Today is Wednesday, April 6, the 95th day of the year. There are 270 days remaining until the end of the year.
456 Saint Patrick returned to Irelanda s a missionary bishop.
1424 Scottish King James l returns to Scotland after 18 years detention at the English Court.
1896 - first modern Olympics opened in Athens.
1830 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formed by American prophet Joseph Smith at Fayette, New York.
1862 - Confederate troops clashed with the Union in southwestern Tennessee at the Battle of Shiloh, the second great engagement of the American Civil War.
1909 - American explorer Robert Edwin Peary led the first expedition to the North Pole.
1917 - The United States declared war on Germany, thus entering World War I three years after the conflict began.
1947 - he Tony Awards were presented for the first time; notable winners included actress Ingrid Bergman, playwright Arthur Miller, and director Elia Kazan.
1973 - Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball; the rule change, which allowed for a better-hitting player to replace the pitcher in the batting order, was originally only adopted by the American League.
1974 - Swedish Europop group ABBA had their international breakthrough as they captured the top prize at the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo.
1980 - The American company 3M began selling Post-it Notes in U.S. stores; the small pieces of paper with adhesive strips became hugely popular.
2009 - An earthquake struck near L'Aquila, Italy, causing extensive damage and killing more than 300 people.