146 ~ Birthday of Lucius Septimius Severus, Roman emperor. April was a good month for him.

1689 ~ William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

1775 ~ Last execution for witchcraft in Germany.

1945 ~ American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald, in Germany.

1947 ~ Jackie Robinson made his major-league debut, playing in an exhibition between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

1961 ~ The trial began in Israel of Adolf Eichmann, the man accused of helping Hitler in his plan to exterminate the Jews.

1968 ~ The Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

1970 ~ Apollo 13 was launched on a mission to the moon that was disrupted when an explosion crippled the spacecraft. Cmdr Swigert reported: "Houston, we've had a problem". The astronauts managed to return safely.

1991 ~ The U.N. Security Council announced a formal end to the Persian Gulf War.

1992 ~ The musical "Miss Saigon," denounced by detractors as racist and sexist, opened on Broadway. Sound familiar?

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Eudaimonia