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Panama Papers leak

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The documents, some dating back to the 1970s, were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, and were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source.

'Frozen' breaks record for highest-grossing animated movie

'Frozen' earned $1.2 billion in worldwide box office revenue, including $400 million in the United States and Canada and $247 million in Japan, and thus became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, followed by 'Minions' and 'Toy Story 3.'

The first iPad goes on sale

Apple launched iPad, a handheld touchscreen computer capable of browsing the web, playing music, videos, games and much more. As of January 2015, Apple had sold more than 250 million iPads worldwide and it is now the second-most popular kind of tablet computer.

Iowa's Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage

Same-sex marriage in Iowa was legalized by the Iowa Supreme Court, making Iowa the fourth U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage, after Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California. The court determined that denying marriage licenses on the basis of sexual orientation violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.

United States v. Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft's stock plunged when judge Thomas Penfield Jackson sided with the government, saying Microsoft violated the antitrust laws through anti-competitive behavior in the software marketplace. The company allegedly "attempted to monopolize the Web browser market by unlawfully tying its Web browser to its operating system".

The first handheld mobile phone call

10 years before a cell phone was first released to the public, the first mobile phone call was made by Motorola researcher Martin Cooper from New York to his rival Dr. Joel Engel of Bell Labs in New Jersey. The phone was an early prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X mobile phone.

Businesswoman Mellody Hobson is born

Mellody Hobson is the president of Ariel Investments and the current Chair of the Board of Directors of DreamWorks Animation. In 2017, she became the 1st African-American woman to lead The Economic Club of Chicago. She is married to George Lucas, with whom she has a daughter.

I've Been to the Mountaintop

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered "I've Been to the Mountaintop", his last speech before his death at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. During the speech, he discusses the possibility of his own death. King was fatally shot the next day at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Truman signs Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe in order to help restart Western European economies after the end of WWII. It aimed to rebuild war-damaged regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity, and prevent the spread of Communism.

Emmeline Pankhurst is sentenced to 3 years in jail

As was usual for many other suffragettes, Emmeline was arrested on numerous occasions. She was sent to prison and went on hunger strike. During that time, she had a horrifying experience with women being forcibly fed by prison officials. She wrote about the suffering during those days in her autobiography.

Businessman Henry R. Luce is born

Henry Luce, an American magazine magnate, launched and supervised a group of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of many Americans. Those magazines include Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. Luce was also an influential member of the Republican Party.

American outlaw Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford

In the early morning, Ford brothers betrayed the famous outlaw Jesse James. He was shot in the back of his head by Robert Ford while cleaning the dust from the picture. As it turned out, Bob Ford negotiated a deal with Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden. James was identified by his fingers and previous bullet wounds.

Pony Express mail service founded

The Pony Express was a mail service founded by William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell. During its 19 months of operation, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous