April 16th

The trial against Anders Behring Breivik begins in Oslo. The right-wing extremist had killed 77 people, mostly teenagers, in Oslo with a car bomb and at a youth camp on Utøya island. After doubts about his mental health emerged before the trial, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

A male student, Cho Seung-Hui, killed two in a Virginia Tech dorm, then killed 30 more 2 hours later in a classroom building. His suicide brought the death toll to 33, making the shooting rampage the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others were wounded.

Michael Jordan played his last NBA game as his Washington Wizards ended their season with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Hockey great Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement.

Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were getting a divorce.

The House ethics committee listed 303 current and former lawmakers who had overdrawn their House bank accounts.

China sent President Nixon two giant pandas as a gift.

The Rolling Stones release their debut album. The album The Rolling Stones, released in the United States with the added title “England's Newest Hit Makers”, topped the UK charts for twelve weeks.

Bob Dylan debuted his song "Blowin' in the Wind" at Gerde's Folk City in New York.

Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris.

Financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse, 'Let us not be deceived. We are today in the midst of a cold war.'.

Vladimir Lenin issues his radical "April Theses" calling for Soviets to take power during the Russian Revolution [OS Apr 4].

Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.

US Post Office issues 1st books of postage stamps.

President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.

Jacobite Rising 1745: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army.

Queen Anne of England knights Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Battle of Megiddo: Egyptian forces of Thutmose III defeat a large Canaanite coalition under King of Kadesh. First battle recorded with a reliable account.