April 15, 1912

Titanic sinks

At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The massive ship, which carried 2,200 passengers and crew, had struck an iceberg two and half hours before.

On April 10, the RMS Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and was thought to be the world's fastest ship. It spanned 883 feet from stern to bow, and its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. While leaving port, the ship came within a couple of feet of the steamer New York but passed safely by, causing a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the Titanic's decks. On its first journey across the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.

After stopping at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up some final passengers, the massive vessel set out at full speed for New York City. However, just before midnight on April 14, the RMS Titanic failed to divert its course from an iceberg and ruptured at least five of its hull compartments. These compartments filled with water and pulled down the bow of the ship. Because the Titanic's compartments were not capped at the top, water from the ruptured compartments filled each succeeding compartment, causing the bow to sink and the stern to be raised up to an almost vertical position above the water. Then the Titanic broke in half, and, at about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, stern and bow sank to the ocean floor.

Because of a shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy North Atlantic waters. Most of the 700 or so survivors were women and children. A number of notable American and British citizens died in the tragedy, including the noted British journalist William Thomas Stead and heirs to the Straus, Astor, and Guggenheim fortunes.

One hour and 20 minutes after Titanic went down, the [censored]ard liner Carpathia arrived. The survivors in the lifeboats were brought aboard, and a handful of others were pulled out of the water. It was later discovered that the Leyland liner Californian had been less than 20 miles away at the time of the accident but had failed to hear the Titanic's distress signals because its radio operator was off duty.

Announcement of details of the tragedy led to outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. In the disaster's aftermath, the first International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was held in 1913. Rules were adopted requiring that every ship have lifeboat space for each person on board, and that lifeboat drills be held. An International Ice Patrol was established to monitor icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes. It was also required that ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch.

On September 1, 1985, a joint U.S.-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic lying on the ocean floor at a depth of about 13,000 feet. The ship was explored by manned and unmanned submersibles, which shed new light on the details of its sinking.

April 15, 1992

Queen of Mean heads to jail

Upon her husband Harry's death in 1997, Helmsley inherited his entire $1.7 billion fortune. In 2002, Helmsley once again found herself in court, this time for the wrongful dismissal of a former employee, who claimed he had been fired solely because he was [censored]. Although he was initially awarded $11 million in damages, the award was later reduced to about $500,000.

April 17, 1790

Benjamin Franklin dies

On April 17, 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.

Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin became at 12 years old an apprentice to his half brother James, a printer and publisher. He learned the printing trade and in 1723 went to Philadelphia to work after a dispute with his brother. After a sojourn in London, he started a printing and publishing press with a friend in 1728. In 1729, the company won a contract to publish Pennsylvania's paper currency and also began publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette, which was regarded as one of the better colonial newspapers. From 1732 to 1757, he wrote and published Poor Richard's Almanack, an instructive and humorous periodical in which Franklin coined such practical American proverbs as "God helps those who help themselves" and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

As his own wealth and prestige grew, Franklin took on greater civic responsibilities in Philadelphia and helped establish the city's first circulating library, police force, volunteer fire company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1737 to 1753, he was postmaster of Philadelphia and during this time also served as a clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general, in charge of mail in all the northern colonies.

Deeply interested in science and technology, he invented the Franklin stove, which is still manufactured today, and bifocal eyeglasses, among other practical inventions. In 1748, he turned his printing business over to his partner so he would have more time for his experiments. The phenomenon of electricity fascinated him, and in a dramatic experiment he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is an electrical discharge. He later invented the lightning rod. Many terms used in discussing electricity, including positive, negative, battery, and conductor, were coined by Franklin in his scientific papers. He was the first American scientist to be highly regarded in European scientific circles.

Franklin was active in colonial affairs and in 1754 proposed the union of the colonies, which was rejected by Britain. In 1757, he went to London to argue for the right to tax the massive estates of the Penn family in Pennsylvania, and in 1764 went again to ask for a new charter for Pennsylvania. He was in England when Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. His initial failure to actively oppose the controversial act drew wide criticism in the colonies, but he soon redeemed himself by stoutly defending American rights before the House of Commons. With tensions between the American colonies and Britain rising, he stayed on in London and served as agent for several colonies.

In 1775, he returned to America as the American Revolution approached and was a delegate at the Continental Congress. In 1776, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in July signed the final document. Ironically, Franklin's illegitimate son, William Franklin, whom Franklin and his wife had raised, had at the same time emerged as a leader of the Loyalists. In 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the embattled United States' most prominent statesmen, to France as a diplomat. Warmly embraced, he succeeded in 1778 in securing two treaties that provided the Americans with significant military and economic aid. In 1781, with French help, the British were defeated. With John Jay and John Adams, Franklin then negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which was signed in 1783.

In 1785, Franklin returned to the United States. In his last great public service, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and worked hard for the document's ratification. After his death in 1790, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen

April 17, 1975

Connally acquitted in milk bribery case

April 22, 1970

Perot takes a bath

April 22, 1970, was a bad day for Ross Perot. The jug-eared Texas billionaire, later known for his quixotic tilts at the White House, had but a few years earlier decided to go public with his computer systems company, E.D.S. The initial offering of E.D.S.'s stock stirred a frenzy on Wall Street and Perot, already rather successful, became one of the half-dozen wealthiest Americans (Perot's riches were so recently acquired that as of 1970 he was not listed in the almanac of affluence, Poor's Register). The good times kept rolling for the company's stock and, as traders hit the pit on the morning of April 22, there was scant reason to think that E.D.S.'s fortunes would change. But, by the end of the day, E.D.S.'s stock had plummeted a whopping fifty to sixty points, a loss which, on paper, cost Perot roughly $450 million. However, the stock's sudden decline remains something of a mystery, though many believe that E.D.S. suffered from "organized" bear raid. Whatever the cause, Perot didn't seem particularly fazed by the event; he reasoned that the loss, as well as the company's previous gains, had only existed on paper. Years later, Perot mentioned that he felt little if anything after hearing the news about his stock; in his eyes, the loss was "purely abstract."

April 22, 1970

The first Earth Day

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world's environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches, and educational programs.

Earth Day was the brainchild of Senator [censored]lord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness. "The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy," Senator Nelson said, "and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda." Earth Day indeed increased environmental awareness in America, and in July of that year the Environmental Protection Agency was established by special executive order to regulate and enforce national pollution legislation.

On April 22, 1990, the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated in Earth Day celebrations.

Earth Day has been celebrated on different days by different groups internationally. The United Nations officially celebrates it on the vernal equinox, which usually occurs about March 21.

April 22, 1994

Former President Richard Nixon dies

On this day in 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon dies after suffering a stroke four days earlier. In a 1978 speech at Oxford University, Nixon admitted he had “screwed up” during his presidency but predicted that his achievements would be viewed more favorably with time. He told the young audience, “You'll be here in the year 2000…see how I am regarded then."

Nixon is most often remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal as president and for his Cold War-era persecution of suspected communists while serving as a U.S. senator. However, Nixon left a legacy as complex as his personality.

Nixon did not owe his success in politics to personality or charm: in fact, even many of his staunch supporters described him as cold, aloof, crude, arrogant and paranoid. President Dwight D. Eisenhower himself, whom Nixon served as vice president, claimed that Nixon would never win the presidency because “the people don’t like him.” After proving his former boss wrong, Nixon left the office in disgrace, resigning in the face of impending impeachment. His paranoia of political sabotage by his opponents had inspired him to authorize the wire-tapping of enemies and supporters alike. Ironically, it was the conversations he taped in his own office that led to his ultimate downfall.

Despite the immense disappointment and distrust in government that the Watergate scandal inspired in most Americans, Nixon was correct in assuming that some aspects of his leadership would be judged favorably with the passage of time. These include his bold efforts to improve diplomatic relations with China and Russia, as well as pushing lasting and influential legislation through Congress. Nixon’s legislative legacy includes the National Environmental Policy Act, passed in 1969, which created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. He also lowered the voting age to 18, established Amtrak, launched the space-shuttle program and authorized the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). During his retirement, several subsequent presidents consulted Nixon for his expertise in international affairs.

Nixon and his wife Pat are both buried on the grounds of his birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. The site is also the home of the Richard Milhous Nixon Presidential Library.

April 25, 1996

Compromise on Capitol Hill

May 1, 1794

S[censored]makers form union

The long and turbulent history of America's labor unions officially began on this day in 1794, as a group of s[censored]makers decided to join forces in the battle for wages and workplace amenities. The s[censored]makers, who consecrated their new brotherhood by gathering in Philadelphia, christened themselves the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers. The Cordwainers' move to unionize was borne of the shift from "economic clientage" to an open wage system that occurred in America during the late eighteenth century. This change inspired workers such as the s[censored]makers join forces in hopes of legitimizing their wage scales and guarding against competition from bargain-basement priced labor, craftsmen.

May 1, 1810

Congress passes Macon's Bill No. 2

During the early 1800s, the United States' relations with both England and France were particularly chilly. American merchant ships had become ensnared in the Napoleonic Wars, prompting Congress and President Thomas Jefferson to take economic action against the British and French governments. However, their decision to seal off trade with Europe proved to be a bad misstep: the embargo caused most domestic merchants to suffer, while some French traders in fact prospered. Legislators moved to rectify the situation by passing the Non-Intercourse Act (1809), which renewed trade relations between America and Europe, save for Britain and France. However, America soon reopened the waters to trade with its recalcitrant partners. First, in the spring of 1809, President James Madison lifted the embargo against England; then, on this day in 1810, Congress passed Macon's Bill No. 2, which granted Madison the power to resume trade with England and France. The legislation, which also gave Madison the leeway to slam shut the door to trade with either nation, was hardly a hit at home or abroad: Federalist forces lambasted Macon's Bill, while the French viewed it as a clear demonstration of America's pro-British leanings. The hostilities hardly abated and, a few short years later, Madison sailed the nation into the War of 1812.

May 1, 1830

Mother Jones is born

This day in history marks the birth of one of the most passionate and enduring figures in the American union movement, "Mother" Mary Harris Jones. Born on May 1, 1830, in Ireland, Jones immigrated to the United States and married an ironworker. Her involvement with labor was sparked by twin tragedies in the latter half of the nineteenth century: Jones lost her husband in 1867, and then all her worldly goods in the Chicago fire of 1871. Left in a seemingly desperate bind, Jones sought help from the Knights of Labor, then a nascent labor organization enjoying its first fruits of success. Jones identified with the Knights' push to ameliorate workers' lives, and readily lent her help to their cause. She proved to be a fierce organizer and a tremendous public speaker, inspiring crowds of workers to join forces with the labor movement. By 1890, Jones had became one of the flag-bearers for the United Mine Workers, crusading in the name of organizing and aiding the nation's coal miners. Jones passed away in November of 1930, just as America and its workers were descending into the depths of the Great Depression.

May 1, 1931

Empire State Building dedicated

On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building's lights. Hoover's gesture, of course, was symbolic; while the president remained in Washington, D.C., someone else flicked the switches in New York.

The idea for the Empire State Building is said to have been born of a competition between Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation and John Jakob Raskob of General Motors, to see who could erect the taller building. Chrysler had already begun work on the famous Chrysler Building, the gleaming 1,046-foot skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. Not to be bested, Raskob assembled a group of well-known investors, including former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith. The group chose the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Associates to design the building. The Art-Deco plans, said to have been based in large part on the look of a pencil, were also builder-friendly: The entire building went up in just over a year, under budget (at $40 million) and well ahead of schedule. During certain periods of building, the frame grew an astonishing four-and-a-half stories a week.

At the time of its completion, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories and 1,250 feet high (1,454 feet to the top of the lightning rod), was the world's tallest skyscraper. The Depression-era construction employed as many as 3,400 workers on any single day, most of whom received an excellent pay rate, especially given the economic conditions of the time. The new building imbued New York City with a deep sense of pride, desperately needed in the depths of the Great Depression, when many city residents were unemployed and prospects looked bleak. The grip of the Depression on New York's economy was still evident a year later, however, when only 25 percent of the Empire State's offices had been rented.

In 1972, the Empire State Building lost its title as world's tallest building to New York's World Trade Center, which itself was the tallest skyscraper for but a year. Today the honor belongs to Taiwan's Taipei 101 building, which stretches 1,670 feet into the sky.

May 5, 1895

Silver strike in the House

Following the lead of Richard Bland (Missouri) and journalist-turned-political-firebrand, William Jennings Bryan (Nebraska), Democrats in Congress mounted the charge for the free coinage of silver on this day in 1895. Though the Democrats were the minority party in the House, their legislation on behalf of silver was not without support. Indeed, with the nation still licking its wounds from the depression of 1893, there was growing sentiment behind a shift from the gold standard to silver. While the Democrats failed to push the free coinage of silver into the law books, Bryan and his allies in the party remained undeterred. The following year, the Democrats tabbed Bryan as their presidential nominee, in hopes that he could ride the silver issue all the way to the Oval Office. Though Bryan roused the troops at the Democratic convention, famously chiding the Republicans and hard money advocates for attempting to "crucify mankind on a cross of gold," his fiery oratory and unswerving support for silver proved to be no match for his competitor, the Republican nominee and chosen candidate of Big Business, William McKinley.

May 5, 1933

Woodin wages war against Depression

William Woodin stepped into his role as the fifty-first Secretary of the Treasury during one of the most turbulent and dramatic periods in the nation's fiscal history. Tabbed by President Franklin Roosevelt for the Treasury post on this day in 1933, Woodin was immediately enlisted in the battle against the Depression. And, just four days after Woodin assumed office, President Roosevelt called the now-famous "banking holiday" that temporarily shuttered America's financial institution. Over the next ten days, Roosevelt, Woodin and other leaders worked to stabilize America's finances and stem the public's frantic drive to yank their funds from the nation's banks. The "holiday" also gave Roosevelt time to push the Emergency Banking Act through the legislative chain; quickly adopted by Congress, the legislation not only granted the president increased economic authority, but enlarged the responsibilities of Woodin and the Treasury. Indeed, when the banks reopened, they were now under the watchful eye of the secretary of the Treasury. Along with minding America's fiscal institutions, Woodin was also charged with pumping the economy with new Federal Reserve notes and taking measures to bolster the public's faith in the economy. However, the hefty task of righting the nation's economic ills soon took a toll on Woodin's health; he resigned on December 31, 1933, less than a year after taking over at the helm of the Treasury.

May 7, 1769

Washington endorses non-importation

Revolution was in the air on this day in 1769, as George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain's fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. With his sights set on the British policy of "taxation without representation," Washington brought a package of non-importation resolutions before the Virginia House of Burgesses. The resolutions, drafted by George Madison largely in response to England's passage of the Townshend Act in 1767, also decried parliament's plan to send American criminals to England for trial. Though Virginia's Royal Governor promptly fired back by disbanding the House of Burgesses, the revolutionaries were undeterred: during a makeshift meeting held at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia's delegates gave their support the non-importation resolutions. As a result, Virginia sealed off a good chunk of its trade with England pending the repeal of the Townshend Acts. This proved to be a contagious maneuver, as the other American colonies spent the summer adopting their own non-importation resolutions.

May 7, 1998

Daimler and Chrysler merge

Merger mania seized the automobile industry on this day in 1998, as American auto giant Chrysler Corp. signed a $38 billion deal with German-based Daimler-Benz AG. The merger, first hatched in January of 1998 by Daimler chief Juergen Schrempp, created a company that, at least on paper, was well-equipped to do battle in the global marketplace. Not only did Chrysler stand to make a belated move into the German market, but Daimler gained even greater access to American consumers. Moreover, the new company, now known as DaimlerChrysler, was stocked with a diverse roster of products, ranging from mid-priced Chryslers to s[censored] Mercedes that cut across a wide swath of the global car market. While yet another international alliance between two industry behemoths raised the hackles of some anti-trust forces, the DaimlerChrysler deal ultimately gained official approval on both sides of the Atlantic, consecrating what Schrempp promised would be the "world's leading automotive company for the twenty-first century."

May 13, 1998

Kmart's profits soar

May 15, 1882

President Arthur investigates tariffs

In the years following the Civil War, the U.S. government used tariffs to shield the nation's manufacturers from the ravages of foreign competition. While the tariffs had their intended effect, there were those in government, and even in business, who questioned the government's unswerving allegiance to high duties. And so, on this day in 1882, President Chester A. Arthur formed a high-level commission to tackle the tariff issue. Though the commission was putatively charged with weighing the relative merits of tariffs, both in terms of the impact on global trade and smaller domestic enterprises, the deck was stacked in favor of protectionist and industrial interests. Indeed, the commission's nine members included John L. Hayes, the secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, a likely proponent of protectionist measures. Unsurprisingly, the commission weighed in with a favorable report on tariffs as a means to preserve the integrity and interests of American-made goods.

May 15, 1937

Madeleine Albright is born

On this day in 1937, Madeleine Albright, America's first female secretary of state, is born Maria Jana Korbelova in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic).

The daughter of Czech diplomat Josef Korbel, Albright fled to England with her family after the [censored]s occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939. Though Albright long believed they had fled for political reasons, she learned as an adult that her family was Jewish and that three of her grandparents had died in [censored] concentration camps. The family returned home after World War II ended but immigrated to the United States in 1948 after a Soviet-sponsored Communist coup seized power in Prague. Josef Korbel became dean of the school of international relations at the University of Denver (where he would later train another female secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice).

After graduating from Wellesley College in 1959, Albright married Joseph Medill Patterson Albright of the prominent Medill newspaper-publishing family. With an MA and PhD from Columbia University under her belt, Albright headed to Washington, D.C., where she worked for Maine's Senator Edmund S. Muskie and served on the National Security Council in the administration of President Jimmy Carter. She and Joseph Albright divorced in 1982. During the Republican presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Albright worked for several nonprofit organizations and taught at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

With a Democrat--Bill Clinton--in the White House again in 1992, Albright found herself at the center of Washington's most powerful circle. In 1993, Clinton appointed her ambassador to the United Nations. In that post, Albright earned a reputation as a straight-talking defender of American interests and an advocate for an increased role for the U.S. in U.N. operations. In late 1996, Clinton nominated Albright to succeed Warren Christopher as U.S. secretary of state. After her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, she was sworn in on January 23, 1997.

As secretary of state, Albright pursued an active foreign policy, including the use of military force to pressure autocratic regimes in Yugoslavia and Iraq, among other troubled regions. Her trip to North Korea in October 2000 to meet with leader Kim Jong Il made her the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit that country. She drew some criticism for her tough position on U.S. sanctions against Iraq, which led to many civilian deaths in that country and fueled the rage of Muslim extremists such as Osama bin Laden.

Albright's term ended with the election of President George W. Bush in 2000. Though there was talk of her entering Czech politics, she returned to her teaching post at Georgetown and became chair of a nonprofit organization, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

May 19, 1749

Ohio Company chartered

King George II of England grants the Ohio Company a charter of several hundred thousand acres of land around the forks of the Ohio River, thereby promoting westward settlement by American colonists from Virginia. France had claimed the entire Ohio River Valley in the previous century, but English fur traders and settlers contested these claims. The royal chartering of the Ohio Company, an organization founded primarily by Virginian planters in 1747, directly challenged the French claim to Ohio and was a direct cause of the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754.

With the defeat of the French in 1763, the Ohio River and the Great Lakes areas were placed within the boundaries of Canada, and the Ohio Company was merged with another land company to better exploit the region. Settlers in Ohio resented these acts and joined the patriots in their struggle against the British in the American Revolution. In 1783, Ohio was ceded to the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. In 1788, Marietta became the first permanent American settlement in what was known as the Old Northwest. During the next decade, Native Americans were suppressed and British traders were pushed out, and in 1799 Ohio became a U.S. territory. In 1803, it entered the Union as the 17th state.

May 19, 1828

Congress passes "Tariff of Abominations"