Today in 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln at the Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. He died the following day. According to legend, Lincoln was holding his wife’s hand at the time of the shooting and she had just asked him if the public display of affection was appropriate. Lincoln responded, "They won’t think anything about it." Those were his last words. (An interesting fact: John Wilkes Booth was the actor of his time. The modern day equivalent would be if the president was shot by Leonardo DiCaprio.)
Today in 1910, President Taft began the tradition of throwing out a pitch on baseball’s opening day.
Today in 1912, the world’s largest passenger ship, the Titanic, struck an iceberg during its maiden voyage in the North Atlantic and began sinking. Because it had been publicized as an unsinkable ship, many passengers refused to get into the lifeboats. Rescue ships picked up 706 survivors, while 1517 went down with the ship. The ship was located again in 1986.
Today in 1933, the first modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was recorded by Aldie and John Mackay, who said they saw "something resembling a whale."
Today in 1956, the Ampex Corporation demonstrated its first commercial videotape recorder. The price? A cool $50k.
Today in 2012, the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Adam “MCA” Yauch too ill to attend. He passed weeks later following a valiant fight with cancer of the salivary gland and lymph node.
Today in 2015, Archeologists announced they had found at Lomekwi in Kenya 3.3-million-year old stone tools, the oldest ever discovered and which pre-date the earliest known humans.
Today in 2018, Beyoncé became the first black woman to headline the Coachella Music Festival…and her performance on this day became the most-watched performance EVER on YouTube.
Today in 2018, US, UK and French forces carried out airstrikes on sites associated with Syria's chemical weapons program, in response to Douma gas attack.