12 History Lessons + 6 Births & 5 Deaths for April 26, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1336 – Japanese samurai Ashikaga Takauji captures Kyoto, starting the Ashikaga shogunate.
- 1607 – English colonists land at Cape Henry, Virginia, now part of the Jamestown settlement.
- 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte signs a general amnesty for émigrés, allowing royalists to return to France.
- 1933 – The Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police, is established.
- 1937 – The German Luftwaffe bombs the Spanish town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, inspiring Picasso’s famous painting.
- 1954 – The Geneva Conference begins to resolve the war between France and the Viet Minh in Indochina.
- 1962 – NASA’s Ranger 4 becomes the first U.S. spacecraft to reach the Moon (though its systems failed).
- 1986 – The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs in Soviet Ukraine, releasing massive radiation into the atmosphere.
- 1994 – South Africa holds its first multiracial elections, leading to Nelson Mandela’s presidency.
- 2000 – Vermont becomes the first U.S. state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.
- 2005 – Syria withdraws the last of its military forces from Lebanon after 29 years of occupation.
- 2018 – Comedian Bill Cosby is convicted of sexual assault, a landmark #MeToo verdict.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1933 – Carol Burnett, comedian and TV icon (The Carol Burnett Show) (92)
- 1965 – Kevin James, actor and comedian (The King of Queens) (60)
- 1970 – Melania Trump, former First Lady of the United States (55)
- 1977 – Tom Welling, actor known for Smallville (48)
- 1980 – Channing Tatum, actor (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street) (45)
- 1986 – Jordana Spiro, actress (My Boys, Ozark) (39)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1478 – Giuliano de’ Medici, assassinated during the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence (24)
- 1920 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician known for his contributions to number theory (32)
- 1989 – Lucille Ball, legendary actress and comedian (I Love Lucy) (77)
- 2005 – Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (The Brothers Karamazov) (79)
- 2014 – DJ E-Z Rock, American hip-hop artist known for It Takes Two (46)
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