This Day in History: April 24-28
April 24, 1833 - Birth of William I, Prince of Orange
Known also as “William the Silent”, William I of the House of Orange is known as one of if not the most prominent founding figure of the Netherlands, nobly leading the nation’s fight for independence against the Spanish in the early years of the eighty years war. Ironically, he had started his career as one of the favorites of his Spanish overlords (being raised as a ward of the Spanish King), and only chose to fight for Dutch independence once he realized Dutch political and religious rights would be heavily restricted by the Spanish.
April 25, 1644 - The Last Emperor of the Chinese Ming Dynasty Commits Suicide
By the seventeenth century, the once-powerful Ming Dynasty had become a shell of its former self - provincial governors ruled with extreme autonomy, the court was rife with deadly intrigue, and the entire government was generally incompetent and cared little for the peasantry. This led to major revolts, one of which - the revolt led by Li Zicheng - reached the walls of the capital before the Emperor was informed about it. Seeing the situation as hopeless, the Emperor chose suicide rather than surrender to the mob, ending the Ming Dynasty.
April 26, 1865 - Death of John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth died just 12 days after his assassination of Abraham Lincoln (on April 14) from a fatal gunshot wound to his neck. In the span of those past 12 days, Booth had made a mad dash South, from Maryland into Virginia, where he believed Confederate sympathizers would be waiting to honor his actions and resume the Civil War. Needless to say, Booth’s actions failed to re-ignite the Confederacy, and he died at a place called Garrett’s Farm and was buried in Green Mount Cemetery, where many visitors still leave pennies depicting Lincoln.
April 27, 1805 - US Marines and Berbers Attack the Tripolitan City of Derna
Some of the first wars the US was involved in after gaining independence were the Barbary Wars, fought against pirates of North Africa from the four states of Morocco, Tunis, Algeria, and Tripoli known collectively as the “Barbary States”. Outside of being early wars for the US to be involved in, the wars are also notable for being an origin for a lyric to the, “Marines Hymn”, the official song of the US Marines; “From the Halls of Montezuma, To the Shores of Tripoli”.
April 28, 1545 - Birth of Korean Admiral Yi Sun-Sin
Yi Sun-Sin, leader of Korea’s navy during the Japanese invasion of the nation between 1592 - 1598, was in many ways one of the only people able to put up resistance against Japan. With the Korean land forces quickly crushed by the Japanese army, it was up to Admiral Yi to prevent further supplies and troops from reaching Korea by sea. Despite being almost constantly outnumbered, Yi succeeded in this task, with his most astonishing victory being the Battle of Myeongnyang, in which Yi’s 13 ships were able to drive back a Japanese fleet of 330 ships by exploiting the currents of the strait where the battle was fought.
