On This Day - April 16th

Featured Event:

Harriet Quimby's flight across the English Channel (1912) 🛩️

On this day in 1912, American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, guiding her French Blériot monoplane through heavy overcast from Dover, England, to Hardelot, France.

Other Events:

1917: Vladimir Lenin ended his 17-year exile and returned to Russia to form a provisional government. 🇷🇺

1943: Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic properties of LSD, a drug he had first synthesized in 1938. 👨‍🔬

2003: At age 40, Michael Jordan played his last game in the NBA. 🏀

2014: The South Korean ferry Sewol, traveling from Inch'ŏn to Cheju, capsized and sank, killing 304 people, most of whom were high schoolers. 🛳️

Holidays:

Emancipation Day 🇺🇸 (Washington D.C.)

Memorial Day 🇭🇺

World Voice Day 🌏

Featured Birthdays:

1867: Wilbur Wright 🇺🇸 (Aviator)

1889: Charlie Chaplin 🇬🇧 (Actor)

1927: Benedict XVI 🇩🇪 (Pope)

1947: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 🇺🇸 (Basketball Player)

Featured Deaths:

1828: Francisco Goya 🇪🇸 (Artist)

1958: Rosalind Franklin 🇬🇧 (Scientist)

1991: David Lean 🇬🇧 (Director)