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Other Notable Events for April 16

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Published in History & Quotes

On this date in history:

In 1862, the U.S. Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia.

In 1947, a fire aboard the French freighter Grandcamp in the Texas City, Texas, port on Galveston Bay ignited ammonium nitrate and other explosive materials in the ship's hold, causing a massive blast that destroyed much of the city and killed nearly 600 people.

In 1963, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail while imprisoned in Alabama for protesting segregation.

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on an 11-day moon mission with three U.S. astronauts aboard.

In 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian helped in his first assisted suicide.

In 1991, the first Jewish settlement under the Israeli government opened in the occupied territories, defying a U.S. request to stop settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In 1999, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky announced his retirement from the NHL after 21 years.

In 2002, Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and members of his government resigned after a report faulted them, along with the United Nations, for failing to prevent the 1995 massacre of 7,500 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica, Bosnia.

In 2007, a Virginia Tech senior, on a sudden campus shooting rampage, killed 27 students and five faculty members before killing himself.

In 2009, President Barack Obama announced plans for a high-speed rail system connecting U.S. cities, with $8 billion in stimulus funds set aside for the effort.

In 2010, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Goldman Sachs of fraud, alleging in a lawsuit the banking giant sold securities that were stacked against the buyer.

In 2011, a vicious rash of U.S. tornadoes tore through 14 states, leaving more than 40 people dead and many others homeless.

In 2012, Anders Breivik, accused of killing 77 people in Norway, gave a right-wing salute and refused to stand at the start of his trial in Oslo. He pleaded innocent and said he had acted in self-defense.

In 2013, a bombing at an election-related rally in Peshawar, Pakistan, killed 17 people and wounded about 60, police said.

 


Copyright 2014 by United Press International

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