Today in History: April 9, Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox

Boston Globe

09-04-2025

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In 1939, Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after the Black singer was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
In 1940, during World War II, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
In 1942, during World War II, some 75,000 Philippine and American soldiers surrendered to Japanese troops, ending the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. The prisoners of war were subsequently forced to march 65 miles to POW camps in what is now known as the Bataan Death March. Thousands died or were killed en route.
In 1959, NASA introduced the 'Mercury Seven,' its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald 'Deke' Slayton.
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In 1968, funerals, private and public, were held for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College in Atlanta, five days after the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis.
In 1969, Harvard students took over University Hall, one of the college's oldest buildings, to demand the university end its ROTC program as the war escalated in Vietnam. (The next day, university administrators called in city and State Police, who used billy clubs and mace to remove the peaceful demonstrators.)
In 2003, Baghdad fell to American troops during the Iraq War after six days of fighting.
In 2005, Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.
In 2018, federal agents raided the office of President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, seizing records on matters including a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.