Today’s highlight in the story:

On April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland more than 2.5 hours after hitting an iceberg; 1,514 people died, while less than half survived.

To this date :

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died nine hours after being shot the previous night by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington; Andrew Johnson became the country’s 17th president.

In 1892, General Electric Co., formed by the merger of Edison Electric Light Co. and other companies, was incorporated in Schenectady, New York.

In 1945, during World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died April 12, was buried at the Roosevelt family home in Hyde Park, New York.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era, made his official debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on Opening Day at Ebbets Field. (The Dodgers beat the Boston Braves, 5-3.)

In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In 1974, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army robbed a branch of Hibernia Bank in San Francisco; one member of the group was ALS kidnapping victim Patricia Hearst, who at that time went by the name “Tania” (Hearst later said she was coerced into participating).

In 1989, 96 people died in a crush of football fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. Beijing students have launched a series of pro-democracy protests; the protests culminated in a government crackdown in Tiananmen Square.

In 1998, Pol Pot, the notorious leader of the Khmer Rouge, died at age 72, escaping prosecution for the deaths of 2 million Cambodians.

In 2009, stoked by conservative commentators and bloggers, tens of thousands of protesters held “tea parties” across the country to tap into collective angst over a bad economy, government spending and bailouts.

In 2013, two bombs made from pressure cookers exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing two women and an 8-year-old boy and injuring more than 260. Suspected suicide bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev (TAM’-ehr -luhn tsahr-NEYE’- ehv) died in a shootout with the police; his brother, Jokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv), was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death. (A federal appeals court overturned the death penalty, but the Supreme Court reinstated it in March 2022.)

In 2019, a fire swept through the top of Notre-Dame Cathedral as the soaring Paris landmark underwent renovations; the fire collapsed the spire of the cathedral and spread to one of its iconic rectangular towers, but firefighters said the church structure was saved.

In 2020, the government reported that the country’s industrial production in March recorded its biggest drop since the United States demobilized at the end of World War II as factories closed amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Treasury Department has confirmed that, in an unprecedented move, President Donald Trump’s name will appear on stimulus checks the IRS will send to tens of millions of Americans.

Ten years ago: North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, gave his first public speech since taking power on the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, last December, introducing himself as a strong military leader who is not afraid of foreign powers. Passengers and crew of the cruise ship MS Balmoral said prayers at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank 100 years earlier.

Five years ago: North Korea paraded its intercontinental ballistic missiles in a massive military display in central Pyongyang as it celebrated the 1912 birthday of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung with his little one -son, Kim Jong Un, looking delightedly.

A year ago: Eight people were fatally shot at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis by a former FedEx employee who later committed suicide. The White House announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against dozens of people and companies; the measures included holding the Kremlin accountable for interference in the 2020 presidential election and SolarWinds’ cyber hacking of federal government agencies. The defense at the Minneapolis murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd has closed its case without putting Chauvin on the stand.

Today’s birthdays: Actress Claudia Cardinale turns 84. Author and politician Jeffrey Archer is 82 years old. Rock singer-guitarist Dave Edmunds is 79 years old. Actor Michael Tucci is 76 years old. Actor Lois Chiles is 75 years old. Wright is 72 years old. The columnist Heloise is 71 years old. Actor Sam McMurray is 70 years old. Actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson is 63 years old. Bluegrass musician Jeff Parker is 61 years old. Singer Samantha Fox is 56 years old. Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist swimmer Dara Torres is 55 years old. Musician Ed O’Brien (Radiohead) is 54 years old. Actor Flex Alexander is 52 years old. Actor Danny Pino is 48 years old. Actor Douglas Spain is 48 years old. Country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton is 44 years old. Actor Luke Evans is 43 years old. Rock musician Patrick Carney (The Black Keys) is 42 years old. Rock musician Zach Carothers (Portugal. The Man) is 41 years old. Actor-writer Seth Rogen is 40 years old. Actor Alice Braga is 39 years old. American singer-songwriter Margo Price is 39 years old. Rock musician De’Mar Hamilton (Plain White T’s) is 38 years old. Actor Samira Wiley is 35 years old. Actor Leonie Elliott is 34 years old. Actor Emma Watson is 32 years old. Actor Maisie Williams is 25 years old.