Unix Timestamp: 1207958400
Saturday, April 12. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau stage a coup d\\\'état and take control of the capital city, Bissau. They arrest interim President Raimundo Pereira and leading presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Júnior in the midst of a presidential election caign.ref name=ap

U.S. Navy rescues Captain Richard Phillips killing three pirates, and capturing a fourth.

Thai political crisis:

Canadian scientists announce that they have sequenced the genome of the virus which is thought to cause Severe acute respiratory syndrome. The sequence is published on their website: //www.bcgsc.ca/bioinfo/SARS/. (News item: //www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s831165.htm)

The "Euro Disney Resort" officially opens with its theme park ''Euro Disneyland''. The resort and its park's name were subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.

Lothar de Maizière becomes prime minister of East Germany, heading a conservative coalition that favors German reunification.

In Forlì, Italy, the brigate rosse kill Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime MinisterCiriaco de Mita.

Israeli commandos kill the PLO's Abu Jihad in Tunisia.

The USS \\\\'\\\\'Samuel B. Roberts\\\\'\\\\' (FFG-58) strikes a naval mine in the Persian Gulf, while deployed on Operation Earnest Will, during the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War.

The USS "Samuel B. Roberts" (FFG-58) strikes a naval mine in the Persian Gulf, while deployed on Operation Earnest Will, during the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War.

In the Geneva Accords, the Soviet Union commits itself to withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan.

Former pop singer Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.

El Descanso bombing: A terrorist bombing attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization in the "El Descanso" restaurant near Madrid, Spain, mostly attended by U.S. personnel of the Torrejon Air Force Base, causes 18 dead (all Spaniards) and 82 injured.

Palestinian gunmen take Israeli Bus Number 300 hostage. Israeli special forces storm the bus, freeing the hostages (1 hostage, 2 hijackers killed).

The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle "Columbia" with NASA astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14. It is the first time a manned reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.

The rock band "Yes" splits up (regrouping in 1983).

A Minor League Baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).

The Labour Party wins control of the Greater London Council.

Followers of Charles Manson, the Manson Family, are sentenced to the gas chamber.

The government of Bangladesh flees to India.

The Soviet Union launches "Salyut 1".

François Duvalier, president of Haiti, dies his son Jean-Claude Duvalier follows him as president-for-life.

Sierra Leone becomes a republic.

Siaka Stevens is elected the first president of Sierra Leone.

Five hundred thousand people in Washington, DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march in protest against the Vietnam War.

Palestinians retreat from Amman to the north of Jordan.

"Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education": The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.

"Soyuz 10" docks with "Salyut 1".

The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at Mujibnagor.

Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.

Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol resigns, but remains effectively in power until the next elections.

A tsunami 85 m high rises over the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It throws a 750-ton block of coral 2.5 km inland.

Todor Zhivkov is re-elected as the leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party.

Franz Jonas is re-elected as chancellor of Austria.

The Ahmanson Theatre opens in Los Angeles.

In Detroit, Michigan, Malcolm X delivers a speech entitled The Ballot or the Bullet.

The proposed mass-production of the Blue Streak missile is canceled.

Eric Peugeot, the youngest son of the founder of the Peugeot Corporation, is kidnapped in Paris. Then, he is released on April 15 in exchange for $300,000 in ransom.

United States launches navigation satellite Transit I-b.

The Salkpolio vaccine, having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the FDA.

United States PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt dies suddenly at Warm Springs, Georgia Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes the 33rd President.

WWII: German troops enter Belgrade.

"NLRB v. Jones Laughlin Steel": The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the National Labor Relations Act is constitutional.

A bomb attack against Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini in Milan kills 17 bystanders.

April 14 ndash The first ever eastndashwest transatlantic aeroplane flight takes place from Dublin, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Canada, using GermanJunkers W33 "Bremen".

By a vote of 45–41, the United States Senate unseats Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart and seats Daniel F. Steck, after Brookhart had already served for over one year.

The "Kandersteg International Scout Centre" comes into existence.

Murderer Henri Désiré Landru is arrested.

Amritsar Massacre: British and Gurkhatroops massacre 379 Sikhs in the Punjab in India.

Eugene V. Debs enters prison at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for speaking out against the draft during World War I.

American Civil War ndash Andrew\\'s Raid - Union volunteers steal a Confederate locomotive, setting off The Great Locomotive Chase, famously involving the use of "The General" steam locomotive, which still exists in the 21st century.

American Civil War ndash Andrew's Raid - Union volunteers steal a Confederate locomotive, setting off The Great Locomotive Chase, famously involving the use of "The General" steam locomotive, which still exists in the 21st century.

The American Civil War begins with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

The Royal Norwegian Navy is re-established.

Helvetic Republic, a French client republic, proclaimed following collapse of the Old Swiss Confederacy on French invasion.

War of the First Coalition ndash Battle of Montenotte: Napoleon Bonaparte gains his first victory as an army commander.

Battle of the Saintes: A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse in the West Indies.

American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina produces the Halifax Resolves making it the first British colony to officially authorize its Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Seven Years' War: The French invade Minorca, at this time under British control.

Margaret Porteous is the first person recorded to die in the Great Plague of London. This last major outbreak of Bubonic plague in the British Isles was possibly introduced by Dutch prisoners of war. Two-thirds of Londoners leave the city, but over 68,000 die. Plague spreads to Derby.

Oliver Cromwell creates a union between England and Scotland, with Scottish representation in the Parliament of England.ref name=Cassell's Chronology/

Galileo Galilei convicted of heresy by the Roman Catholic church //www.history.com/this-day-in-history/galileo-is-convicted-of-heresy

The Union Flag is adopted as the national flag of Great Britain.

Mary of Guise becomes Regent of Scotland.

King Mangrai the Great of Ngoenyang established a new capital by founding Chiangmai and founded the Mangrai Dynasty that ruled the Lanna Kingdom of Chiangmai from 1296 to 1578.

The Treaty of Paris brings the Albigensian Crusade to an end.

Karl Sverkersson is murdered by Knut Eriksson (son of Eric Jedvardsson), who proclaims himself king of Sweden. However, Karl's half brothers Kol and Boleslaw proclaim themselves kings of Östergötland, in opposition to Knut, which leads to fights for the power in Sweden until 1173.

Nicephorus is elected patriarch of Constantinople, succeeding Tarasius.

Wulfred is consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury.

Emperor Skandagupta dies after a 12-year reign as Huns consolidate their conquests in western India. He is succeeded by his half-brother Purugupta.

Re-fortification of ancient Hillforts in Britain and construction of the Wansdyke (approximate date).

Emperor Leo I has his general Anthemius elected emperor of the Western Roman Empire. He allies himself with Ricimer, "de facto" ruler of Rome, and marries his daughter Alypia to him. This to strengthen the relationship and end the hostilities between the Eastern and Western Empire.

Summer ndash King Genseric extends his pirate raids in the Mediterranean Sea, the Vandals sack and enslave the people living in Illyricum, the Peloponnese and other parts of Greece. Leo I joins forces with the Western Empire.

Maximianus dies on Great and Holy Thursday. He is succeeded by Proclus who becomes archbishop of Constantinople.

Battle of Carthage: Numidian forces loyal to Maximinus invade Africa with support of Legio III \\'\\'Augusta\\'\\'. Gordian II is killed and after a siege of 36 days, Gordian I commits suicide by hanging himself with his belt.