1862, a Confederate surprise attack on General Ulysses S. Grant‘s troops at Shiloh, Tennessee, ended with 13,000 Union and 10,000 Confederate soldiers killed and wounded, more men than in all previous American wars combined.
1830, Joseph Smith founded the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints — the Mormons — in Fayette, New York.
1889, the Kodak Camera was put on sale by George Eastman.
1896, the first modern Olympic games opened in Athens, Greece.
1893, Jack Burke and Andy Bowen fought for 110 rounds over seven hours and 19 minutes, the longest bout in boxing history. The match ended in a draw.
1917, the U.S. entered World War I, declaring war on Germany.
1926, Four planes take off on the first successful around-the-world flight.
1930, Bakery executive James Dewar invented a cream-filled sponge cake in order to use small baking pans that would otherwise remain in storage except for each year’s brief strawberry shortcake season. The Twinkie was born.
1935, Harold “Bunny” Levitt made 499 consecutive free throws. On his 500th try, he missed. Then he made 371 more shots without a miss. The Harlem Globetrotters offered $1,000 to anyone who could beat his record.
1938, Du Pont researchers Roy Plunkett and Jack Rebok accidentally created the chemical compound that was later marketed as Teflon.
1945, During World War II, the Japanese warship Yamato and nine other vessels sailed on a suicide mission to attack the U.S. fleet off Okinawa.
1947, The first Tony Awards were presented at a dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria on Easter Sunday. The Tonys were named for Antoinette Perry, a stage actress dedicated to the theater.
1954, The first frozen TV dinners are put on sale.
1955, Winston Churchill stepped down as British prime minister for the last time and was succeeded byAnthony Eden.
1965, The United States launched the “Early Bird” communications satellite from Cape Kennedy, Florida. This was the world’s first commercial communications satellite. It became operational on June 28th,1965.
1971, The Rolling Stones announce that they have formed their own record company, Rolling Stones Records.
1973, the Pittsburgh Pirates retired the number of Roberto Clemente, who died in a plane crash just over three months before while bringing supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
1974, Led Zeppelin announces the formation of their record label, Swan Song Recordings, which is named after an unreleased Jimmy Page instrumental track. Swan Song puts out all subsequent Led Zeppelin releases, as well as records by Bad Company and Dave Edmunds.
1980, “Post-it” notes are introduced.
1983, Saying that rock-and-roll bands attract “the wrong element,” Interior Secretary James Watt declines to invite the Beach Boys to perform in Washington at a Fourth Of July celebration. The decision is soon reversed due to pressure from fans and President Ronald Reagan, but the Beach Boys play Atlantic City on the Fourth Of July that year, anyway.
1987, Sugar Ray Leonard upset Marvelous Marvin Hagler to become middleweight champion.
1992, Elvis Presley fans began to vote in the nation’s first-ever election for postage stamp art. Over 1 million postcard ballots showed the younger Elvis winning over the older by a 3-1 margin.
1994, Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun announced his retirement after 24 years. Justice Blackmun wrote the Roe vs. Wade opinion on the constitutionality of abortion.
1994, The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a mysterious plane crash near Rwanda’s capital. Widespread violence erupted in Rwanda over claims the plane had been shot down.
1995, Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-New York) apologized on the floor of the Senate for lampooning O.J. Simpson trial judge Lance Ito on the radio with a mock Japanese accent.
1999, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic declared a unilateral cease-fire in his campaign to crush rebels in Kosovo. Western leaders called the move a sham and pledged to press ahead with airstrikes.
2000, The father of Elian Gonzalez, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, arrived in the United States to press for the return of his six-year-old son to Cuba.
2000, A private company mapping the human genetic blueprint announced it had decoded all of the DNA pieces that make up the genetic pattern of a single human being.
2001, Algerian Ahmed Ressam is convicted of terrorism for bringing a car loaded with explosives into the United States as part of an alleged plan to bomb buildings during millennium celebrations.