In This Week LogoIn This Week in …

  • 1889, the Eiffel Tower opens in a ceremony that saw an enormous French tricolor raised and fireworks set off from the second platform (31 March 1889);
  • 1918, the Royal Air Force is formed by amalgamating the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service (1 April 1918);
  • 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida and claims the territory for the Spanish crown (2 April 1513);
  • 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California (3 April 1860);
  • 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis (4 April 1968);
  • 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for treason. They were Soviet spies and had provided info on nuclear weapons to the USSR (5 April 1951);
  • 1896, the opening ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games is held in Athens, Greece. Athletes from 13 nations compete (6 April 1896).