1. 837 - Comet Halley approaches within 0.0334 astronomical units of Earth.

2. 847 - St. Leo IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope.

3. 879 - Louis III becomes king of West Francia.

4. 1407 - Lama De Shin Shek Pa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing and is awarded the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma".

5. 1500 - France captures Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan.

6. 1516 - The first Jewish ghetto is established in Venice, compelling Jews to live in a specific area.

7. 1552 - Henri II of France occupies Metz.

8. 1589 - Spanish troops conquer Geertruidenberg.

9. 1607 - The British colonial expedition that would found Jamestown departs Puerto Rico for the American mainland.

10. 1633 - Bananas go on sale in London in the shop window of Thomas Johnson's apothecary.

11. 1656 - The Dutch fleet occupies Colombo, Ceylon.

12. 1710 - The first law regulating copyright is issued in Great Britain.

13. 1741 - War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Mollwitz.

14. 1790 - The US patent system is formed.

15. 1802 - The Great Trigonometrical Survey to survey the entire Indian subcontinent, led by William Lambton and the East India Company, begins (completed in 1871).

16. 1815 - Austria declares war on the Kingdom of Naples.

17. 1815 - Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies experiences a cataclysmic eruption, one of the most powerful in history, killing around 71,000 people and causing a global volcanic winter.

18. 1816 - The Second Bank of the US is chartered.

19. 1816 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge recites his poem "Kubla Khan" to fellow poet Lord Byron, who persuades him to publish it.

20. 1821 - Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Turks from the main gate of the patriarchate, and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.

21. 1825 - The first hotel in Hawaii opens.

22. 1825 - The Nicaraguan constituent assembly meets at Leon.

23. 1826 - 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town of Messolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces, and very few of them survive.

24. 1827 - George Canning becomes British prime minister upon the resignation of Robert Jenkinson, but lives to serve only 119 days.

25. 1841 - The New York Tribune begins publishing under editor Horace Greeley.

26. 1845 - More than 1,000 buildings are damaged by fire in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

27. 1847 - The penny black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the UK.

28. 1849 - The safety pin is patented by Walter Hunt in New York City; he sells the rights for $400.

29. 1856 - The Theta Chi fraternity is founded at Norwich University, Vermont.

30. 1858 - "Big Ben", a 13.76 - tonne bell, is recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

31. 1863 - Confederate General Earl Van Dorn attacks at Franklin, Tennessee.

32. 1864 - Austrian Archduke Maximilian becomes Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico.

33. 1865 - At Appomattox, Confederate General Robert E. Lee issues General Order #9, his last.

34. 1866 - The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is formed.

35. 1868 - The first performance of Johannes Brahms' "A German Requiem" is held.

36. 1868 - The British defeat the King of Abyssinia at Magdala.

37. 1869 - Congress increases the number of Supreme Court judges from 7 to 9.

38. 1869 - José Martí founds the Cuban revolutionary party.

39. 1871 - William Hammond Hall's maps and surveys of Golden Gate Park are accepted.

40. 1872 - The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska, later changed to April 22.

41. 1872 - The first national black convention meets in New Orleans.

42. 1874 - The British Open men's golf tournament is held at Musselburgh Links, and Mungo Park wins the first title by 2 strokes from Tom Morris Jr.

43. 1877 - Federal troops are withdrawn from Columbia, South Carolina.

44. 1878 - The California Street Cable Car Railroad Co starts service.

45. 1882 - Captain William Matson founds his shipping company in San Francisco and Hawaii.

46. 1884 - The US Senate accepts Belgian administration of the Congo.

47. 1887 - The soccer team Be Quick is formed in Hairs Groningen.

48. 1887 - US President Abraham Lincoln is re - buried with his wife in Springfield, Illinois.

49. 1896 - American athlete Thomas Burke claims the sprint double at the Athens Olympics, winning the 100m final in 12.0 seconds; his second victory of the games after success in the 400m.

50. 1896 - Spyridon Louis of Greece wins the inaugural Olympic marathon (2:58:50) in Athens; he runs the last lap accompanied by Constantine I, King of Greece.