Category: +Did You Know?

Did You Know? Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to the papacy on Apr. 19, 2005, as the 264th successor of St. Peter. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Action Comics #1 was published Apr. 18, 1938, introducing the public to the character Superman, who went on to define the superhero and comics genres. (Superman couldn’t fly at this time, but he could leap tall buildings with a single bound!) LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Peace was declared on Apr. 17, 1986 between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly (off the Southwest coast of England), ending a “war” that had been going on since Mar. 30, 1651. It is said to have been extended by the lack of a peace treaty for 335 years without a single shot being fired and no casualties on either side. Sounds like a pretty Scilly affair to me. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The Jewish fortress Masada fell to the Romans on Apr. 16, A.D. 73, ending the First Jewish War. The Second Jewish War would begin in A.D. 115 if you count the Kitos War or in A.D. 132 when the Bar Kokhba revolt began. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The British passenger liner, the RMS Titanic, sank in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., on Apr. 15, 1912, two and a half hours after hitting an iceberg. 1,517 people are killed. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The Human Genome Project was completed Apr. 14, 2003, with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? On the way to the Moon, an oxygen tank expolded on Apollo 13 on Apr. 13, 1970, severely endangering the crew. Although the scheduled Moon landing was aborted, the crew was safely returned to Earth. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Latin forces of the Fourth Crusade breached the walls of Constantinople on Apr. 12, 1204, leading to the disastrous and shameful Sack of Constantinople. Pope Innocent III had demanded that the crusaders not attack, and when he heard of the event, he was filled with shame, rage, and strongly rebuked them. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Right now Polaris is the bright star closest to the north celestial pole, making all the other stars seem to circle it every day. But because of the wobble of the Earth’s axis, the celestial poles trace a path in the sky every 26,000 years that takes them near many different stars. By A.D. 3000 the North Star will have changed from being Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris) to Alrai (Gamma Cephei). LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The Indonesian volcano Mt. Tambora blew on April 10, 1815 with such force that it caused global cooling, leading to “The Year Without a Summer” or “Eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death,” as it was nicknamed. The inclement weather resulted in Mary Shelly writing the novel Frankenstein. LEARN MORE.