The Netherlands, becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage. The legislation had been approved by the Dutch Parliament in late 2000 and allows same-sex couples to marry on the same terms as heterosexual couples. The first same-sex marriages were officiated by the mayor of Amsterdam on this historic date.
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What Happened in April?
Sieges, raids, and monumental deaths. Discover key historical events from April that influenced the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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The Netherlands passed a bill permitting euthanasia, the first such national law in the world. More
Dennis Tito, becomes the first private individual to pay for his own trip into space. He was 61 at the time. Reportedly, Tito paid $20M to join the Soyuz TM-32 mission which launched on April 28, 2001. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station. Tito and his fellow cosmonauts orbited the Earth 128 times, spending 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space and orbited the Earth 128 times.
The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.
U.S. forces capture Baghdad, effectively toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.
Google launches Gmail, such a mind-bending concept at the time that shortly after The Associated Press published a story about Gmail, readers began contacting the news agency telling them that it had to be a Google April Fools joke. Five years later more than a billion people were using Gmail.
The United States lifts economic sanctions on Libya after the country agrees to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction.
Pope John Paul II dies, leading to the election of Pope Benedict XVI.
A massive immigration reform protest, known as the "Great American Boycott," takes place across the United States.
The Virginia Tech shooting occurs, resulting in the deaths of 32 people in the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history at the time.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia formally apologizes to the Indigenous Australians for the Stolen Generations policies.
The G20 summit is held in London to address the global financial crisis.
An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico kills 11 people and leads to a massive oil spill. Days after the April 20, 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, underwater cameras revealed the damaged wellhead pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the well was capped 87 days later on July 15, 2010, an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf. More
Prince William and Catherine Middleton marry at Westminster Abbey in London.
The discovery of the Higgs boson particle is announced by scientists at CERN.
The Boston Marathon bombing occurs, killing three people and injuring hundreds. More
The extremist group Boko Haram abducts 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria, leading to international outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Nepal is hit by a devastating 7.8 earthquake, resulting in widespread destruction and more than eight thousand deaths. More
The Paris Agreement on climate change is signed by 175 countries at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
The United States drops the "Mother of All Bombs" (MOAB), the largest non-nuclear bomb, on ISIS targets in Afghanistan. The device is officially known as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast. More