12 History Lessons + 5 Births & 5 Deaths for April 14, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1828 – Noah Webster publishes the first edition of his American Dictionary of the English Language.
- 1860 – The first Pony Express mail reaches Sacramento, California.
- 1865 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
- 1894 – The first commercial motion picture house opens in New York City.
- 1912 – RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic shortly before midnight.
- 1935 – The “Black Sunday” dust storm sweeps across the U.S. Midwest during the Dust Bowl.
- 1944 – The cargo ship Fort Stikine explodes in Bombay harbor, killing over 800 people.
- 1956 – Ampex demonstrates the first practical videotape recorder.
- 1981 – The first space shuttle mission, STS-1, completes its first full day in orbit with Columbia.
- 1986 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan orders air strikes on Libya in retaliation for terrorist attacks.
- 2003 – Human Genome Project is declared essentially complete.
- 2014 – Boko Haram kidnaps over 270 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls movement.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1949 – Dennis Muren, visual effects artist (Star Wars, Jurassic Park) and multiple Oscar winner (76)
- 1973 – Adrien Brody, actor and Academy Award winner (The Pianist) (52)
- 1977 – Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (48)
- 1988 – Christian McCaffrey, NFL running back (37)
- 1996 – Abigail Breslin, actress (Little Miss Sunshine) (29)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1759 – George Frideric Handel, composer known for Messiah (74)
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President, assassinated (56)
- 1930 – Vladimir Mayakovsky, Russian poet and playwright (36)
- 1986 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and feminist author (The Second Sex) (78)
- 2015 – Percy Sledge, soul singer (When a Man Loves a Woman) (74)
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