1413 – Henry V is crowned King of England. This is the king who defeated the French at Agincourt.

1682 – Robert Cavalier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, claims it for France and names it Louisiana.

1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth’s climate for the next two years, about the same as a weeks’ production of Chevy Tahoes.

1865 – American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war. We out-fought them. They out-numbered and out-produced us.

1867 – Alaska purchase: Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska. It was a good deal, just like the Louisiana Purchase, except colder, and no New Orleans (a BIG plus!).

1937 – The Kamikaze arrives at Croydon Airport in London – it is the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe. The name is rather prescient.

1942 – World War II: The Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March – United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula.

1942 – The Japanese Navy launches an air raid on Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and Royal Australian Navy Destroyer HMAS Vampire are sunk off the island’s east coast.

1959 – Mercury program: NASA announces the selection of the United States’ first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the “Mercury Seven”. These guys were THE American icons of the day…

1965 – Astrodome opens. First indoor baseball game is played. In Houston, Texas. An INDOOR stadium in which one could play baseball and football was HUGE deal back then…

1991 – Date of Microsoft MS DOS 5.0. Remember “C:\>”? (If you had six or seven hundred bucks for a 20 or 30 meg hard drive, otherwise it was “A:\>”)

2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces.

2005 – His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles. Princess Di fans across the globe suffer a major attack of the vapors. One never knows what turns a guy’s head.

2017 – Palm Sunday church bombings at Coptic Churches in Tanta and Alexandria take place. Forty-five killed and over 120 wounded, but it’s a yawner to the media because a) it’s Christians killed by muslims, so what do you expect, and b) It’s the Middle East/North Africa, so what do you expect…