Here's your Today in History
April 15, 1792 -
The Guillotine is first tested on human corpses. Delis all over France have to wait years for the meat slicer to be invented.
April 15, 1865-
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, dies from a bullet wound inflicted the night before by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer. The president's death came only six days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox, effectively ending the American Civil War.
April 15, 1912 -
Unsinkable ship Titanic sinks after being torn by iceberg, with a loss of 1493 passengers.
April 15, 1945 -
British and Canadian troops liberate the Bergen-Belsen death camp in northern Germany.
April 15, 1955 -
The first McDonald's franchise opens in Des Plains, a suburb of Chicago. Because it is the first one launched by Ray Kroc, he names it "McDonald's #1" despite the fact that the McDonald brothers had
already opened eight of their chain restaurants before they began accepting licensees. Kroc's unfortunate numbering system guarantees perpetual confusion for amateur fast food historians the world over.
April 15, 1962 -
Actress Clara Blandick, 80, the Auntie Em of the Wizard of Oz, takes an overdose of sleeping pills and ties a plastic bag around her head in a Hollywood hotel room. Prior to this, she had prominently
arranged her resume and press clippings so the newspapers would get her obituary right.
April 15, 1989 -
96 soccer fans are crushed to death at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, England. During the opening minutes of the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, Sheffield police order a gate opened at one end of the stadium. A throng of 2,000 Liverpool fans attempt to surge into the seating section, smashing more than 250 already-seated fans against the security fence.
April 15, 1990 -
Greta Garbo dead. She finally got her wish.
April 15, 1990 -
Mass food poisoning kills 150 people at an engagement party in Basti, Uttar Pradesh. Advice: Don't eat the bread.
April 15, 1999 -
Dutch airlines KLM issues an apology for shredding 400 ground squirrels at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. The squirrels did not have proper importation papers, and thus were forced to meet their fate of grinding steel rotary blades. A public outcry forced KLM's apology.
And so it goes.
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