• 456 - St. Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop.
• 1242 - During a battle on the ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
• 1566 - Two-hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrik van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands. The Inquisition is suspended and a delegation is sent to Spain to petition Philip II.
• 1609 - Daimyo (Lord) of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
• 1614 - In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
• 1621 - The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.
• 1792 - U.S. President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
• 1804 - High Possil Meteorite: The first recorded meteorite in Scotland falls in Possil.
• 1818 - In the Battle of Maipú, Chile's independence movement - led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín - win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
• 1874 - Birkenhead Park, the first civic public park, is opened in Birkenhead.
• 1879 - Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
• 1897 - The Greco-Turkish War, also called "Thirty Days' War", is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
• 1923 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company begins production of balloon-tires.
• 1930 - In an act of civil disobedience, Mohandas Gandhi breaks British law after marching to the sea and making salt.
• 1932 - Alcohol prohibition in Finland ends. Alcohol sales begin in Alko liquor stores.
• 1932 - Dominion of Newfoundland: 10,000 rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
• 1936 - Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
• 1942 - World War II: The Japanese Navy attacks Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy Cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
• 1944 - World War II: 270 inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
• 1945 - Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip "Tito" Broz signs an agreement with the USSR to allow "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory."
• 1946 - Soviet troops leave the island of Bornholm, Denmark after an 11 month occupation.
• 1949 - Fireside Theater debuts on television.
• 1949 - A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements.
• 1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for performing espionage for the Soviet Union.
• 1955 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
• 1956 - Fidel Castro declares himself at war with the President of Cuba.
• 1956 - In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the general elections in a landslide and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister.
• 1957 - In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E.M.S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first chief minister.
• 1958 - Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
• 1969 - Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
• 1971 - In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches insurrection against the United Front government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
• 1976 - In the People's Republic of China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen incident.
• 1986 - Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle Discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
• 1991 - An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard.
• 1992 - Several hundred-thousand abortion rights demonstrators march in Washington, D.C.
• 1992 - Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
• 1992 - The Siege of Sarajevo begins when Serb paramilitaries murder peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sucic on the Vrbanja Bridge.
• 1998 - In Japan, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshū and costing about $3.8 billion USD, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
• 1999 - Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
• 2007 - Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is named Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church.

Births