This Day in History - April 14

In honour of someone special's birthday, I wanted to do a random bit of history for April 14th.

1611 - First time the word "telescope" was used.

1814 - Napoleon abdicated and was banished to Elba.

Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David

1818 - Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language is printed. Webster's dictionary was one of the first to have distinctly American words and introduced more than 10,000 "Americanisms" (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/websters-american-dictionary-of-the-english-language-is-printed). It took Webster nearly two decades to complete his dictionary.

1859 - "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens was first published.

1860 - The first Pony Express rider arrives in San Francisco with mail originating in St. Joseph, MO.

Poster for the Pony Express

1865 - President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth while watching "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater.

1894 - The first public showing of Thomas Edison's kinetoscope.

An Edison Kinetoscope

1902 - James Cash Penny (JC Penny) opens his first store called "The Golden Rule Store" in Kemmerer, WY.

1912 - RMS Titanic hits an iceberg. Just after 2:00 am on April 15th, the Titanic sinks to the ocean floor.

1923 - Golfer Roberto De Vicenzo was born. He is famous for winning over 230 Tournaments worldwide, including 8 on the PGA tour. His most famous victory was the 1967 Open Championship.

Roberto De Vicenzo - BBC Mundo

1935 - Country Superstar Loretta Lynn is born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. With a career spanning two decades, her first big break came at the age of 27 when she had her first Top 10 country hit "Success".

1936 - Golfer Bobby Nichols was born. He is best known for winning the 1964 PGA Championship. He began his PGA tour in 1960 and had 12 PGA Tour victories. Waverly Park in Louisville has a 9-hole course named Bobby Nichols Golf Course in his honour.

1939 - "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck was published for the first time.

1956 - Ampex Corporation demonstrate the first commercial magnetic tape recorder for sound and picture.

Ampex VRX-1000

1960 - Montreal Canadiens win their 5th consecutive Stanley Cup sweeping the series and defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 in the final game. They are the only team in NHL history to win 5 consecutive Stanley Cup victories.

Montreal Canadiens Logo

1969 - Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tie for the Best Actress Oscar. Katharine Hepburn was nominated for her role as Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter" and Barbra Streisand for her role as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl". This was the first exact tie in Oscar history.

1969 - The Montreal Expos host the first Major League Baseball game to be played in Canada. The Expos were named after Expo '67 World's Fair that took place in Montreal. After the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the team moved to Olympic Stadium for their games. In 2004 the Expos played their final game as the Montreal Expos. The team was moved to Washington in 2005 and became the Washington Nationals.

Montreal Expos Logo

1981 - The space shuttle Columbia returns to Earth after a 3 day test flight, orbiting the Earth nearly 36 times. This was the first space shuttle completed by NASA.

1984 - The Texas Board of Education issues a ruling that all public school textbooks describe evolution as a theory rather than a proven fact.

1992 - A US court throws out Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft.

1996 - Detroit Red Wings defeat the Dallas Stars 5-1 and become the team with the most victories in NHL history with 62 victories. The Montreal Canadiens had the former record with 60 victories in the 1976-1977 season.

2010 - Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland explodes resulting in an ash plume in the atmosphere over most of northern and central Europe. This creates havoc on air travel with planes being grounded for several days.

Eyjafjallajokull Exploding - Photo by Sigurdur Hrafn Stefnisson

Enjoy!