This Week in History - April 14 - April 20

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life

BBC Radio 4 explores the history books and archives to see what else has happened on this same week throughout history.
With short looks at the events that have shaped the world and made us who we are today.

This week. April 14th – April 20th
- 14th of April 1865. On a fateful night at Ford's Theatre, Abraham Lincoln became the first US President to be assassinated.
- 15th of April 1755 - They took nine years to finish, contained the definition of over 42 thousand words, and were published 270 years ago. Discover all about Samuel Johnson’s ‘A Dictionary of The English Language’
- 16th of April 1912. Harriet Quimby was a trailblazing aviator, a pioneering pilot, and on the 16th of April 1912 became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.

Presented by Jane Steel and Ron Brown
Produced by Luke Doran

Published on Monday, 14th April 2025.

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We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the This Week in History webpage.