14 April 1561

Flooding in the Persian Gulf began, killing 19 in Oman.

Western Kentucky University announced a five-year suspension of their swimming and diving programs as a result of a hazing scandal.

Plumes of ash from a major eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland led to widespread disruption of air travel throughout Europe for several days.

Nearly 2,700 people were killed in an earthquake registering 6.9 Mw in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China.

The Oregon Supreme Court nullified marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.

A storm dropped around 500,000 tonnes of hailstones on Sydney (examples pictured) and the east coast of New South Wales, causing about A$2.3 billion in damages, the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history.

Iraqi no-fly zones conflict: In a friendly-fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort, two U.S. Air Force aircraft mistakenly shot down two U.S. Army helicopters over northern Iraq, killing 26 people.

Let's Dance, English musician David Bowie's best-selling album, was released.

Thousands of Georgians demonstrated in Tbilisi against an attempt by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.

After an oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 (mission patch pictured) exploded, disabling the spacecraft's electrical and life-support systems, astronaut Jack Swigert reported: "Houston, we've had a problem here".

After leading a military coup three months earlier, Gnassingbé Eyadéma installed himself as President of Togo, a post that he held until 2005.

World War II: The German town of Friesoythe was razed by the 4th Canadian Division on the orders of Major General Christopher Vokes.

The freighter Fort Stikine, carrying cotton bales, gold and ammunition, exploded in the harbour of Bombay, India, sinking surrounding ships and causing about 800 deaths.

Dust Bowl: A severe dust storm swept across Oklahoma and northern Texas, removing an estimated 300 million tons of topsoil from the prairies.

After King Alfonso XIII left Spain, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed by a provisional government led by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora.

Following a reactionary military revolt against the Committee of Union and Progress, a mob began a massacre of Armenian Christians in the Adana Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.

The first Hauser Dam in the U.S. state of Montana failed, causing severe flooding and damage downstream.

The Azusa Street Revival, the primary catalyst for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century, opened in Los Angeles.

Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth fatally shot U.S. president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Lexicographer Noah Webster copyrighted the first edition of his dictionary of American English

Wars of the Roses: The Yorkists under Edward IV defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Barnet, killing Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.

Mieszko I, the ruler of Poland, converted to Christianity, an event considered to be the founding of the Polish state.

War of Mutina: Despite initial success, troops loyal to Mark Antony were defeated near the Via Aemilia in northern Italy by legions loyal to the Roman Senate.