Unix Timestamp: 1207440000
Sunday, April 6. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declares the independence of Azawad from Mali.

Capt Amadou Sanogo, the leader of the Mali coup, states that power will be transferred to the President of the National Assembly after separatist Tuaregs declare independence. //www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i701PdJb2rkdYJ90teoUQj2TGFZA?docId=a159a4c20669423ebd87d7802ffca78c (AP via Google News)

Details of North Korea's own Red Star operating system emerge. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8604912.stm (BBC) //www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?from=rss_IOLTechHomeiSectionId=2883iArticleId=5417910 (IOL)

Announcement of first animals that spent their entire lives without oxygen were discovered in depths of Mediterranean Sea. They belong to three new species from phylum Loricifera. //www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/30/abstract (BMC Biology) //www.nature.com/news/2010/100406/full/464825b.html (Nature)

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila, Italy, killing nearly 300 and injuring more than 1,500.

The first 13th root calculation of a 200-digit number is computed by Frenchman Alexis Lemaire.

As the Israeli–Palestinian conflict intensifies, the United States repeats its demands to Israel that it should pull back its troops.

Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of hitting India.

Michelangelo's "Universal Judgement" is reopened to the public after 10 years of restorations.

FedEx Flight 705 experiences an attempted suicidalhiajcking. The crew manages to subdue the attacker and land at the airport.

The Rwandan Genocide begins in Kigali, Rwanda.

Kurt Cobain, songwriter and frontman for the band Nirvana, is found dead at his Lake Washington home, apparently of a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundi President Cyprien Ntaryamira die when a missile shoots down their jet near Kigali, Rwanda. This is taken as a pretext to begin the Rwandan Genocide.

A nuclear accident occurs at Tomsk 7 in Russia.

In Nepal, Gyanendra of Nepal lifts a ban on political parties following violent protests.

Robert Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment show of nude and homoerotic photographs opens at the CincinnatiContemporary Arts Center, in spite of accusations of indecency by Citizens for Community Values.

"Scandinavian Star", a Bahamas-registered ferry, catches fire en route from Norway to Denmark, leaving 158 dead.

In the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Socialist Republic of Slovenia holds Yugoslavia's first multiparty election since 1938. After the election, a center-right coalition led by Lojze Peterle forms Yugoslavia's first non-Communist government since 1945.

In the Greek legislative election, the conservative New Democracy wins the most seats in the Hellenic Parliament its leader, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, becomes Prime Minister of Greece on April 11.

Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of 5 charges for his part in the scandal the convictions are later reversed on appeal.

National Safety Council of Australia chief executive John Friedrich is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235 million.

A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumps 1–2 feet of snow on the northeastern United States, closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several major league baseball games.

Swedish pop group ABBA win the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo".

California Jam is held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, attracting 250,000 fans.

Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees becomes the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball.

Israeli Air Force F4 Phantom II fighter bombers kill forty-seven Egyptian school children at an elementary school in what is known as Bahr el-Baqar massacre. The single-floor school was hit by five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles.

A huge gas explosion at a subway construction site in Osaka, Japan kills 79 and injures over 400.

BBCRadio 4 broadcasts the first edition of "PM".

Georges Pompidou begins to form the next French government.

Jigme Palden Dorji, Premier of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, is shot dead by an unidentified assassin in Puncholing, near the Indian border.

The 31st Academy Awards ceremony is held.

Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari divorces the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after she is unable to produce any children.

Van Cliburn wins the Tchaikovsky International Competition for pianists in Moscow, breaking Cold War tensions.

The satellite Sputnik 2 disintegrates in space after several orbits.

Anthony Eden becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

WWII: Sarajevo is liberated from the Nazi Germany and Nazi Croatia (German puppet state) by the Yugoslav Partisans.

WWII: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.

Two tornadoes strike Gainesville, Georgia. The smaller tornado hits north Gainsville, the stronger tornado the west side of town. 203 die and 1,600 are injured in the 5th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

U.S. publication of the novel Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rudyard Kipling and William Butler Yeats are awarded the Gothenburg Prize for Poetry.

The worlds largest ever recorded surface wind speed of 231 miles per hour was recorded on the summit of Mt. Washington NH.

The Portuguese government declares martial law in Madeira and in the Azores because of an attempted military takeover in Funchal.

Fascists win the elections in Italy with a ⅔ majority.

The "A.E.K." is founded in Greece.

A referendum in Greece favors the formation of the Second Hellenic Republic.

The first Prefects Board in Southeast Asia is formed in Victoria Institution, Malaysia.

The short-lived Far Eastern Republic is declared in eastern Siberia.

April 7 ndash The Bavarian Soviet Republic is founded.

WWI: The United States declares war on Germany.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is begun in Hartford, CT by Hiram Maxim and Clarence Tuska.

Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, and four Eskimo explorers come within a few miles of the North Pole.

"Lochner v. New York": The Supreme Court of the United States invalidates New York's 8-hour-day law.

The opening ceremonies of the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympic Games, are held in Athens.

Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.

first New Year\\\\'s Day of the solar calendar adopted by Siamese King Chulalongkorn with the 106th anniversary of Bangkok's founding in 1782 as its epoch (reference date).

The American Museum of Natural History is founded in New York.

May ndash In France, the opposition, consisting of republicans, monarchists and liberals, polls almost 45% of the vote in national elections.

Germanchemicals producer "Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik (BASF)" is founded in Mannheim.

American Civil War: In Tennessee, the Battle of Shiloh begins.

May ndash Start of the Sino-Sikh war.

President John Tyler is sworn in.

USA: The Black Hawk War begins.

Joseph Smith and 5 others organize the Church of Christ (later renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), the first formally organized church of the Latter Day Saint movement, in northwestern New York.

Bourbon Restoration: Louis XVIII is invited to occupy the restored French throne.

John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company.

Revenue Commission disbanded.

The Committee of Public Safety is established in France with Georges Danton as its head.

At Federal Hall, the United States Senate attains its first quorum and elects John Langdon of Pennsylvania as its first President pro tempore. Later that day, the Senate and the House of Representatives meet in joint session for the first time, and the electoral votes of the first U.S. Presidential election are counted. General George Washington is certified as President-elect and John Adams is certified as Vice-President elect.

Rama I succeeds KingTaksin of Siam (now Thailand) who is overthrown in an coup d'etat and moves the political capital from Thonburi across the Menam to Rattanakosin Island, the historic center of Bangkok.

The Sugar Act is passed.

Dubrovnik earthquake: An earthquake in the Republic of Ragusa kills one fifth of the population.

Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply c for the Dutch East India Company at the Cape of Good Hope, and founds Cape Town.

Dover Straits earthquake.

June ndash England signs a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

April ndash Muhammed V, Sultan of Granada, returns to the throne after the murder of the usurper Muhammed VI.

Junepndash Under the terms of the will of Sir John de Wingfield (died 1361), the church of St Andrew and the college of priests are founded in Wingfield, Suffolk.

At the Battle of Brignais, the Free Companies defeat a French army.

Petrarch sees a woman he names Laura in the church of Sainte-Claire d'Avignon, which awakes in him a lasting passion. He writes a series of poems dedicated to her, which are collected into his "Canzoniere" (Song Book). This is generally considered to be the day the Renaissance began.

November ndash Alfonso IV of Aragon begins his reign.

The Second Shepherds' Crusade begins.

The Venetian Arsenal is rebuilt as the Arsenal Nuovo.

Ghiyas al-Din Tughlaq founds the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

In England many horses die of a disease called Ffarsine.

The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

Dante's "Quaestio de Aqua et Terra" is published.

Saint Peter of Verona is assassinated by Carino of Balsamo.

King Richard I of England dies from gangrene caused by the crossbow wound he received at the siege of Châlus. His younger brother, John Lackland, becomes King of England. Richard's jewels are left to his nephew, Otto of Saxony."King John" by Warren. Published by University of California Press in 1961. p. 48 As a result of Richard's death, French warrior Mercadier has Pierre Basile flayed alive and hanged.

St. Laurence Church in Ludlow is rebuilt on its Normanfoundations.

Pope Benedict IV succeeds Pope John IX as the 117th pope.Artaud de Montor //books.google.fr/books?id=-JwAAAAAcAAJpg=PT62 "Histoire des souverains pontifes romains" Didot, 1846

The Persian scientist Rhazes distinguishes smallpox from measles in the course of his writings. Holding against any sort of orthodoxy, particularly Aristotle's physics, he maintains the conception of an 'absolute' time, regarded by him as a never-ending flow.

Emperors Arcadius and his younger brother Honorius become Roman consuls.

The Avars, led by Shelun (Chö-louen), having defeated the Gaoju Dingling (Kao-kiu Ting-ling) near Kobbo, establish a nomadic empire that ranges from Mongolia to the Irtysh.

The Pure Land school of Buddhism founds a monastery upon the top of Mount Lushan.

Jerome writes "Apologiae contra Rufinum" and "Liber tertius seu ultima responsio adversus scripta Rufini".

Battle of Pollentia: Stilicho recalls troops from Britain and the Rhine frontier to defend Italy. He decides to attack the Goths on Eastern Sunday and manages to capture Alaric's wife and children.

Porphyry of Gaza orders the destruction of pagan temples in Gaza.

Fa-Hien, Chinese Buddhist monk, makes a pilgrimage to India initiating Sino-Indian relations. Stirred by his faith to Buddhism, he visit the sites of Siddhartha Gautama's life.

King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo (Korea) defeats the forces of Later Yan, seizing some of their border fortresses.

Jared conquers the Babylonians according to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Tiberius returns to Rome from Capri.

Good Friday) ndash Crucifixion of Jesus (according to one dating scheme).

Naevius Sutorius Macro becomes the leader of the Praetorian Guard after Sejanus is executed.