On this day

15 April in history.

5 moments from 1755 to 1947: discovery, creativity and courage, each with a source to read more.

5 moments

Jackie Robinson, 31 Jan 1919 - 24 Oct 1972. Color carbro print, 25.4 × 20.6 cm (10 × 8 1/8")

1947

Jackie Robinson takes the field. Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's colour line. Every major league player now wears his number 42 on this day.

Wikipedia: Jackie Robinson

Photo: Harry Warnecke / Frank Livia / Robert F. Cranston / William Klein / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

More from 15 April

  1. Portrait of Samuel Johnson commissioned for Henry Thrale's Streatham Park gallery

    1755

    Johnson's Dictionary

    Samuel Johnson's great dictionary of English was published after about nine years of work. It shaped English for generations.

    Wikipedia: A Dictionary of the English LanguageWikipedia: Samuel Johnson

    Photo: Joshua Reynolds / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  2. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

    1802

    A host of golden daffodils

    William and Dorothy Wordsworth came upon a long line of daffodils by Ullswater. Dorothy wrote about it in her journal, and it inspired one of William's best-known poems.

    Wikipedia: I Wandered Lonely as a CloudWikipedia: Dorothy Wordsworth

    Photo: William Wordsworth / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  3. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet circa 1842

    1817

    A school for deaf children

    Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc opened the first lasting school for deaf children in the United States, in Hartford, Connecticut.

    Wikipedia: American School for the DeafWikipedia: Laurent Clerc

    Photo: Unknown photographer more than 70 years after death of photographer / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  4. Insulin consists of two peptide chains, linked with two disulphide bridges shown in yellow (the third disulfide bridge has no role in the linkage)

    1923

    Insulin for everyone

    Insulin became widely available to people with diabetes, turning a deadly illness into one people could live with.

    Wikipedia: InsulinWikipedia: Diabetes

    Photo: User:AtikaAtikawa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Moments chosen for discovery, creativity and courage. Each one links to a source where you can read more; photos are credited to their owners.