YEAR

DAY

EVENT

527

Apr 4

In Constantinople, Justin, seriously ill, crowned his nephew Justinian as his co-emperor.

1460

Apr 4

University of Basle, Switzerland, formed.

1541

Apr 4

Ignatius Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, was elected 1st superior-general of the Jesuits.

1581

Apr 4

Frances Drake completed the circumnavigation of the world and was made a knight.

1655

Apr 4

Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet licked Barbarian pirates.

1807

Apr 4

Joseph Jerome Le Francaise de Lalande, French astronomer, died.

1832

Apr 4

Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reached Rio de Janeiro.

1859

Apr 4

Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Opera “Dinorah” was produced in Pais.

1865

Apr 4

Lee’s army arrived at the Amelia Courthouse.

1912

Apr 4

A Chinese republic was proclaimed in Tibet.

1932

Apr 4

George Bernard Shaw’s “Too True to be Good,” premiered in NYC.

1948

Apr 4

84-year-old Connie Mack challenged 78-year-old Clark Griffith to a race from home to 1st base; it ended in a tie.

1969

Apr 4

In Houston, Texas, Dr. Denton Cooley implanted the 1st temporary artificial heart.

1982

Apr 4

Dalia Ratnikas was born at San Francisco General Hospital, after wearing out 3 shifts of nurses, to Florence Monzasch and Algis Ratnikas.

1985

Apr 4

A coup in Sudan ousted President Nimeiry and replaced him with Gen. Dahab.

1986

Apr 4

In San Francisco an explosion in the Bayview District leveled nearly 3 square block injuring at least 21 people and leaving up to 30 missing.

1987

Apr 4

During a visit to Chile, Pope John Paul II denounced torture and pleaded for reconciliation.

1988

Apr 4

The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office. Mecham was the first U.S. governor to be so censured in nearly six decades.

1990

Apr 4

Security law violator Ivan Boesky was released from federal custody.

1991

Apr 4

Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz III, a leading 3-term Republican voice on health and trade policy, and six other people, including two children, were killed when a helicopter collided with Heinz’s plane over a schoolyard in Merion, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Teresa Heinz took his place as head of the family philanthropies. In 1995 she married Sen. John Kerry.

1992

Apr 4

His campaign acknowledged that Bill Clinton had received an induction notice in April 1969 while attending college in Oxford, England; Clinton said the notice arrived after he was due to report, and that his local draft board had told him he could complete the school term.

1993

Apr 4

President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrapped up their two-day summit in Vancouver, B.C. Clinton extended $1.6 billion in aid; Yeltsin proclaimed the two countries “partners and future allies.”

1995

Apr 4

Francisco Martin Duran, who had raked the White House with semiautomatic rifle fire in October 1994, was convicted in Washington of trying to assassinate President Clinton. Duran was later sentenced to 40 years in prison.

1996

Apr 4

President Clinton signed legislation severing the link between crop prices and government subsidies.

1997

Apr 4

It was reported that US psychologist Edward Larson followed a 1916 procedure by psychologist James Leuba in a random poll of selected scientists to inquire if they believed in God. Leuba had predicted that disbelief would spread as education expanded. Both polls produced similar results whereby 40% said that they believed in God.

1998

Apr 4

During a visit to Haiti, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urged leaders to stop political infighting that had paralyzed the Caribbean nation for nearly a year.

1999

Apr 4

The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 in baseball’s first season opener held in Mexico.

2000

Apr 4

Ha Jin, Prof. of English at Emory Univ. won the PEN/Faulkner Prize for His novel “Waiting.” Jin had arrived in the US from China in 1985.

2001

Apr 4

Hideo Nomo became the fourth pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter in both leagues with Boston’s 3-to-0 victory over Baltimore. Nomo, who threw a no-hitter for Los Angeles in 1996, joined Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers with no-hitters in both leagues.

2002

Apr 4

Pres. Bush demanded that Israel withdraw from West Bank cities and end settlement activity in occupied territories. He dismissed Yasser Arafat as a failed leader who had “betrayed the hopes of his people.” Bush ordered Sec. of State Colin Powell to the region to seek a cease-fire.

2003

Apr 4

Pres. Bush issued an executive order giving federal health officials power to quarantine anyone suspected of being infected with SARS. The disease had spread to 17 countries killing at least 90 people and infected some 2,300.

2004

Apr 4

In India suspected Islamic extremists stormed a police station in the city of Karachi and killed 5 police, forcing their victims to recite Quranic verses before shooting them.

2005

Apr 4

The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal captured two Pulitzer Prizes apiece; Marilynne Robinson received the fiction award for her novel “Gilead,” while John Patrick Shanley received the drama Pulitzer for “Doubt.”

2006

Apr 4

Republican Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, the House of Representatives’ fallen majority leader, announced the end of a re-election fight he was in jeopardy of losing and said he would soon step down from the US Congress.

2007

Apr 4

Apple updated its desktop Mac Pro computers adding two new 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors, bringing 8-core processing to the Mac. The new machines can run the 3.0GHz Intel Xeon processors and are available as build to order options.

2008

Apr 4

The US labor Dept. reported that employers slashed 80,000 jobs in march, the most in five years, as the national unemployment rate climbed to 5.1 percent.

2009

Apr 4

In Pittsburgh, Pa., Richard Poplawski (23) shot and killed 3 police officers, who were responding to a domestic violence disturbance. Poplawski received gunshot wounds in his legs and was charged with 3 counts of murder. The shooting began following an argument between Poplawski and his mother over a dog urinating in their house. On June 28, 2011, a jury sentenced Poplawski to death.

2010

Apr 4

In Bolivia allies of leftist President Evo Morales made modest advances in state and local elections, according to independent exit polls.

2011

Apr 4

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that special tax credits that pay for children to go to church schools cannot be challenged by dissenting taxpayers.

2012

Apr 4

Pres. Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, aka Stock Act.

2013

Apr 4

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said 4 mortgage insurers will pay over $15 million to settle claimes they paid illegal kickbacks to lenders in exchange for business.

2014

Apr 4

Pres. Obama met with Tunisia’s PM Mehdi Jomaa in Washington DC for talks on security and financial aid. On returning home Jomaa said the US has extended $500 million in new loan guarantees to Tunisia and lifted a State Department warning about traveling there.