On this day: 6 April

Stilicho defeats the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia.

Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII crowns his son Romanos II as co-emperor.

Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople. The city falls on May 29 and is renamed Istanbul.

Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck landed at Table Bay in southern Africa, establishing a settlement that later became known as Cape Town.

A group of 23 slaves in New York City revolted, setting fire to a building, but were soon recaptured.

King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) establishes the Chakri dynasty.

During the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic.

The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. (Under the Old Style calendar then still in use in the Ottoman Empire, the treaty was signed on 21 March.)

John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company, the profits from which made him the first multi-millionaire in the United States.

Nominal beginning of the Bourbon Restoration; anniversary date that Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.

Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and others formally organized the Church of Christ, starting the Latter Day Saint movement.

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, later renamed Community of Christ, is organized by Joseph Smith III and others at Amboy, Illinois.

American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins: In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.

American Civil War: The Battle of Sailor's Creek: Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights and loses its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia, during the Appomattox Campaign.

The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, is founded. It lasts until 1956.

In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman emperor Theodosius I.

Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first people to reach the North Pole; Peary's claim has been disputed because of failings in his navigational ability.

During the Battle of Deçiq, Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, leader of the Malësori Albanians, raises the Albanian flag in the town of Tuzi, Montenegro, for the first time after George Kastrioti (Skanderbeg).

World War I: The United States declares war on Germany.

Finnish Civil War: The battle of Tampere ends.

Varney Air Lines made its first commercial flight (flight covers pictured), later forming the basis of United Airlines.

Huey P. Long, Governor of Louisiana, is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives.

World War II: German forces invaded Greece and Yugoslavia.

World War II: Sarajevo is liberated from German and Croatian forces by the Yugoslav Partisans.

Second World War: The Battle of Slater's Knoll on Bougainville Island concluded with a decisive victory for the Australian Army's 7th Brigade against the Imperial Japanese Army's 6th Division.

The first Tony Awards are presented for theatrical achievement.

The Finno-Soviet Treaty is signed in Moscow.

The flag carrier airline of Greece for decades, Olympic Airways, is founded by Aristotle Onassis following the acquisition of "TAE - Greek National Airlines".

Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau wins the Liberal Party leadership election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon afterward.

Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.

The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter.

ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest representing Sweden with the song "Waterloo".

The first California Jam festival takes place at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California. Co-headlined by Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The festival set what were then records for the loudest amplification system ever installed, the highest paid attendance, and highest gross in history.

Members of Cameroon's Republican Guard unsuccessfully attempt to overthrow the government headed by Paul Biya.

Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Field Marshal Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab.

The Bosnian War begins.

Nuclear weapons testing: Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India.

Lithuanian president Rolandas Paksas became the first European head of state to be removed from office by impeachment.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was elected by the National Assembly as the first non-Arab president of Iraq.

The 2008 Egyptian general strike starts led by Egyptian workers later to be adopted by April 6 Youth Movement and Egyptian activists.

Mass protests began across Moldova against the results of the parliamentary election.

U.S. military launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. Russia describes the strikes as an "aggression", adding they significantly damage US-Russia ties.

During the Artemis II mission, the Orion made its closest approach to the far side of the Moon and reached its greatest distance from Earth .