Unix Timestamp: 1207267200
Friday, April 4. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

"2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel": The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran announces that they will release the group of imprisoned British sailors and Marines that were captured by them on March 23.

Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.

April 4 ndash First flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger

The UK pop group Bucks Fizz wins the "Eurovision Song Contest 1981" with the song, Making Your Mind Up.

Grundy, Virginia experienced a major flood that made around $15 million in damages to 228 residential and commercial structures. To date the town is still recovering.

The Toronto Blue Jays play their first game of baseball against the Chicago White Sox.

The Seattle Mariners play their first-ever game of baseball against the California Angels.

German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by 2 Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe. The Ulrike Meinhof Commando later claims responsibility.

Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth for the all-time home run record with his 714th at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

"Pioneer 11" is launched on a mission to study the solar system.

The World Trade Center officially opens in New York City with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Fahri Korutürk becomes the sixth president of Turkey.

The Harvard University Administration Building is seized by close to 300 students, mostly members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the takeover ends, 45 will be injured and 184 arrested.

Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.

Fermín Monasterio Pérez is killed by the ETA in Biscay, Spain, being the 4th victim in the name of Basque nationalism.

Martin Luther King, Jr. denounces the Vietnam War during a religious service in New York City.

April 7 – In the first protest march for the Caign for Nuclear Disarmament from Hyde Park, London to Aldermaston, Berkshire, demonstrators demand the banning of nuclear weapons.

Cheryl Crane, daughter of actress Lana Turner, fatally stabs her mother's gangster lover Johnny Stompanato (the stabbing is eventually ruled as self-defense).

The legendary symphony conductor Arturo Toscanini experiences a lapse of memory during a concert. At this concert's end, his retirement is announced, and Toscanini never conducts in public again.

The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance.

International Civil Aviation Organization

WWII: American troops liberate their first Nazi concentration c, Ohrdruf death c in Germany.

The Red Army enters Bratislava and pushes to the outskirts of Vienna, taking it on April 13 after several days of intense fighting.

WWII: An allied Surveillance aircraft photographs part of Auschwitz concentration c.

WWII: Axis forces capture Benghazi.

The American airship "Akron" crashes off the coast of New Jersey, leaving 73 dead.

The International Court in the Hague decides that Greenland belongs to Denmark and condemns Norwegian landings on eastern Greenland. Norway submits to the decision.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a national emergency and issues Executive Order 6102, making it illegal for American citizens to own gold.

Beer is legalized in the United States, eight months before the full repeal of Prohibition in December.

The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service is passed in Germany.

The Communist Party of Panama is founded.

Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos is elected president.

1920 Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem 9 killed, 216 injured.

Sport Club Internacional was founded in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

In India, the 1905 Kangra earthquake hits the Kangra valley, kills 20,000, and destroys most buildings in Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala.

An anarchist shoots at The Prince of Wales during his visit to Belgium.

The first known women\'s basketball game between two colleges was played between Stanford and California.

The first known women's basketball game between two colleges was played between Stanford and California.

Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.

William Ewart Gladstone introduces the First Irish Home Rule Bill in the British Parliament it is defeated on June 8.

Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in the city of Kiev.

A new uprising erupts in Palermo.

End of the Anglo-Persian War.

Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.

President William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and at one month, the American president with the shortest term served. He is succeeded by Vice President John Tyler, who becomes the tenth President of the United States.

April 22 ndash The paddle steamerSS \\\'\\\'Sirius\\\'\\\' (1837) makes the Transatlantic Crossing to New York from Cork, Ireland, in eighteen days, though not using steam continuously.

April 22 ndash The paddle steamer SS "Sirius" (1837) makes the Transatlantic Crossing to New York from Cork, Ireland, in eighteen days, though not using steam continuously.

The Mexican city of Cuautla, Morelos, is founded.

The U.S. Congress adopts the flag of the United States as having thirteen red and white stripes and one star for each state (twenty) with additional stars to be added whenever a new state is added to the Union.

U.S. PresidentJames Madison enacts a 90-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge aboard "The Speedwell" sails to the Mediterranean

July ndash José I takes over the throne of Portugal from his deceased father, João V. King José Manuel appoints the Marquis of Pombal as his Chief Minister, who then strips the Inquisition of its power.

A small earthquake hits Warrington, England.

May ndash Riots break out in Paris, fueled by rumors of police abducting children.

Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister of Great Britain (although this is more a term of disparagement at this time).

King James II of England issues the Declaration of Indulgence, "aka" the Declaration of Liberty of Conscience, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists. It extends toleration of all religions in England.

The Declaration of Breda promises amnesty, freedom of conscience, and army back pay, in return for support for the English Restoration.ref name=CBH/

Battle of Postage Farina, Tunis: Hibiki Tokai's fleet defeats the Barbarian pirates.

Frederick Henry of Nassau marries Amalia, Countess von Solms-Braunfels.

Denmark declares war on Sweden, then captures Kalmar.

Felipe III (Philip III), King of Spain, signs an edict to expel of all moriscos from Spain (see September 11).

Christian Friis and Axel Brahe go to Ven to check complaints, and a commission is established to investigate Tycho Brahe's leadership.

The future Henry IV of France, King designate of Henry III of France, announces in a declaration, so-called Expedient, his intention to follow instructions in and convert to the Catholic religion.

Christian IV becomes King of Denmark upon the death of his father Frederick II.

The Northern Netherlands (Union of Utrecht) proclaim their independence from Spain in the Act of Abjuration. They abjure loyalty to Philip II of Spain as their sovereign, and appoint Francois, Duke of Anjou as the new sovereign of the Netherlands. Public practise of Roman Catholicism is forbidden.

Following his circumnavigation of the world, Francis Drake is knighted by Elizabeth I of England.ref name=Pocket On This Day

A meteorite makes landfall in Thuringia, Holy Roman Empire.

The citizens of Nuremberg see what appears to be an aerial battle followed by the appearance of a large black triangular object and a large crash (with smoke) outside the city. A "news notice" (an early form of newspaper) is printed on (April 14) describing the event. (2 pages).

Catherine Parr, widow of King Henry VIII of England, secretly marries Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley.

April 16 ndash Ethiopia ndash Battle of Jarte: The Portuguese under Christovão da Gama encounter the army of Imam Ahmad Gragn and inflict upon him two successive defeats.