Unix Timestamp: 1145577600
Friday, April 21. 2006, 12:00:00 AM UTC

UNESCO launches The World Digital Library.

The World Digital Library launches at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France. //www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iat-c9Vu7m8Me8PqwSp5FYNiv7sQ (AFP via Google News)

Rioting breaks out in Montreal after the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL win their first round playoff series against the Boston Bruins. Several police cars are torched, but there are no reports of any serious injuries. //www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080422.wmontrealriot22/BNStory/National/home (Canadian Press via Globe and Mail)

An appeals court decides that the two candidates in the runoff election to decide the next President of East Timor will be current Prime Minister of East Timor José Ramos-Horta and Francisco Guterres of Fretilin. Two of the unsuccessful candidates have announced that they will support Dr Ramos-Horta. //www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1903366.htm (AFP via ABC News Australia)

The last coal mine in France closes, ending nearly 300 years of coal mining.

Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed an Israeli nuclear weapons program in the 1980s, is released from prison in Israel after serving 18 years for treason.

Ryongchon disaster: Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.

French presidential election, 2002: The first round results in a runoff between Jacques Chirac and the leader of the main French far-right party, Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Extreme-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen qualifies for second round of French Presidential Elections. Right-wing incumbent Jacques Chirac places first. Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin places third and announces his retirement from politics. Thousands take to the street all over France to protest against Le Pen.

France supports the new transitional government in Zaire, withdrawing its support of Mobutu Sese Seko.

Haouch Khemisti massacre: 93 villagers are killed in Algeria.

A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first space burial.

A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru, ends after government commandos storm and capture the building, rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, 2 soldiers are killed by rebel fire, and all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels are slain.

A general election in Italy proclaims a new government headed by Romano Prodi and his Olive Tree coalition, replacing Silvio Berlusconi.

China Airlines Flight 140, an Airbus A300, crashes while landing at Nagoya, Japan, killing 264 people.

The largest high school arson ever in the United States is started at Burnsville High School, in Burnsville, Minnesota, resulting in over 15 million dollars in damages. The same arsonist also goes on to set arsons at Edina High School and Minnetonka High School. //www.olafire.com/AFSAContest.asp

The Red Cross estimates that hundreds of thousands of Tutsi have been killed in Rwanda.

Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu ends his term as the 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, becomes the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

The death of Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich of Russia results in a succession dispute between Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia and Vladimir's daughter Maria for the leadership of the Imperial Family of Russia.

Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's secret vault on "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault", discovering only a bottle of moonshine.

Brazilian President Tancredo Neves dies, he is succeeded by Vice President Jose Sarney.

Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.

Residents of Dover, Massachusetts report sightings of an eerie monster.

The Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne: Bandits steal A$1.4 million in bookmakers' settlements from Queen Street, Melbourne.

The Hutt River Province Principality secedes from Australia.

The NY World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY, reopens.

April 23 ndash The first election of the Supreme Institution of the Bahá'í Faith (known as the Universal House of Justice, whose seat is at the Bahá'í World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel) is held.

April 23 ndash The first election of the Supreme Institution of the Bahá\\\\'í Faith (known as the Universal House of Justice, whose seat is at the Bahá\\'í World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel) is held.

In Brazil, the country's capital (Federal District) is relocated from the city of Rio de Janeiro to the new city, Brasília, in the highlands. The actual city of Rio de Janeiro becomes the State of Guanabara.

Arturo Frondizi becomes President of Argentina.

The Nordic Passport Union comes into force.

United Airlines Flight 736 is involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force F-100F-5-NA Super Sabre jet fighter near Las Vegas, Nevada. All 49 persons in both aircraft are killed.

Former U.S. First DaughterMargaret Truman marries Clifton Daniel.

The National Olympic Committee of the Soviet Union is formed. The USSR first participates in the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland, in 1952.

Worst Bombing of Aberdeen in WW2.

WWII: Greece capitulates. Commonwealth troops and some elements of the Greek Army withdraw to Crete.

"Take It or Leave It" makes it debut on CBS Radio, with Bob Hawk as host.

In the Irish Free State, Dáil Éireann abolishes the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown.

Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to be named director of the United States Mint.

The Stahlhelm organization joins the Nazi party.

The Jessop Son department store in Nottingham, England is acquired by John Lewis Partnership (its first store outside of London).

The Gestapo is established in Germany.

The first alleged modern sighting of the Loch Ness Monster occurs.

"Gleichschaltung": Adolf Hitler prohibits trade unions.

Nazi Germany outlaws the kosher ritual shechita.

Editors of the "Harvard Loon" steal the Sacred Cod of Massachusetts from the State House (it is returned two days later).

A banking crisis hits Japan.

Manfred Von Richthofen, The Red Baron, WWI's most successful fighter pilot, dies in combat at Morlancourt Ridge near the Somme River.

3,000 U.S. Marines land in Vera Cruz, Mexico.

RMS Aquitania, built by John Brown Company, is launched on the Clyde.

May ndash The bubonic plague breaks out in the Tai Ping Shan area of Hong Kong (by the end of the year, the death toll is 2,552 people).

Coxey's Army arrives in Washington Coxey is arrested

The May Day Riots of 1894 break out in Cleveland, Ohio.

A bituminous coal miners' strike closes mines across the central United States.

Schnaebele incident ndash French/German border incident nearly leads to war between the two countries.

The University of Connecticut is founded as the Storrs Agricultural School.

The steamboat "Sultana", carrying 2,300 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom were Union survivors of the Andersonville Prison.

German Chemicals producer "BASF" moves its headquarters and factories from Mannheim to the Hemshof District of Ludwigshafen.

American Civil War: General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to Major General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina.

Governor of New YorkReuben Fenton signs a bill formally creating Cornell University in the U.S.

Union cavalry corner John Wilkes Booth in a barn, and cavalryman Boston Corbett shoots the assassin dead.

Bahá\\'u\\'lláh declares His station as He whom God shall make manifest. This date is celebrated in the Bahá'í Faith as The Festival of Ridván.

Pioneers of the 8 hours Movement are photographed, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

John Stuart Mill marries Harriet Taylor.

Irish Potato Famine: 96 inmates of the overcrowded Ballinrobe Union Workhouse die over the course of the preceding week from illness and other famine-related conditions, a record high.

Battle of San Jacinto: Mexican forces under General Santa Anna are defeated at San Jacinto, Texas.

Tiradentes, prime figure in the Inconfidência Mineira plot, is executed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The first of forty boundary stones delineating the borders of the new District of Columbia is laid at Jones Point Light, in Alexandria, Virginia.

ohn Adams takes office as the first Vice-President of the United States and begins presiding over the United States Senate.

The "Company of Quenching of Fire" (i.e., a fire brigade) is founded in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In Japan, the young daimyo Asano Naganori is ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). A group of 47 samurai of his service begin planning to avenge his death.

First battle of Panipat: Babur becomes Mughal emperor, invades northern India and captures Delhi, beginning the Mughal Empire, which lasts until 1857.

(Maundy Thursday) Hernán Cortés reaches San Juan de Ulúa next day (Good Friday) he sets foot on the beach of present day Veracruz//www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/historia-verdadera-de-la-conquista-de-la-nueva-espana-tomo-i0/html/481f665e-69c1-4064-9d6a-6333c5711ecc_150.htm "Historia Verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España", Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Chapter 38

Henry VIII becomes King of England (for 38 years) on the death of his father, Henry VII.

Battle of Cerignola: Spanish forces under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba defeat the French under the Duc de Nemours, who is killed (considered to be the first battle in history won by gunpowder small arms).

Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Datu of Tondo, as represented Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, Philippines.