Moments in Time: Empress of France
The History Channel
On April 20, 1871, Congress passed the Third Enforcement Act, aka the Ku Klux Klan Act, which authorized President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties and use military force to suppress terrorist organizations, in particular the Ku Klux Klan.
On April 21, 1794, Josephine de Beauharnais, the future Empress of France and first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror. Released five days after the beheading of her then husband Alexandre de Beauharnais, her marriage to Napoleon ended in divorce after she failed to provide him an heir, but he continued to provide for her, declared her "Empress for life" and allowed her to retain the title of Empress Josephine.
On April 22, 1915, German forces fired more than 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas at two French colonial divisions in Ypres, Belgium. It was the first major such attack by the Germans and devastated the Allied line.
On April 23, 1961, Judy Garland delivered a Carnegie Hall performance that was greeted by a standing ovation before she even began to sing and was interrupted throughout by additional ovations. That performance has often been lauded as "the greatest night in showbiz history."
On April 24, 1953, Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He retired as prime minister two years later but remained in Parliament until 1964, the year before his death.
On April 25, 1989, James Richardson was released from a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his seven children. Special prosecutor Janet Reno had agreed to the release after evidence showed his conviction resulted from misconduct by the prosecutor. His neighbor, Betsy Reese, confessed to the crime.
On April 26, 2012, former Liberian president Charles Taylor was found guilty of abetting horrific war crimes, including rape and mutilation, in Sierra LEOne. His conviction was the first for war crimes by a former head of state in an international court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders after World War II.
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