April 19:

A.D. 1587: Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet.

A.D. 1770: The first sighting of Australia by Captain James Cook.

A.D. 1934: Shirley Temple appears in her first movie.

A.D. 2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected Pope, taking the name Benedict XVI.

April 20:

A.D. 1139: The Second Lateran Council (the 10th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church) opens in Rome.

A.D. 1841: The first detective story, Edward Allen Poe's Murders in Rue Morgue is published.

A.D. 1862: Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the first pasteurization test.

April 21:

753 B.C.: The traditional date for Romulus and Remus' founding of Rome.

A.D. 1509: Henry VIII ascends the English throne.

A.D. 1689: William III and Mary Stuart become king and queen of England.

April 22:

A.D. 1659: Lord Protector William Cromwell disbands the English Parliament.

A.D. 1823: Roller blades are patented by R. J. Tylers.

A.D. 1876: Tchaikovsky completes his "Swan Lake" ballet.

A.D. 1914: Babe Ruth plays baseball as a professional for the first time.