12 History Lessons + 4 Births & 5 Deaths for April 15, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1755 – Samuel Johnson publishes A Dictionary of the English Language, one of the most influential dictionaries in history.
- 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the night before; Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President.
- 1892 – The General Electric Company (GE) is formed through the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston.
- 1912 – RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., killing over 1,500 people.
- 1923 – Insulin becomes publicly available for treatment of diabetes.
- 1947 – Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier in Major League Baseball, debuting with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- 1955 – McDonald’s Corporation is founded by Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Illinois.
- 1986 – U.S. launches airstrikes against Libya in retaliation for terrorist bombings.
- 1989 – Hillsborough disaster: 96 football fans are crushed to death in a stadium in Sheffield, England.
- 2013 – Two bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring over 260.
- 2019 – The cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris suffers a massive fire, destroying its roof and spire.
- 2021 – U.S. President Joe Biden announces the full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1959 – Emma Thompson, Oscar-winning British actress and screenwriter (Sense and Sensibility) (66)
- 1971 – Danielle Fishel, actress (Boy Meets World) (54)
- 1982 – Seth Rogen, comedian, actor, and writer (Superbad, Pineapple Express) (43)
- 1990 – Emma Watson, actress and activist (Harry Potter series) (35)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, assassinated (56)
- 1912 – John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman, died on the Titanic (47)
- 1980 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist philosopher and Nobel laureate (74)
- 1990 – Greta Garbo, Swedish-American film actress (Camille, Ninotchka) (84)
- 2013 – Pat Summerall, legendary NFL player and broadcaster (82)
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