On This Day - What happened 14 April

Leonardo was born on 14/15 April 1452 in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno river in the territory of the Medici-ruled Republic of Florence.

Washington then proceeded to New York City, arriving on April 13, 1776, and began constructing fortifications there to thwart the expected British attack. He ordered his occupying forces to treat civilians and their property with respect, to avoid the abuse suffered by civilians in Boston at the hands of British troops.

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln died early the next morning.

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, just days after the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender at Appomattox briefly lessened the tension over who would set the terms of peace. The radicals, while suspicious of the new president and his policies, believed, based upon his record, that Andrew Johnson would defer, or at least acquiesce to their hardline proposals.

On April 14, 1876, Douglass delivered the keynote speech at the unveiling of the Emancipation Memorial in Washington's Lincoln Park. In that speech, Douglass spoke frankly about Lincoln, noting what he perceived as both positive and negative attributes of the late President. Calling Lincoln "the white man's president", Douglass criticized Lincoln's tardiness in joining the cause of emancipation, noting that Lincoln initially opposed the expansion of slavery but did not support its elimination. But Douglass also asked, "Can any colored man, or any white man friendly to the freedom of all men, ever forget the night which followed the first day of January 1863, when the world was to see if Abraham Lincoln would prove to be as good as his word?" Douglass also said: "Though Mr. Lincoln shared the prejudices of his white fellow-countrymen against the Negro, it is hardly necessary to say that in his heart of hearts he loathed and hated slavery ...".

On 14 April 1898, the Curies optimistically weighed out a 100-gram sample of pitchblende and ground it with a pestle and mortar. They did not realize at the time that what they were searching for was present in such minute quantities that they would eventually have to process tons of the ore.

Du Bois was primary organizer of The Exhibit of American Negroes at the Exposition Universelle held in Paris between April and November 1900, for which he put together a series of 363 photographs aiming to commemorate the lives of African Americans at the turn of the century and challenge the racist caricatures and stereotypes of the day.

At 11:40 p.m. (ship's time) on 14 April, lookout Frederick Fleet spotted an iceberg immediately ahead of Titanic and alerted the bridge. At 2:20 a.m., two hours and 40 minutes after Titanic struck the iceberg, her rate of sinking suddenly increased as her forward deck dipped underwater, and the sea poured in through open hatches and grates. About 710 people survived the disaster and were conveyed by Carpathia to New York, Titanic's original destination, while at least 1,500 people lost their lives.

At this time, the Second Spanish Republic was formed. It remained in power until the culmination of the Spanish Civil War.

The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed the Stresa Front in April 1935 to declare the independence of Austria "would continue to inspire there common policy''. The signatories also agreed to resist any future attempt by Germany to change the Treaty of Versailles.

On 14 April 1937, Attorney General Sir Donald Somervell submitted to Home Secretary Sir John Simon a memorandum summarizing the views of Lord Advocate T. M. Cooper, Parliamentary Counsel Sir Granville Ram, and himself: We incline to the view that on his abdication the Duke of Windsor could not have claimed the right to be described as a Royal Highness. In other words, no reasonable objection could have been taken if the King had decided that his exclusion from the lineal succession excluded him from the right to this title as conferred by the existing Letters Patent. The question however has to be considered on the basis of the fact that, for reasons which are readily understandable, he with the express approval of His Majesty enjoys this title and has been referred to as a Royal Highness on a formal occasion and in formal documents. In the light of precedent it seems clear that the wife of a Royal Highness enjoys the same title unless some appropriate express step can be and is taken to deprive her of it. We came to the conclusion that the wife could not claim this right on any legal basis. The right to use this style or title, in our view, is within the prerogative of His Majesty and he has the power to regulate it by Letters Patent generally or in particular circumstances.

Under cover of darkness, the invasion fleet set sail from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua and headed towards the Bay of Pigs on the night of 14 April.

On 14 April 1962, 60 wounded and sick prisoners were freed and transported to the US.

A press conference on April 14, 1969, gave the design of the LM cabin as the reason for Armstrong's being first; the hatch opened inwards and to the right, making it difficult for the lunar module pilot, on the right-hand side, to exit first.

On April 14, 1972, Trudeau's father and mother hosted a gala at the National Arts Centre, at which visiting U.S. president Richard M. Nixon said, "I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada, to Justin Pierre Trudeau" to which Pierre Elliott Trudeau responded that should his son ever assume the role, he hoped he would have "the grace and skill of the president".

Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont.

In retaliation, Serbs took 150 U.N. personnel hostage on 14 April.

In the 2002 presidential election, Gusmão ran as an independent and he was comfortably elected as leader .

Protests in support of Chávez along with insufficient support for Carmona's government quickly led to Carmona's resignation, and Chávez was returned to power on 14 April.

On 14 April 2007, Kasparov led a pro-democracy demonstration in Moscow. Soon after the demonstration's start, however, over 9,000 police descended on the group and seized almost everyone. Kasparov, who was briefly arrested by the Moscow police, was warned by the prosecution office on the eve of the march that anyone participating risked being detained. He was held for some 10 hours and then fined and released.

On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as President, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state.

Mainstream support for Windows XP ended on April 14, 2009. Extended support ended on April 8, 2014.

On April 14, 2010, Eminem tweeted: "There is no Relapse 2". Although his followers thought he was not releasing an album, he had changed its title to Recovery and confirmed this by tweeting "RECOVERY" with a link to his website.

Trudeau was declared the winner of the leadership election on April 14, 2013, garnering 80.1% of 30,800 votes.

On 14 April 2015, Nokia confirmed that it was in talks with the French telecommunications equipment company Alcatel-Lucent regarding a potential merger. The next day, Nokia announced that it had agreed to purchase Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion in an all-stock deal.

On April 13, 2015, the FCC published the final rule on its new "Net Neutrality" regulations.

Hernandez was later acquitted of the charge of witness intimidation by a jury on April 14, 2017. They also acquitted Hernandez of all other charges in the murders of de Abreu and Furtado, except for finding him guilty on one count of illegal possession of firearms.

The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro were unveiled on April 14, 2020, and released on April 21 in Europe and April 29 in the United States.

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Biden the next day.

On 14 April, President Trump halted funding to the World Health Organization, stating they had mismanaged the current pandemic.

The Duke of Cumberland, William Augustus, was born in London.

Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians and kill the Earl of Warwick in the Battle of Barnet.

Peace of Susa was signed by France and England.

The consort of Mary I of Scotland was the 4th Earl of Bothwell, James Hepburn.