luxury liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic, with the loss of more than 1500 lives.

1923 - Insulin, discovered by Canadian Dr Frederick Banting, is made available for general use by diabetics.

1945 - British and Canadian troops liberate the Nazi's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

1974 - The first Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show opens in Sydney, starring Reg Livermore.

1982 - Five militant Muslim fundamentalists are executed in Egypt for assassination of President Anwar Sadat.

1989 - Students in Beijing launch a series of pro democracy protests upon the death of former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang; the protests culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre.

1992 - Sanctions go into effect against Libya for refusing to surrender two suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

1998 - Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, dies at 73, evading prosecution for the deaths of two million Cambodians in the 1970s.

2003 - US President George W Bush declares an end to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime, less than a week after US forces seized Baghdad.

2010 - An enormous ash cloud from a remote Icelandic volcano causes the biggest flight disruption since September 11, drifting over northern Europe and stranding travellers on six continents.

2011 - Former Australian water polo champion Keli Lane is jailed for at least 13 years and five months for murdering her newborn baby Tegan in 1996.

2012 - Australian swimmer and four-time Olympic gold medallist Murray Rose dies at the age of 73 after battling leukaemia.

2013 - Two blasts near the finish line of the Boston Marathon kill three people and wound more than 100.

2014 - The former boss of Australian Water Holdings tells the NSW corruption watchdog he once couriered a $3000 bottle of Penfolds Grange to NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell's home, prompting O'Farrell to resign the following day.

2017 - Shots are fired at the Manus Island detention centre and nine asylum seekers are injured during a violent incident.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, engineer, sculptor and architect (1452-1519); Nanak, guru and founder of Sikhism (1469-1539); Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (1707-1783); Henry James, US author (1843-1916); Bessie Smith, US blues singer (1898-1937); Dodi Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman (1955-1997); Emma Thompson, British actress (1959-); Lee Kernaghan, Australian country singer (1964-); Seth Rogen, Canadian actor/writer (1982-); Emma Watson, British actress (1990-); Maisie Williams, British actress (1997-).

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it - George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born playwright (1856-1950).

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