March 18, 1850

American Express founded

This day in 1850 marked the founding of one of America's stalwart companies, American Express. The brainchild of Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, American Express was a union of three express transport concerns: Livingston, Fargo & Company, Wells & Co., and Butterfield & Wasson. The newly formed, and initially unincorporated, transportation company was a fast hit with the public; by the close of the Civil War, American Express had set up 900 offices in 10 states. Success, however, bred competition, and the upstart Merchants Union Express Company, founded in 1866, gave American Express a good run of it for a few years. After two years of furious competition, the companies decided that it would be more profitable to merge than to fight; in late 1868, the American Express and Merchants Union joined together as American Merchants Union Express Company. Fargo took the reigns of the new concern, which, in 1873, adopted its more familiar moniker as the American Express Company. American Express, of course, has since mutated into a giant in the fields of finance and travel, with offices spread across the globe.

March 18, 1852

Wells and Fargo start shipping and banking company

On this day in 1852, in New York City, Henry Wells and William G. Fargo join with several other investors to launch their namesake business.

The discovery of gold in California in 1849 prompted a huge spike in the demand for cross-country shipping. Wells and Fargo decided to take advantage of these great opportunities. In July 1852, their company shipped its first loads of freight from the East Coast to mining camps scattered around northern California. The company contracted with independent stagecoach companies to provide the fastest possible transportation and delivery of gold dust, important documents and other valuable freight. It also served as a bank--buying gold dust, selling paper bank drafts and providing loans to help fuel California's growing economy.

In 1857, Wells, Fargo and Co. formed the Overland Mail Company, known as the "Butterfield Line," which provided regular mail and passenger service along an ever-growing number of routes. In the boom-and-bust economy of the 1850s, the company earned a reputation as a trustworthy and reliable business, and its logo--the classic stagecoach--became famous. For a premium price, Wells, Fargo and Co. would send an employee on horseback to deliver or pick up a message or package.

Wells, Fargo and Co. merged with several other "Pony Express" and stagecoach lines in 1866 to become the unrivaled leader in transportation in the West. When the transcontinental railroad was completed three years later, the company began using railroad to transport its freight. By 1910, its shipping network connected 6,000 locations, from the urban centers of the East and the farming towns of the Midwest to the ranching and mining centers of Texas and California and the lumber mills of the Pacific Northwest.

After splitting from the freight business in 1905, the banking branch of the company merged with the Nevada National Bank and established new headquarters in San Francisco. During World War I, the U.S. government nationalized the company's shipping routes and combined them with the railroads into the American Railway Express, effectively putting an end to Wells, Fargo and Co. as a transportation and delivery business. The following April, the banking headquarters was destroyed in a major earthquake, but the vaults remained intact and the bank's business continued to grow. After two later mergers, the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company--shortened to the Wells Fargo Bank in 1962--became, and has remained, one of the biggest banking institutions in the United States.

March 18, 1985

Cap Cities snags media mainstay

After a few months of negotiations, Capital Cities Communications sealed a deal to acquire media stalwart American Broadcasting Cos. (ABC) on this day in 1985. Capital Cities handed over $3.5 billion in cash and warrants, marking what was then one of the biggest mergers in U.S. corporate history. On paper, the acquisition was a tremendous boon for Capital Cities who, despite having but a fraction of ABC's revenues, was able to translate healthy profit margins and an efficient management system into a major stake in the broadcast industry. The deal also made sense for ABC, which had recently become ripe fodder for a hostile takeover. However, selling out to Capital Cities was something of a bittersweet moment for seventy-nine-year-old company chief Leonard Goldenson. Indeed, when Goldman took control of ABC in the early 1950s, the network was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy; not only did he save ABC from the scrap heap, but Goldman also kept the company humming along for roughly three decades. Wall Street, however, held back its tears and stamped its seal of approval on the deal: in a day of zesty trading, ABC's stock surged $31.375 to close at $105.875.

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March 19, 1831

U.S. suffers first bank heist

On this day in 1831, America suffered through a rather dubious fiscal first, as robbers cleaned the City Bank of New York's coffers to the tune of $245,000. The heist marked the first such robbery reported in the nation's young history.

March 19, 1985

IBM pulls plug on PCjr

On this day in 1985, IBM pulled the plug on its floundering home computer, the PCjr. First introduced in November of 1983, the PCjr had been created to fuel IBM's efforts to rule the consumer computer market. In its initial press packet for the PCjr, IBM touted the computer as a "compact, low-cost" machine for "personal productivity applications, learning and entertainment." However, the hype and putatively puny price couldn't induce people to buy the machine: after sixteen months on the market, consumers had snapped up but 240,000 units. The failure of the PCjr did not bode well for IBM: during the ensuing years, the company struggled to make the transition from its traditional realm of business computing to the burgeoning home user market.

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March 27, 1836

Father of automotive luxury is born

Sir Henry Royce, the British industrialist whose fleet of high-end, high-priced cars stand as an enduring symbol of wealth, was born on this day in 1863. Royce entered the working world at the tender age of fifteen, first serving as an apprentice engineer for the Great Northern Railway company. Royce enjoyed a successful career as an engineer and in the mid-1880s, he set up his own shop, which eventually became Royce Ltd. Royce initially focused his company on the production of motors, electric cranes, and generators. However, by 1904, he had unveiled the nascent version of what would become his signature product, the luxury automobile. Royce's first batch of cars caught the eye of C.S. Rolls, a British "motor dealer." Rolls snapped up Royce's initial line and, two short years later, the duo merged their companies as Rolls-Royce Ltd

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March 28, 1834

Senate takes Jackson to task

The nasty battle over the Second Bank of the United States took another turn on this day in 1834, as the Senate voted to censure President Andrew Jackson for abusing his authority and meddling with the bank's finances. In particular, the resolution, introduced by Jackson's archenemy Henry Clay, took the President to task for removing funds from the bank in the fall of 1833. An ardent supporter of states' rights, Jackson, along with help from Treasury Secretary Robert Taney, who was also censured by the Senate, transferred chunks of the money from the national bank to state institutions. Though Jackson claimed that the transfer was a response to the bank's putatively partisan position during the 1832 elections, he was seemingly making a bald-faced play to kill the bank. Following the censure, the pugnacious president marshaled his forces and attempted to overturn the Senate's ruling. Though his initial efforts were rebuffed, Jackson eventually won the day. Thanks in large part to Senator Thomas Hart Benton, the censure was stripped from the Senate records in early 1837. More importantly, Jackson successfully blocked the bank from renewing its charter. Defeated bank leader Nelson Biddle instead opted to obtain a state banking license from Pennsylvania.

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April 1, 1864

First travel insurance policy sold

James Batterson made history on this day in 1864 by purchasing the very first travel insurance policy. The policy, issued by industry stalwart, the Travelers Insurance Company, seemingly sold Batterson on the benefits of insurance coverage: three months later he purchased Travelers' very first general insurance plan.

April 1, 1992

House bank abusers listed

On this day in 1992, the House Ethics Committee released a list of the twenty-two most flagrant abusers of the defunct House bank. The bank, which had been closed in the fall of 1991, was not a financial institution, but rather served as a common place for legislators to tuck their paychecks. The representatives in question were accused of overdrawing on this collective account. But, though the legislators' habit of overdrafting neither violated the bank's rules nor led to the loss of federal money, it reeked of fiscal irresponsibility and stirred yelps of protest from the American public. The House Ethics Committee held that legislators who had overdrafted on their payroll deposits for a minimum of eight months out of a sample thirty-nine-month stretch were indeed in the wrong. The committee's findings, as well as the decision to name names, sent Capitol Hill into a tizzy. A number of the legislators fingered on the list lashed out at what one accused representative deemed a "libelous indictment." But, such protests did little to quell the controversy: during the ensuing months, the committee revealed that some 350 former and current House members had written bad checks. With the public outcry hardly abating, fifty-three representatives tendered their resignations by May 4 of that same year.

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April 4, 1812

Madison embargoes Brits

On this day in 1812, President James Madison fired an economic salvo at the British government and enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with England. Madison's embargo was the last in a steady succession of putatively peaceful trade measures; like its predecessors, the embargo was designed to protect America's embattled merchant ships from continued attacks by the British and French (American ships had been under siege since 1807). But, the non-violent nature of Madison's response barely masked his readiness to lead America into battle, especially against the British. Indeed, in November of 1811, the President had urged Congress to cloak the country in "an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis." Madison's rhetoric was perhaps a bit disingenuous: his willingness to do battle stemmed as much from his desire to usurp British territory in Canada, Spanish Florida and what would become the American West. While expansionists, including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, licked their chops in anticipation of war, moderate legislators still hoped to forge a more peaceful solution. Though the embargo may have temporarily appeased the moderates, it did little to forestall war: the British refused to cease harassing American ships, prompting Madison to lead America into the War of 1812.

April 4, 1841

President Harrison dies after one month in office

Only 31 days after assuming office, William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, dies of pneumonia at the White House.

Born in Charles County, Virginia, in 1773, Harrison served in the U.S. Army in the old Northwest Territory and in 1800 was made governor of the Indian Territory, where he proved an able administrator. In 1811, he led U.S. forces against an Indian confederation organized by Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, and victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe brought an end to Tecumseh's hopes for a united Indian front against U.S. expansion. In the War of 1812, Harrison gained his greatest fame as a military commander, recapturing Detroit from the British and defeating a combined force of British and Native Americans at the Battle of the Thames.

In 1816, he was elected to the House of Representatives and in 1825 to the Senate. Gaining the Whig presidential nomination in 1840, he and his running mate, John Tyler, ran a successful campaign under the slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." At the inauguration of America's first Whig president, on March 4, 1841, a bitterly cold day, Harrison declined to wear a jacket or hat, made a two-hour speech, and attended three inauguration balls. Soon afterward, he developed pneumonia. On April 4, President Harrison died in Washington, and Vice President John Tyler ascended to the presidency, becoming the first individual in U.S. history to reach the office through the death of a president.

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April 8, 1935

WPA established by Congress

On April 8, 1935, Congress votes to approve the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a central part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal."

In November 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Governor Roosevelt of New York was elected the 32nd president of the United States. In his inaugural address on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt promised Americans that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and outlined his New Deal--an expansion of the federal government as an instrument of employment opportunity and welfare.

In April 1935, the WPA was established under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, as a means of creating government jobs for some of the nation's many unemployed. Under the direction of Harry L. Hopkins, the WPA employed more than 8.5 million persons on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943. The program chose work that would not interfere with private enterprise, especially vast public building projects like the construction of highways, bridges, and dams. However, the WPA also provided federal funding for students, who were given work under the National Youth Administration. The careers of several important American artists, including Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning, were also launched thanks to WPA endowments. Although its scale was unprecedented, the WPA never managed to serve more than a quarter of the nation's unemployed. Its programs were extremely popular, though, and contributed significantly to Roosevelt's landslide reelection in 1936.

April 8, 1942

WPB ends non-war production

After a lengthy spate of speculation and debate, in which anti-war forces and isolationists went toe-to-toe with advocates of engagement, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941 finally pushed U.S. forces into battle. Along with myriad cultural and social adjustments, America's entrance into World War II also triggered a profound fiscal shift: the industrial sector was now forced to gear its efforts almost exclusively toward wartime production. On April 8, 1942, the War Production Board accelerated the transformation of the nation's economy by ordering a halt to all production that was not deemed necessary to the war. The War Production Board's mandate quickly took hold; at the peak of the war, the military utilized nearly half of the nation's production and services. Far from causing fiscal woe, World War II proved to be a great boon to the economy: unemployment, which had climbed up to fourteen percent in 1940, all but evaporated, while the gross national product doubled by the close of the war.

April 8, 1952

Truman takes on steel plants

Trouble was brewing in Youngstown, Ohio, during the spring of 1952, as the city's steelworkers prepared to go out on strike. With the U.S. embroiled in the Korean War, the walkout loomed as an ill-timed irritant to the government's battle against communism. And so on this day in 1952, President Truman stepped into the breach and placed the steel plants under his control. There was some reason to believe that Truman's bald face play to squelch the strike was a legal maneuver. Indeed, Article II of the Constitution held that the President could only unilaterally pass and/or create legislation during periods of war. Nonetheless, Truman's seizure of the steel mills stirred controversy and led to a heated battle before the Supreme Court. In June of that same year, the Court rule in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer that Truman had, in fact, overstepped his bounds. The finding effectively proscribed the president's power during times of national emergency

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April 10, 1816

Congress ok's second U.S. Bank

With the nation struggling through a protracted economic slump, the federal government gave the go-ahead to a second National Bank on this day in 1816. One of Alexander Hamilton's pet projects, the initial edition of the bank stirred opposition from states' rights advocates and lost its charter in 1811. Its successor, officially dubbed the Second Bank of the United States, opened in Philadelphia in 1817. Despite its twenty-year charter and $35 million in federal funding, the bank floundered under the lead of its first chief, William Jones. An inept fiscal manager, Jones's policies exacerbated the wounds that the United States economy had suffered in the wake of the War of 1812. Thanks in no small part to Jones's bungling, the nation was plunged into a yearlong financial panic during 1819. Though the bank later flourished under the charge of Nelson Biddle, it didn't survive past the term of its initial charter: states' rights proponents, this time led by President Andrew Jackson, mounted a hotly contested, though again successful, drive to abolish the bank and its network of branch offices.

April 10, 1944

Henry Ford II is promoted

Henry Ford II was named executive vice president of the Ford Motor Company. His promotion confirmed his bid to become the heir to his grandfather's throne at Ford. Henry II despised his grandfather for tormenting his father, Edsel Ford. Nevertheless Henry II went on to display many of the leadership skills of his grandfather en route to becoming the head of the Ford Empire. After an unsatisfactory academic career at Yale University—where Henry spent four years without receiving a diploma—he returned to work at the River Rouge plant. There he familiarized himself with the operation of the company, and he witnessed the bitter struggle for the succession of Henry Ford's title as president of the company. After his father Edsel Ford's death-- the result of "stomach cancer, undulant fever, and a broken heart"-- Ford Lieutenants Harry Bennett and Charles Sorensen fought a silent battle for the Ford throne. Henry Ford Sr. had reassumed the title of president, although it was clear he was too old to stay in that position for long. The irritable Henry I wasn't dead yet though, and he intervened on behalf of his violent pet Harry Bennet, who had gained power at Ford for his suppression of organized labor. After being passed up for the vice presidency of the company, Sorensen left the company after over 40 years of service. Many attributed Ford's poor treatment of Sorensen to personal jealousy. Henry the Elder was reportedly even jealous of his grandson's presence at the Rouge Plant. At the outbreak of World War II, Henry II left Ford for military service, which he carried out in Salt Lake City, Utah, until his father died on May 26, 1943. At that time he returned to Ford to take the reigns of the company at the urging of the U.S Government. His grandfather was finally too old to run the company; and if he didn't name a successor, the company would fall out of the family's control for the first time in its existence. Realizing that Henry's presence would make his own accession to the company's presidency impossible, strongman Harry Bennett attempted to bring Henry II under his influence. His efforts were of no avail, though, as Henry Ford II refused to be influenced by his tyrannical grandfather's toady. His accession to the executive vice-presidency made him the inevitable successor to the presidency of the Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford II went on to lead his family's company back to greatness from its dubious position behind both GM and Chrysler after the war.

April 10, 1962

Kennedy criticizes steel industry

This day in 1962 found President John F. Kennedy in something of a snit. The source of his anger was the steel industry's recent decision to jack up prices. The president sharply chided the steel industry and deemed the price increase a "wholly unjustified and irresponsible" move. A few days after Kennedy's outburst, duly chastened steel leaders rolled back the price hikes.

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April 11, 1930

Nicholas Brady is born

Today marks the birthday of Nicholas Brady, a stalwart figure in the banking industry who eventually became the 68th secretary of the Treasury. Born in New York City in 1930, Brady worked in banking for thirty-four years, serving a stint as the chairman of Dillon, Read & Company. He also worked as a director for a host of companies, including the NCR Corporation and H.J. Heinz. By the early 1980s, Brady had switched to the public sector, briefly holding a seat in the U.S. Senate, and serving in various posts in the Reagan administration. Brady was tapped for the spot atop the Treasury in the fall of 1988.

April 11, 1941

FDR fights inflation

During the early 1940s, President Franklin Roosevelt set about readying the nation for its entrance into World War II. Along with converting American industry to the cause of wartime production, Roosevelt also moved to safeguard the nation's economy. Towards this end, Roosevelt issued an executive order on April 11, 1941, that created the Office of Price Administration (OPA). Charged with waging war against inflation, the OPA imposed price caps on a vast array of goods and attempted to keep a tight fist on key items with low inventories. Though under other circumstances such measures might have stirred controversy, Americans generally complied with the OPA. However, the agency could not quell the spread of black markets for certain items, including meat, gas and cigarettes. Following the close of the war, the OPA also proved impotent against the attacks of corporate leaders and business-friendly legislators who were itching to kill off price controls. Thus, in 1946, the OPA began curtailing its efforts and slashing its then sizable staff of 73,000 paid employees and 200,000 volunteers. Coupled with the demise of price controls, the closing of the OPA led to a heady spate of inflation.

April 11, 1970

Apollo 13 launched to moon

On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The spacecraft's destination was the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon, where the astronauts were to explore the Imbrium Basin and conduct geological experiments. After an oxygen tank exploded on the evening of April 13, however, the new mission objective became to get the Apollo 13 crew home alive.

At 9:00 p.m. EST on April 13, Apollo 13 was just over 200,000 miles from Earth. The crew had just completed a television broadcast and was inspecting Aquarius, the Landing Module (LM). The next day, Apollo 13 was to enter the moon's orbit, and soon after, Lovell and Haise would become the fifth and sixth men to walk on the moon. At 9:08 p.m., these plans were shattered when an explosion rocked the spacecraft. Oxygen tank No. 2 had blown up, disabling the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water. Lovell reported to mission control: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and the crew scrambled to find out what had happened. Several minutes later, Lovell looked out of the left-hand window and saw that the spacecraft was venting a gas, which turned out to be the Command Module's (CM) oxygen. The landing mission was aborted.

As the CM lost pressure, its fuel cells also died, and one hour after the explosion mission control instructed the crew to move to the LM, which had sufficient oxygen, and use it as a lifeboat. The CM was shut down but would have to be brought back on-line for Earth reentry. The LM was designed to ferry astronauts from the orbiting CM to the moon's surface and back again; its power supply was meant to support two people for 45 hours. If the crew of Apollo 13 were to make it back to Earth alive, the LM would have to support three men for at least 90 hours and successfully navigate more than 200,000 miles of space. The crew and mission control faced a formidable task.

To complete its long journey, the LM needed energy and cooling water. Both were to be conserved at the cost of the crew, who went on one-fifth water rations and would later endure cabin temperatures that hovered a few degrees above freezing. Removal of carbon dioxide was also a problem, because the square lithium hydroxide canisters from the CM were not compatible with the round openings in the LM environmental system. Mission control built an impromptu adapter out of materials known to be onboard, and the crew successfully copied their model.

Navigation was also a major problem. The LM lacked a sophisticated navigational system, and the astronauts and mission control had to work out by hand the changes in propulsion and direction needed to take the spacecraft home. On April 14, Apollo 13 swung around the moon. Swigert and Haise took pictures, and Lovell talked with mission control about the most difficult maneuver, a five-minute engine burn that would give the LM enough speed to return home before its energy ran out. Two hours after rounding the far side of the moon, the crew, using the sun as an alignment point, fired the LM's small descent engine. The procedure was a success; Apollo 13 was on its way home.

For the next three days, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert huddled in the freezing lunar module. Haise developed a case of the flu. Mission control spent this time frantically trying to develop a procedure that would allow the astronauts to restart the CM for reentry. On April 17, a last-minute navigational correction was made, this time using Earth as an alignment guide. Then the repressurized CM was successfully powered up after its long, cold sleep. The heavily damaged service module was shed, and one hour before re-entry the LM was disengaged from the CM. Just before 1 p.m., the spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere. Mission control feared that the CM's heat shields were damaged in the accident, but after four minutes of radio silence Apollo 13's parachutes were spotted, and the astronauts splashed down safely into the Pacific Ocean.

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April 14, 1865

Lincoln creates Secret Service

In one of his last legislative acts before being assassinated, President Abraham Lincoln green-lighted a proposal to create the Secret Service on this day in 1865. Ironically enough, the new agency was formed to fight the rise of counterfeit cash, rather than to protect the president. However, by the 1890s, the Secret Service was increasingly called on to play its more familiar role of guarding the nation's commander in chief; in 1901, presidential protection was officially adopted as one of the agency's chief duties. Along the way, the Secret Service's job description was also expanded to include quelling frauds against the government.

April 14, 1874

Congress endorses greenbacks

The increasingly heated battle over greenbacks, the paper notes first printed to support the Union during the Civil War, took another turn on this day in 1874, as Congress passed The Legal Tender Act. Derisively known in some circles as the "Inflation Bill," the legislation called for $18 million worth of greenbacks to be pumped into the economy. The Legal Tender Act also certified the hefty chunk of paper notes that had been released during the previous year. All told, the bill authorized $400 million in greenbacks as legal tender. But, like other bits of legislation associated with greenbacks, the Legal Tender Act quickly became embroiled in controversy. A mere week after Congress weighed in with its decision, President Ulysses S. Grant moved to kill the bill, arguing that it would unleash a tidal wave of inflation. But the House would not be denied: in June of 1874, pro-paper forces successfully pushed another version of the Legal Tender Act into the law books. The passage of the revised bill brought the amount of greenbacks in circulation up to $382 million.

April 14, 1912

RMS Titanic hits iceberg

Just before midnight in the North Atlantic, the RMS Titanic fails to divert its course from an iceberg, ruptures its hull, and begins to sink.

Four days earlier, the Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. While leaving port, the massive ship came within a couple of feet of the steamer New York but passed safely by, causing a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the ship's decks.

The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and spanned 883 feet from stern to bow. Its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. On its first journey across the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.

After stopping at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up some final passengers, the massive vessel set out at full speed for New York City. However, just before midnight on April 14, the ship hit an iceberg, and five of the Titanic's compartments were ruptured along its starboard side. At about 2:20 a.m. on the morning of April 15, the massive vessel sank into the North Atlantic.

Because of a shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy North Atlantic waters. Most of the approximately 700 survivors were women and children. A number of notable American and British citizens died in the tragedy, including the noted British journalist William Thomas Stead and heirs to the Straus, Astor, and Guggenheim fortunes. The announcement of details of the disaster led to outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. The sinking of the Titanic did have some positive effects, however, as more stringent safety regulations were adopted on public ships, and regular patrols were initiated to trace the locations of deadly Atlantic icebergs.

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April 15, 1912

Titanic sinks

At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner Titanic sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. The massive ship, which carried 2,200 passengers and crew, had struck an iceberg two and half hours before.

On April 10, the RMS Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and built in Belfast, and was thought to be the world's fastest ship. It spanned 883 feet from stern to bow, and its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. While leaving port, the ship came within a couple of feet of the steamer New York but passed safely by, causing a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the Titanic's decks. On its first journey across the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.

After stopping at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up some final passengers, the massive vessel set out at full speed for New York City. However, just before midnight on April 14, the RMS Titanic failed to divert its course from an iceberg and ruptured at least five of its hull compartments. These compartments filled with water and pulled down the bow of the ship. Because the Titanic's compartments were not capped at the top, water from the ruptured compartments filled each succeeding compartment, causing the bow to sink and the stern to be raised up to an almost vertical position above the water. Then the Titanic broke in half, and, at about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, stern and bow sank to the ocean floor.

Because of a shortage of lifeboats and the lack of satisfactory emergency procedures, more than 1,500 people went down in the sinking ship or froze to death in the icy North Atlantic waters. Most of the 700 or so survivors were women and children. A number of notable American and British citizens died in the tragedy, including the noted British journalist William Thomas Stead and heirs to the Straus, Astor, and Guggenheim fortunes.

One hour and 20 minutes after Titanic went down, the Cunard liner Carpathia arrived. The survivors in the lifeboats were brought aboard, and a handful of others were pulled out of the water. It was later discovered that the Leyland liner Californian had been less than 20 miles away at the time of the accident but had failed to hear the Titanic's distress signals because its radio operator was off duty.

Announcement of details of the tragedy led to outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. In the disaster's aftermath, the first International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was held in 1913. Rules were adopted requiring that every ship have lifeboat space for each person on board, and that lifeboat drills be held. An International Ice Patrol was established to monitor icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes. It was also required that ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch.

On September 1, 1985, a joint U.S.-French expedition located the wreck of the Titanic lying on the ocean floor at a depth of about 13,000 feet. The ship was explored by manned and unmanned submersibles, which shed new light on the details of its sinking.

April 15, 1992

Queen of Mean heads to jail

April 15, 1992 was a day of reckoning for Leona Helmsley, as the domineering hotel impresario began what was to be a four-year prison term in Lexington, Kentucky. Heading off to jail on this, the last day of the tax year, was a fitting irony for Helmsley, the so-called "Queen of Mean," who had run afoul of the law for neglecting to pay her taxes. During her trial (Helmsley's husband was also charged with tax evasion, but did not stand trial due to his failing health), Helmsley had admitted to evading the IRS, though she refused to see anything wrong in her actions. Indeed, Helmsley reasoned that the wealthy and famous were exempt from the annual surrender to the IRS. As she infamously explained, "Only the little people pay taxes." The press and public alike vilified Helmsley, and her defense failed to sway the court. Helmsley was initially sentenced to a four-year prison term for tax evasion; she ended up serving only 18 months in jail.

Upon her husband Harry's death in 1997, Helmsley inherited his entire $1.7 billion fortune. In 2002, Helmsley once again found herself in court, this time for the wrongful dismissal of a former employee, who claimed he had been fired solely because he was gay. Although he was initially awarded $11 million in damages, the award was later reduced to about $500,000.

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April 16, 1945

Congress extends Lend-Lease

On April 16, 1945--just four days after President Franklin Roosevelt passed away--the federal government tacked another year on to the term of one of Roosevelt's key pieces of wartime legislation, the Lend-Lease Act. The Lend-Lease bill was originally enacted in 1941, when the U.S. was wavering between entering World War II and remaining neutral. Roosevelt, however, was increasingly committed to the fight against fascism; he was also under growing pressure from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to cease the practice of selling, rather than lending or outright giving, war materials to England. The Lend-Lease legislation remedied this situation, as America now served as "the great arsenal of democracy," providing Great Britain with money and military machinery; in return, England could make repayments either "in kind or property, or any other direct or indirect benefit which the President deems satisfactory." As the war progressed, the U.S. expanded the Lend Lease system to include China and Russia. All told, the U.S. funneled $50.6 billion worth of Lend-Lease aid to the Allies during the war, the majority of which went to Britain and the USSR.

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April 17, 1790

Benjamin Franklin dies

On April 17, 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.

Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin became at 12 years old an apprentice to his half brother James, a printer and publisher. He learned the printing trade and in 1723 went to Philadelphia to work after a dispute with his brother. After a sojourn in London, he started a printing and publishing press with a friend in 1728. In 1729, the company won a contract to publish Pennsylvania's paper currency and also began publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette, which was regarded as one of the better colonial newspapers. From 1732 to 1757, he wrote and published Poor Richard's Almanack, an instructive and humorous periodical in which Franklin coined such practical American proverbs as "God helps those who help themselves" and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

As his own wealth and prestige grew, Franklin took on greater civic responsibilities in Philadelphia and helped establish the city's first circulating library, police force, volunteer fire company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1737 to 1753, he was postmaster of Philadelphia and during this time also served as a clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general, in charge of mail in all the northern colonies.

Deeply interested in science and technology, he invented the Franklin stove, which is still manufactured today, and bifocal eyeglasses, among other practical inventions. In 1748, he turned his printing business over to his partner so he would have more time for his experiments. The phenomenon of electricity fascinated him, and in a dramatic experiment he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is an electrical discharge. He later invented the lightning rod. Many terms used in discussing electricity, including positive, negative, battery, and conductor, were coined by Franklin in his scientific papers. He was the first American scientist to be highly regarded in European scientific circles.

Franklin was active in colonial affairs and in 1754 proposed the union of the colonies, which was rejected by Britain. In 1757, he went to London to argue for the right to tax the massive estates of the Penn family in Pennsylvania, and in 1764 went again to ask for a new charter for Pennsylvania. He was in England when Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. His initial failure to actively oppose the controversial act drew wide criticism in the colonies, but he soon redeemed himself by stoutly defending American rights before the House of Commons. With tensions between the American colonies and Britain rising, he stayed on in London and served as agent for several colonies.

In 1775, he returned to America as the American Revolution approached and was a delegate at the Continental Congress. In 1776, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in July signed the final document. Ironically, Franklin's illegitimate son, William Franklin, whom Franklin and his wife had raised, had at the same time emerged as a leader of the Loyalists. In 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the embattled United States' most prominent statesmen, to France as a diplomat. Warmly embraced, he succeeded in 1778 in securing two treaties that provided the Americans with significant military and economic aid. In 1781, with French help, the British were defeated. With John Jay and John Adams, Franklin then negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which was signed in 1783.

In 1785, Franklin returned to the United States. In his last great public service, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and worked hard for the document's ratification. After his death in 1790, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen

April 17, 1975

Connally acquitted in milk bribery case

Though hardly a household name, John Connally led an undeniably notable life. Indeed, Connally was deeply involved in some of the key events during the past half-century of American history. Not only did he help boost Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson into the Oval Office, but Connally also served in Kennedy's cabinet and was governor of Texas during the late 1960s. And, in a tragic, though indelible moment, Connally was severely wounded while riding in Kennedy's limousine when the president was assassinated in 1963. However, between 1974 and 1975, Connally suffered through one of the less distinguished patches of his life. Indeed, Connally, who had since switched party allegiances and was working as the treasury secretary in Richard Nixon's Republican White House, was accused of accepting a hefty $10,000 bribe from the American Milk Producers Company; in return, Connally was to push Nixon to hike "price supports" for milk. But, on this day in 1975, Connally was acquitted of the bribery charges and was freed to go on to a life that included a failed bid for the presidency, as well as a rocky, and ultimately ruinous, run in Texas's tumultuous oil and real estate businesses.

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Heidi ~ Have a Wonderful Day!

April 18, 1806

U.S. boycotts British goods

The ever-tense relationship between Great Britain and the United States--still smoldering well past the close of the Revolutionary War--took a turn for the worse during the early portion of the nineteenth century. Putatively hoping to locate sailors who had deserted the Royal Navy, the British had taken to impressing American merchant ships. Though the deserters often took refuge on American vessels, the British often simply seized any sailors--deserters or no--who failed to prove their American citizenship. So, on this day in 1806, Congress fired back at England by passing the Nicholson Act (nee the Non-Importation Act), legislation which effectively shut the door on the importation of numerous British goods to America. The legislation blocked the trade of brass, tin, textiles and other items that could either be produced in the States or imported from other countries. The Nicholson Act took effect in December of 1806; but, a mere month later, President Thomas Jefferson lifted the trade blockade in hopes of speeding treaty negotiations with Britain. U.S. Minister James Monroe brokered a deal with Britain, albeit one that did little to spare America's commercial ships. In 1808, the government reinstated the Nicholson Act, though it did little to prevent America and England from sailing into another war.

April 18, 1956

Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier

American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a spectacular ceremony.

Kelly, the daughter of a former model and a wealthy industrialist, began acting as a child. After high school, she attended the American Academy for Dramatic Arts in New York. While she auditioned for Broadway plays, she supported herself by modeling and appearing in TV commercials.

In 1949, she debuted on Broadway in The Father by August Strindberg. Two years later, she landed her first Hollywood bit part, in Fourteen Hours. Her big break came in 1952, when she starred as Gary Cooper's wife in High Noon. Her performance in The Country Girl, as the long-suffering wife of an alcoholic songwriter played by Bing Crosby, won her an Oscar in 1954. The same year, she played opposite Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.

While filming another Hitchcock movie, To Catch a Thief (1955), in the French Riviera, she met Prince Rainier of Monaco. It wasn't love at first sight for Kelly, but the prince initiated a long correspondence, which led to their marriage in 1956. She became Princess Grace of Monaco and retired from acting. She had three children and occasionally narrated documentaries. Kelly died tragically at the age of 52 when her car plunged off a mountain road by the Cote D'Azur in September 1982.

April 18, 1989

Chinese students protest against government

Thousands of Chinese students continue to take to the streets in Beijing to protest government policies and issue a call for greater democracy in the communist People's Republic of China (PRC). The protests grew until the Chinese government ruthlessly suppressed them in June during what came to be known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

During the mid-1980s, the communist government of the PRC had been slowly edging toward a liberalization of the nation's strict state-controlled economy, in an attempt to attract more foreign investment and increase the nation's foreign trade. This action sparked a call among many Chinese citizens, including many students, for reform of the country's communist-dominated political system. By early 1989, peaceful protests against the government began in some of China's largest cities. The biggest protest was held on April 18 in the capital city of Beijing. Marching through Tiananmen Square in the center of the city, thousands of students carried banners, chanted slogans, and sang songs calling for a more democratic political atmosphere.

The government's response to the demonstrations became progressively harsher. Government officials who showed any sympathy to the protesters were purged. Several of the demonstration leaders were arrested, and a propaganda campaign was directed at the marching students, declaring that they sought to "create chaos under the heavens." On June 3, 1989, with the protests growing larger every day and foreign journalists capturing the dramatic events on film, the Chinese army was directed to crush the movement. An unknown number of Chinese protesters were killed (estimates range into the thousands) during what came to be known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

In the United States, the protests attracted widespread attention. Many Americans assumed that China, like the Soviet Union and the communist nations of Eastern Europe, had been moving toward a free market and political democracy. The brutal government repression of the protests shocked the American public. The U.S. government temporarily suspended arms sales to China and imposed a few economic sanctions, but the actions were largely symbolic. Growing U.S. trade and investment in China and the fear that a severe U.S. reaction to the massacre might result in a diplomatic rupture limited the official U.S. response.

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Heidi ~ Have a Wonderful Day!

April 22, 1970

Perot takes a bath

April 22, 1970, was a bad day for Ross Perot. The jug-eared Texas billionaire, later known for his quixotic tilts at the White House, had but a few years earlier decided to go public with his computer systems company, E.D.S. The initial offering of E.D.S.'s stock stirred a frenzy on Wall Street and Perot, already rather successful, became one of the half-dozen wealthiest Americans (Perot's riches were so recently acquired that as of 1970 he was not listed in the almanac of affluence, Poor's Register). The good times kept rolling for the company's stock and, as traders hit the pit on the morning of April 22, there was scant reason to think that E.D.S.'s fortunes would change. But, by the end of the day, E.D.S.'s stock had plummeted a whopping fifty to sixty points, a loss which, on paper, cost Perot roughly $450 million. However, the stock's sudden decline remains something of a mystery, though many believe that E.D.S. suffered from "organized" bear raid. Whatever the cause, Perot didn't seem particularly fazed by the event; he reasoned that the loss, as well as the company's previous gains, had only existed on paper. Years later, Perot mentioned that he felt little if anything after hearing the news about his stock; in his eyes, the loss was "purely abstract."

April 22, 1970

The first Earth Day

Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world's environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. Millions of Americans, including students from thousands of colleges and universities, participated in rallies, marches, and educational programs.

Earth Day was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, a staunch environmentalist who hoped to provide unity to the grassroots environmental movement and increase ecological awareness. "The objective was to get a nationwide demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it would shake the political establishment out of its lethargy," Senator Nelson said, "and, finally, force this issue permanently onto the national political agenda." Earth Day indeed increased environmental awareness in America, and in July of that year the Environmental Protection Agency was established by special executive order to regulate and enforce national pollution legislation.

On April 22, 1990, the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, more than 200 million people in 141 countries participated in Earth Day celebrations.

Earth Day has been celebrated on different days by different groups internationally. The United Nations officially celebrates it on the vernal equinox, which usually occurs about March 21.

April 22, 1994

Former President Richard Nixon dies

On this day in 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon dies after suffering a stroke four days earlier. In a 1978 speech at Oxford University, Nixon admitted he had “screwed up” during his presidency but predicted that his achievements would be viewed more favorably with time. He told the young audience, “You'll be here in the year 2000…see how I am regarded then."

Nixon is most often remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal as president and for his Cold War-era persecution of suspected communists while serving as a U.S. senator. However, Nixon left a legacy as complex as his personality.

Nixon did not owe his success in politics to personality or charm: in fact, even many of his staunch supporters described him as cold, aloof, crude, arrogant and paranoid. President Dwight D. Eisenhower himself, whom Nixon served as vice president, claimed that Nixon would never win the presidency because “the people don’t like him.” After proving his former boss wrong, Nixon left the office in disgrace, resigning in the face of impending impeachment. His paranoia of political sabotage by his opponents had inspired him to authorize the wire-tapping of enemies and supporters alike. Ironically, it was the conversations he taped in his own office that led to his ultimate downfall.

Despite the immense disappointment and distrust in government that the Watergate scandal inspired in most Americans, Nixon was correct in assuming that some aspects of his leadership would be judged favorably with the passage of time. These include his bold efforts to improve diplomatic relations with China and Russia, as well as pushing lasting and influential legislation through Congress. Nixon’s legislative legacy includes the National Environmental Policy Act, passed in 1969, which created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. He also lowered the voting age to 18, established Amtrak, launched the space-shuttle program and authorized the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). During his retirement, several subsequent presidents consulted Nixon for his expertise in international affairs.

Nixon and his wife Pat are both buried on the grounds of his birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. The site is also the home of the Richard Milhous Nixon Presidential Library.

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Heidi ~ Have a Wonderful Day!