1590 – The Sultan of Morocco launched his successful attack to capture Timbuktu.

1644 – The Ming Chongzhen emperor committed suicide by hanging himself.

 1707 – At the Battle of Almansa, Franco-Spanish forces defeated the Anglo-Portugese.

1792 – The guillotine was first used to execute highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier.

1846 – The Mexican-American War ignited as a result of disputes over claims to Texas boundaries. The outcome of the war fixed Texas‘ southern boundary at the Rio Grande River.

1859 – Work began on the Suez Canal in Egypt.

1860 – The first Japanese diplomats to visit a foreign power reached Washington, DC. They remained in the U.S. capital for several weeks while discussing expansion of trade with the United States.

1882 – French commander Henri Riviere seized the citadel of Hanoi in Indochina.

1898 – The U.S. declared war on Spain. Spain had declared war on the U.S. the day before.

 1915 – During World War I, Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli in Turkey in hopes of attacking the Central Powers from below. The attack was unsuccessful.

1925 – General Paul von Hindenburg took office as president of Germany.

1926 – In Iran, Reza Kahn was crowned Shah and choose the name “Pehlevi.”

1953 – Dr. James D. Watson and Dr. Francis H.C. Crick suggested the double helix structure of DNA.

1954 – The prototype manufacture of the first solar battery was announced by the Bell Laboratories in New York City.

1957 – Operations began at the first experimental sodium nuclear reactor.

1959 – St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping. The water way connects the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.

1961 – Robert Noyce was granted a patent for the integrated circuit.

1962 – The U.S. spacecraft, Ranger, crashed on the Moon.

1971 – The country of Bangladesh was established.
1971 The inclusion of China in the United Nations is urged by all sides due to it’s growth and importance as a world power.

1974 – Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar was overthrown in a military coup.

1976 – Portugal ratified a constitution. It was first revised on October 30, 1982.

1980 – In Iran, a commando mission to rescue hostages was aborted after mechanical problems disabled three of the eight helicopters involved. During the evacuation, a helicopter and a transport plan collided and exploded. Eight U.S. servicemen were killed. The mission was aimed at freeing American hostages that had been taken at the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The event took place April 24th Washington, DC, time.
1980  A Dan-Air Boeing 727 crashes into the side of a mountain due to foggy conditions and confusion between air traffic controllers and the ships captain. The aircraft was carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands and all 146 people were killed on impact.

1982 – In accordance with Camp David agreements, Israel completed its Sinai withdrawal.

1983 – Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter in which the U.S. schoolgirl expressed fears about nuclear war.

1983 – The Pioneer 10 spacecraft crossed Pluto’s orbit, speeding on its endless voyage through the Milky Way.

1988 – In Israel, John “Ivan the Terrible” Demjanuk was sentenced to death as a Nazi war criminal.

1990 – Sandinista rule ended in Nicaragua.

1990 – The U.S. Hubble Space Telescope was placed into Earth’s orbit. It was released by the space shuttle Discovery.

1992 – Islamic forces in Afghanistan took control of most of the capital of Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.

1996 – The main assembly of the Palestine Liberation Organization voted to revoke clauses in its charter that called for an armed struggle to destroy Israel.

2012 Pakistan Tests Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile

2013  US Lifts Boeing 787 Ban