797: The Byzantine emperor Constantine VI is blinded and deposed by a coup organised by his mother, Irene, who assumes power herself.
1587: The English naval commander Sir Francis Drake sailed a small number of ships into Cadiz Harbour and sank most of the Spanish fleet. The incident became known as ‘singeing the King of Spain’s beard’.
1775: The American Revolution began. Launched this day in 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the American Revolution was an effort by 13 British colonies in North America (with help from France, Spain, and the Netherlands) to win their independence.
1882: Charles Darwin, the English biologist who developed the theory of evolution, died at his home in Kent. Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, the Quantum Leap sculpture was created to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth.
1958: The legendary English footballer Bobby Charlton made the first of his 106 appearances for England against Scotland and scored the first of his record 49 goals for his country.
1779: The Reverend James Hackman is hanged at Tyburn for the murder of Martha Ray, his former lover and the long-term mistress of John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich.
1881: Politician, author, and former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, the 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, died in London, aged 76.
1877: Birth in Norway of Ole Evinrude, the inventor of the outboard motor.
1713: With no clear male heir, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issues the Pragmatic Sanction so his lands can pass to a woman. He was succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresa in 1740 – though she still had to fight against her neighbours first.
1971: The Soviet Union launches the world’s first manned space station. Salyut 1 was 23 meters long and offered 100 cubic meters of pressurized space.
1971: Prolific killer Charles Manson was sentenced to death by gas chamber. The decision came after a lengthy 225 days of trials.
1979: Hundreds of Central African Republic school children are arrested and 100 killed by dictator Jean-Bédel Bokassa. Students decided to go on strike to protest being forced to purchase expensive school uniforms with Bokassa’s picture on them. The global outrage over the incident will embolden the military to oust Bokassa in September.
1987: The first installment of The Simpsons is aired. The hugely popular animated sitcom debuted on the Tracey Ullman Show in the form of one-minute shorts.
1989: A 28-year-old female investment banker is beaten and sexually assaulted while jogging in New York City’s Central Park. Five teenagers from Harlem were wrongly convicted of the crime, which shocked New Yorkers for its randomness and viciousness and became emblematic of the perceived lawlessness of the city at the time. The case was also racially charged, as the teens were Black and Hispanic and the victim was white. Later in 2002, a convicted murderer and serial rapist, already behind bars, came forward to confess he had attacked the Central Park jogger when he was 17 and had acted alone. DNA evidence later confirmed his rape claim.
1993: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launches a tear-gas assault on the Branch Davidian compound, ending a tense 51-day standoff between the federal government and an armed religious cult. By the end of the day, the compound was burned to the ground, and some 80 Branch Davidians, including 22 children, had perished in the inferno.
1994: American construction worker Rodney King received $3.8 million in compensation after suffering police brutality on March 3, 1991.
1995: 168 died in the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh, the mastermind behind the attack, was executed on June 11, 2001. The motives for the bombing, which also killed 19 babies and children, remain somewhat unclear.
2018: King Mswati III announced that he was changing his country’s name from the Kingdom of Swaziland to the Kingdom of Eswatini in honour of his 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of national independence.
2020: NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter became the first helicopter to fly on another planet.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY APRIL 19
Rivaldo, 52 years
Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira, known simply as Rivaldo born in 1972. He was a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a winger.
Maria Sharapova, 37 years
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She was born in 1987. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2001 to 2020 and was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association for 21 weeks. She is one of ten women to achieve the career Grand Slam.
Simi, 36 years
Simisola Bolatito Kosoko Listen, better known by her stage name Simi was born in 1988. She is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress. She started her career as a gospel singer, releasing her debut studio album in 2008, titled Ogaju. She also played as one of the top judges in season 7 of the Nigerian Idol TV show in 2022.
Genoveve Añonman, 35 years
Genoveva Añonman Nze is an Equatorial Guinean football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. She was born in 1989 in Cogo, Equatorial Guinea. She coaches Santa Bibiana in the Equatoguinean Primera División femenina.
She was the Top women’s football scorer for the Equatorial Guinea national team for which she played for 16 years. In 2012, she was chosen CAF’s African Women’s Footballer of the Year.
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