Halley's Comet makes its closest pass to Earth (837), and British and Indian forces defeat Emperor Tewodros II's army at Arogee (1868). Born on this day: Omar Sharif, Hugo Grotius and Theodosius II. Died: Khalil Gibran, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, comte de l’Empire and Gregory XIII.
32 events, 66 births and 61 deaths on this date.
Halley's Comet came within about 5.1 million kilometres of Earth, roughly 3.2 million miles, at its nearest point. It returns roughly every 75 years and is the only short-period comet regularly visible to the naked eye.
NASA/W. Liller · Public domainAt Arogee, a British and Indian force routed the army of Emperor Tewodros II, killing around 700 Ethiopians while losing only two of its own men. The battle was a decisive step in Britain's expedition to free captives held by the emperor.
Amid bitter disputes over business matters, McCartney made public his decision to quit the band that had made him famous. It signalled the end of the most celebrated partnership in popular music.
After a four-year pause, American B-52 bombers reportedly returned to striking North Vietnam, the first such raids since November 1967. The resumption came during the Easter Offensive, when North Vietnamese forces were pushing hard into the south.
On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII approved plans for a Catholic university in the United States, which later opened in Washington, D.C. It gave American Catholics a centre for higher learning under Church authority.
The city on the Volga was renamed in honour of Joseph Stalin, who had helped defend it against the White Army during the Russian Civil War. The name lasted until Khrushchev's government changed it to Volgograd during de-Stalinisation.
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Egyptian actor who became his country's biggest male film star and the first Arab performer to make a major mark in Hollywood. He starred in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, and was also a serious bridge player.
Photographer-Gene Weber, Seattle · Public domain
Dutch humanist and lawyer remembered as a founder of international law, whose book On the Law of War and Peace shaped how nations thought about conflict. He also wrote poetry and plays, and once escaped prison concealed among books.
Workshop of Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt · Public domain
Theodosius II was the Eastern Roman emperor who ruled for over four decades, from childhood proclamation to 450. He is remembered for the Theodosian law code and the walls that protected Constantinople.
CC BY 2.5
Lebanese-American writer and painter best known for The Prophet, a collection of poetic essays first published in the United States in 1923. It has since sold widely and been translated into more than 100 languages.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Joseph-Louis Lagrange was an Italian-born mathematician who settled in France and reworked classical mechanics into a comprehensive system. His treatise on analytical mechanics, published in 1788, shaped how physicists approached motion for the next century.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Pope Gregory XIII, who ruled the Papal States from 1572, is remembered for ordering the reform of the calendar that bears his name. The Gregorian calendar, still the international civil calendar, corrected drift in the Julian system.
Lavinia Fontana · Public domain
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