Discover what happened on April 14 in history, along with notable events that shaped American history, tragedy, and music.
What Happened on April 14 in History?
From a shocking moment in American history to a maritime disaster and the birth of a legendary music label, April 14 marks events that left lasting impacts across generations
APRIL 14 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1775 – The first abolitionist society in the U.S. was organized in Philadelphia, PA with Ben Franklin as President.
1828 – The first edition of Noah Webster’s dictionary was published under the name “American Dictionary of the English Language”.
1846 – The Donner Party of pioneers departed Springfield, IL, for California on what would become a year-long journey of hardship, cannibalism, and survival.
1860 – The first Pony Express rider arrived in San Francisco with mail originating in St. Joseph, MO.
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, by John Wilkes Booth. He actually died early the next morning.
1894 – First public showing of Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope took place in New York, NY.
1896 – John Harvey Kellogg received a patent for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.
1902 – James Cash (J.C.) Penney opened his first retail store in Kemmerer, WY. It was called the Golden Rule Store.
1907 – Tobacconists reported that conservatively, 40,000 cigars were smoked in Grand Rapids, MI every day. That number did not include those who smoked cigarettes, pipes, or used chewing tobacco.
1910 – President William Howard Taft threw out the first ball for the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics.
1912 – On its maiden voyage, the Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean at 11:40 pm. It sank the next morning. 1,503 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived.
1925 – WGN, in Chicago, IL became the first radio station to broadcast a regular season major league baseball game. The Cubs beat the Pirates 8-2.
1927 – The first Volvo car premiered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1939 – The John Steinbeck novel “The Grapes of Wrath” was first published.
1956 – In Chicago, IL, Ampex Corporation demonstrated the first commercial magnetic tape recorder for sound and picture (videotape).
1959 – The Taft Memorial Bell Tower was dedicated in Washington, DC.
1960 – Berry Gordy Jr. founded the Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, MI.
1969 – For the first time, a major league baseball game was played in Montreal, Canada.
1969 – At the Academy Awards there was a tie for the Best Actress between Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand.
1977 – The Renaissance Center opened in Detroit, MI. It had a 73-story tower and four 35-story buildings.
1981 – America’s first Space Shuttle, Columbia, returned to Earth after a three-day test flight. The Shuttle orbited the Earth 36 times during the mission.
1983 – The first cordless phone was introduced by Fidelity and British Telecom. It could operate up to 600 feet from its base.
1984 – The Texas Board of Education began requiring that the state’s public school textbooks describe the evolution of human beings as “theory rather than fact”.
1988 – In New York, NY real estate tycoons Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted for income tax evasion.
1990 – Cal Ripken, of the Baltimore Orioles, began a streak of 95 errorless games and 431 total chances by a shortstop.
1994 – Two American F-15 warplanes inadvertently shot down two U.S. helicopters over northern Iraq. 26 people were killed including 15 Americans.
2000 – The film “American Psycho”, based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel of the same name, premiered. It starred Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, and Jared Leto.
2004 – Dick Clark announced he has had adult onset diabetes since 1994. Clark had a deal with Merck pharmaceuticals to promote their diabetes medications.
2008 – Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announced they were combining.
2012 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2012: Guns n’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donovan, Laura Nyro, Small Faces/Faces, Beastie Boys and Freddie King; producers Don Kirshner, Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns; and the backing groups The Crickets, The Famous Flames, The Midnighters, The Comets, The Blue Caps and The Miracles.
2020 – More than a quarter of Michigan’s workforce had filed unemployment claims because of COVID-19.
2021 – President Joe Biden announced his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11.
2023 – The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) was launched by the European Space Agency.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON APRIL 14:
Bobby Nichols – 90 years old (1936) – Golfer
Frank Serpico – 90 years old (1936) – American-Italian soldier, police officer and lecturer
Mireille Guiliano – 80 years old (1946) – French-American author
DeAnne Julius – 77 years old (1949) – American-British economist and academic
John Shea – 77 years old (1949) – Actor and director
Francis Collins – 76 years old (1950) – Physician and geneticist
Kenny Aaronson – 74 years old (1952) – Bass player
Bobbi Brown – 69 years old (1957) – Make-up artist and author
Marc Platt – 69 years old (1957) – Producer
Brad Garrett – 66 years old (1960) – Actor and comedian
Tina Rosenberg – 66 years old (1960) – Journalist and author
Jeff Andretti – 62 years old (1964) – Race car driver
Jim Grabb – 62 years old (1964) – Tennis player
Tom Dey – 61 years old (1965) – Director and producer
David Justice – 60 years old (1966) – Baseball player and sportscaster
Greg Maddux – 60 years old (1966) – Baseball player, coach, and manager
Barrett Martin – 59 years old (1967) – Drummer, songwriter, and producer
Anthony Michael Hall – 58 years old (1968) – Actor
Brad Ausmus – 57 years old (1969) – Baseball player and manager
Martyn LeNoble – 57 years old (1969) – Dutch-American bass player
Carlos Pérez – 55 years old (1971) – Dominican-American baseball player
Gregg Zaun – 55 years old (1971) – Baseball player and sportscaster
Adrien Brody – 53 years old (1973) – Actor
David Miller – 53 years old (1973) – Tenor
Da Brat – 52 years old (1974) – Rapper
Lita – 51 years old (1975) – Wrestler
Avner Dorman – 51 years old (1975) – Israeli-American composer and academic
Anna DeForge – 50 years old (1976) – Basketball player
Kyle Farnsworth – 50 years old (1976) – Baseball player
Sarah Michelle Gellar – 49 years old (1977) – Actress
Rob McElhenney – 49 years old (1977) – Actor, producer, and screenwriter
Rebecca DiPietro – 47 years old (1979) – Wrestler and model
Win Butler – 46 years old (1980) – American-Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
William Obeng – 43 years old (1983) – Ghanaian-American football player
Blake Costanzo – 42 years old (1984) – Football player
Tyler Thigpen – 42 years old (1984) – Football player
Joe Haden – 37 years old (1989) – Football player
Baker Mayfield – 31 years old (1995) – Football player
Abigail Breslin – 30 years old (1996) – Actress
D. J. Moore – 29 years old (1997) – Football player
Chase Young – 27 years old (1999) – Football player
Patrick Surtain II – 26 years old (2000) – Football player
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR APRIL 14:
No events found for this date.
For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
