Today In History...............

In 1865........

Abraham Lincoln received a fatal gunshot wound in his head from the actor John Wilkes Booth. Booth, a southern supporter who would not serve in the confederate army thought to avenge the south by this act, but all he did was cause untold suffering to the southern people by murdering a man who wished to "heal the nation's wounds" and put the horrors of the civil war behind us.

In 1912.......

The White Star Liner R.M.S. Titanic struck a iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage. 1517 Men, Women and Children died in the sinking, most due to hypothermia. The water in the North Atlantic at that time of year was around 28 degrees and survival time of a person in water that temperature can be counted in minutes. The cause of so many deaths was simply due to the fact that the ship did not have enough life boats for the number of passengers and crew it carried.