Unix Timestamp: 1209081600
Friday, April 25. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Mexico's government declares a state of emergency to combat the outbreak of swine influenza. //www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE53O2WD20090425 (Reuters)

Astronomers announce the discovery of the Earth-like exoplanet Gliese 581 c, which may support liquid water and is potentially habitable. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6589157.stm (BBC)

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signs a decree delaying the 2007 parliamentary election from May 27 to June 24. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6594037.stm (BBC)

Amagasaki rail crash: A passenger train derails in AmagasakiHyōgo Prefecture, Japan, killing 104 people and injuring at least another 450.

United States Army secretary Thomas E. White resigns amidst tensions with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld over the direction future Army weapons development programs should take, and controversy surrounding White's previous employer, Enron. The Pentagon declines to provide specifics on the circumstances of his resignation. //www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38848-2003Apr25.html

"Soyuz TM-34": South African Mark Shuttleworth blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome he had paid £15 million for the trip.

The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing Civil Unions for same-sex couples.

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj, Sultan of Selangor, becomes the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

British T.V presenter Jill Dando, 37, is shot dead on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, London.

Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), bringing the total members to 10.

The term of Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman as the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia ends.

A third nail bomb (see April 17) explodes in the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street, Soho, London, killing a pregnant woman and two friends and injuring 70 others, including her husband. This is part of a hate caign against ethnic minorities and gay people by David Copeland.

Violeta Chamorro is elected President of Nicaragua.

In Israel, Ivan Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. He was accused by survivors of being the notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination c known as Ivan the Terrible. The conviction is later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.

The term of Sultan Ahmad Shah as the 7th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia ends.

Manchester, Maine, schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov, after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.

Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in accordance with the Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty.

Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes in Tenerife, killing all 146 occupants and marking the worst air disaster involving a British-registered aircraft in terms of loss of life.

St. Paul, Minnesota becomes the second U.S. city to repeal its gay rights ordinance after Anita Bryant's successful 1977 anti-gay caign in Dade County, Florida.

Portugal's new constitution is enacted.

Vietnam War: As North Vietnamese Army forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost 10 years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.

An all-female Japanese team summits Manaslu in Nepal, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000 metre peak.

"Carnation Revolution": A coup in Portugal restores democracy.

The Expo \'74World's Fair opens in Spokane, Washington.

On this Sunday morning teenage sniper Michael Clark kills three and wounds others shooting at cars from a hilltop along Highway 101 just south of Orcutt, California. Sixteen year old Clark kills himself as police rush hilltop.

U.S. troops are sent to the Dominican Republic by President Lyndon B. Johnson, for the stated purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and preventing an alleged Communist takeover of the country, thus thwarting the possibility of another Cuba.

Vietnam War: Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies announces that the country will substantially increase its number of troops in South Vietnam, supposedly at the request of the Saigon government (it is later revealed that Menzies had asked the leadership in Saigon to send the request at the behest of the Americans).

Thieves steal the head of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark (Henrik Bruun confesses in 1997).

The St. Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.

Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid, their description of the double helix structure of DNA.

26 ndash WWII: Last major strategic bombing raid by RAF Bomber Command, the destruction of the oil refinery at Tønsberg in southern Norway by 107 Avro Lancasters.

The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.

Easter occurs on the latest possible date (last time 1886 next time 2038) in the Western Christian Church.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, criticizes Charles Lindbergh by comparing him to the Copperheads of the Civil War period. In response, Lindbergh resigns his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve on April 28.

The Federal Security Agency (FSA) is founded in the USA, along with the Civilian Conservation Corps and Public Health Service.

"Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins": The U.S. Supreme Court overturns a century of federal common law.

Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name Pahlevi.

WWI: Start of the Gallipoli Caign (lasting until January 1916): Landing at Anzac Cove by Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and landing at Cape Helles by British and French troops to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.

Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain the U.S. Congress announces that a state of war has existed since April 21 (later backdating this one more day to April 20).

Easter occurs on the latest possible date (the next time in 1943).

Caulfield Grammar School is founded in Melbourne, Australia.

Ten sophomores from Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) steal a one-ton cannon from the cus of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and start the Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War.

American Civil War ndash Capture of New Orleans: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.

Ground is broken for the Suez Canal.

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, the Governor General of Canada, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.

Mexican-American War: Open conflict begins over border disputes of Texas' boundaries.

The pioneer parishes of New Orleans and Louisiana are erected as well as incorporated into the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas

Daniel Defoe publishes "Robinson Crusoe".

April ndash French army under James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick invades the Basque provinces of Spain.

The Allied army is defeated by the Bourbon army at Almanza, Spain, in the War of the Spanish Succession. Following this, Philip V of Spain promulgates the first Nueva Planta decrees, bringing the Kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon under the laws of the Crown of Castile.

A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to commit suicide.

Thirty Years\\' War: Albrecht von Wallenstein defeats Ernst von Mansfelds army in the Battle of Dessau Bridge.

Thirty Years' War: Albrecht von Wallenstein defeats Ernst von Mansfelds army in the Battle of Dessau Bridge.

Battle of Gibraltar: A Dutch fleet destroys a Spanish fleet anchored in the Bay of Gibraltar (Battle of Gibraltar).

Martin Waldseemüller publishes his world map, naming the new continent America in honour of Amerigo Vespucci, his friend and idol.

Battle of Hedgeley Moor: Yorkist forces under Lord Montague defeat Lancastrians under Sir Ralph Percy, who is killed.

The Council of Basel dissolves itself.

Mamluk sultan Qalawun begins a siege of the Crusader fortress of Margat (in present-day Syria), a major stronghold of the Knights Hospitaller thought to be impregnable he captures the fortress a month later.

Tran Hung Dao leads Vietnamese forces in victory over an invading Mongol army of the Yuan dynasty.

Conrad IV of Germany becomes titular King of Jerusalem, with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor as regent.

Henry II of England knights his heir John of England and sends him to Ireland to enforce English control. According to Gerald of Wales, the only witness to chronicle the expedition, it is a disaster in which money is wasted on alcohol and the Irish chieftains are scorned into uniting against a common enemy. By the end of the year, John has returned to England in defeat. Nonetheless, Henry gets him named King of Ireland by Pope Urban III and procures a golden crown with peacock feathers."King John" by Warren. University of California Press, 1961. p. 35

Templars settle in London and begin building the New Temple Church.

Mohammad of Ghur takes Punjab and Lahore, overthrowing the Ghaznavids.

The Heian period ends and the Kamakura period begins in Japan.

Genpei War: The naval Battle of Dan-no-ura leads to a Minamoto victory in Japan, and the death of Emperor Antoku.