1865: US President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington; he dies a day later

1912: RMS Titanic, the world’s largest ocean liner, hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland, sinks in the early hours of April 15

1914: Dr. Harry Plotz isolates the bacteria that causes Typhus Fever at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City

1935: Black Sunday dust storm ravages the US Midwest, leading to the region being named the “Dust Bowl”

1981: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia 1, returns to Earth after 2 days and 6 hours in space

2003: The Human Genome Project is completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%

Source: Onthisday.com