1798: After the French attack and the surrender of Freiburg and Solothurn without a fight, the old Confederation collapses. Proclamation of the Helvetic Republic, which as a unitary state receives a constitution dictated by France. Parts of Graubünden are separated and become part of the Cisalpine Republic.
1848: Proclamation of the Republic of Baden in Constance. The insurgents are crushed by regular troops on April 20 in the southern Black Forest.
1868: First “General Workers’ Day” in Wiener Neustadt.
1903: In Eastbourne (England) the first urban motor bus service with four buses begins operation.
1918: French Prime Minister Georges Clémenceau publishes Emperor Charles I’s letter to Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, brother of Empress Zita. In it, the Austro-Hungarian monarch had agreed to secret peace contacts with Paris in 1917 and recognized French claims for restitution of Alsace-Lorraine. Clemenceau thus triggers a crisis in the relationship between Germany and Austria-Hungary.
1923: The Republican Protection League of Social Democracy is approved by the Ministry of the Interior in Vienna.
1928: A bomb attack on King Victor Emmanuel III. 17 people are killed in Milan.
1968: Serious riots broke out in several German cities during the Easter holidays (until April 15) following the assassination attempt on student leader Rudi Dutschke in West Berlin.
1978: Premiere of György Ligeti’s opera “Le grand macabre” at the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
1983: Richard Attenborough’s film “Gandhi” regarding the life of the Indian freedom hero received eight “Oscars”.
1988: For the first time in the history of genetic engineering of animals, the US Patent and Trademark Office grants a patent for a genetically modified mouse. The certificate is presented to Harvard University scientists who manipulated a mouse for cancer research purposes. The Du Pont company received the commercial rights to the patent.
1993: Beginning of NATO reconnaissance flights over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
2003: In a referendum, the Hungarians voted for their country’s accession to the EU with a large majority but a low turnout.
birthdays: Alexandr Ostrowski, Russian dramatist (1823-1886); Karl Vötterle, German publisher (1903-1975); Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist (1903-1994); Hardy Krüger, German actor (1928-2022); Christian Beurle, Austria industrialist (1928-2023); Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano (1933-2018); Reinhard Gerer, Austria Cook (1953); Michaela Scheday, Austria Theater actress and director (1953-2004).
days of death: Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin, Russian singer (1873-1938); Sergio Pitol, Mexican writer (1933-2018).
name days: Herta, Julius, Ingeborg, Zeno, Konstantin, Heinrich, Johannes, Sabas.
