This Day In History, April 26th.
Five Historical Events That Happened on April 26th.
The United States and France signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in 1803 as a result of which France ceded control of a sizable chunk of North America to the United States. A portion of what is now Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Louisiana was among the territory that was acquired.
In a tobacco barn in Virginia, Union soldiers surrounded and murdered John Wilkes Booth, the president's murderer, in 1865. After shooting the president in the Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., Booth had been on the run for 12 days.
1937: During the Spanish Civil War, the northern Spanish Basque town of Guernica was bombed. An estimated 300 people were murdered and the town was completely devastated in the bombardment, which was carried out by German and Italian bombers backing General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces.
At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was then a part of the Soviet Union, the biggest nuclear accident in history took place in 1986. Large amounts of radioactive material were spilled into the atmosphere as a result of a reactor explosion and following fires, polluting the environment and posing long-term health risks.
In 2005, Syria ended a 29-year military presence in Lebanon by withdrawing its troops. The killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was widely thought to have been planned by the Syrian government, led to months of international pressure and the withdrawal.
The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed between the United States and France, which transferred a large portion of North America from French control to the United States.
The Louisiana Purchase, which more than quadrupled the size of the country and gave it vital land for westward expansion, was a key development in American history. Representatives from the United States, Robert Livingston and James Monroe, and France, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand and François Barbé-Marbois, signed the pact in Paris. The region, which at the time comprised around 827,000 square miles of land, cost the US $15 million in total.
April 26th, 1865: John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded and killed by Union soldiers in a tobacco barn in Virginia.
On April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., a well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth shot and killed President Abraham Lincoln. Booth and his assassin David Herold departed the city after the murder and took refuge in southern Maryland and Virginia. On the morning of April 26, 1865, they were ultimately located by Union soldiers, who encircled them in a tobacco barn. Herold gave himself up, but when Booth was shot by a Union soldier named Boston Corbett and killed a few hours later, he refused to come out.
The bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain occurred during the Spanish Civil War. The bombing, which was carried out by German and Italian warplanes supporting General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces, killed an estimated 300 people and destroyed the town.
Devastating attack during the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, was the bombardment of Guernica. The Basque town of Guernica was destroyed on April 26, 1937, by German and Italian bombers assisting General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces. Guernica is located in northern Spain. The strike significantly affected public opinion all around the world and was largely perceived as a test of new bombing techniques and technology. Although the precise number of victims is unknown, it is believed that several hundred people died and several others were injured. Pablo Picasso subsequently commemorated the bombing of Guernica in a well-known picture.
The world's worst nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. A reactor explosion and subsequent fires released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere, contaminating surrounding areas and causing health problems for many years.
At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was then a part of the Soviet Union, on April 26, 1986, a catastrophic nuclear catastrophe took place. A faulty reactor design and human mistake during a safety test were to blame for the catastrophe, which resulted in a reactor explosion and following fires that spilled a significant amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Two plant workers died as a direct result of the explosion and radiation, while several more experienced acute radiation illness in the days, weeks, and months that followed. The disaster's long-term impacts also include considerable environmental harm and a rise of cancer and other health issues in the neighborhood. In terms of the quantity of individuals impacted and the effects on the environment, it continues to be the greatest nuclear accident in recorded history.
Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence in the country. The withdrawal came after months of international pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Syrian government.
Years of tension and violence stemming from Syria's military presence in Lebanon reached a boiling point in 2005 with the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. On February 14, 2005, a bombing in Beirut killed Hariri, and it was widely assumed that the Syrian government had planned the attack. Significant international pressure was applied to Syria in the months that followed in order to get it to pull its forces out of Lebanon and allow for free and fair elections. On April 26, 2005, Syria formally withdrew its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence there after months of talks and pressure. The pullout was viewed as a huge win for the Lebanese people as well as for global initiatives to support democracy and stability in the area.