This Day in History is DUE’s daily dose of trivia for all the history buffs out there. So sit back and take a ride of all the fascinating things that happened today!
People are trapped in history and history is trapped in people, and hence, every day has been a significant one in the foibles of history. Now, let’s take a tour of “This Day in History – 30th April”.
1789: George Washington becomes the first President of the United States of America
It was on this day that George Washington took the oath of office at the Federal Hall. He was inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America. John Adams accompanied him as the Vice-President.
1859: A Tale of Two Cities is published
Charles Dickens’s “A Tale Of Two Cities” was published for the first time on this day in the literary periodical “All the Year Round”. In the same year, it was also published in book form. This famous classic is based against the backdrop of the French Revolution. It also has one of the best opening lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.
1897: Electron’s discovery announced
J.J Thomson, head of the Cavendish laboratory announced his discovery of the electron in a lecture to the Royal Institution on this day. He was studying the properties of cathode ray when he came to this conclusion.
1945: Hitler commits suicide
On this day, Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself with a gun. He ended his life out of fear of being attacked by Soviet troops at his underground bunker. He died along with his wife, Eva Braun whom he married just 40 hours before his death. His will read,
“It is our wish to be burnt immediately on the spot where I have carried …twelve years’ service to my people.”
1993: WWW launched in the public domain
It was on this day when the source code for the world’s first web browser and editor, World Wide Web was launched. Originally called Mesh, it came into existence after four years of publishing a proposal for the same. Tim Berners Lee created the first royalty-free means of browsing.
