History events
-547 — (15 Nisan 3213 BCE). On the first night of the Passover holiday, a devastating epidemic broke out in the Assyrian camp, killing 185 thousand warriors. This happened at the hour when King Hezekiah of Judah was studying the Torah with the prophet Isaiah. The next morning, Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, fled in panic to Nineveh with only a small group of surviving followers. He was later killed by his own sons
73 — (15th of Nisan, 3833) The Great Revolt came to an end today when the defenders of Masada completed their murder/suicide pact
1484 — (13th of Nisan, 5244) Local farmers of Arles, France, led by the town’s monks attacked the Jewish section of the town. A number of people were killed and 50 men were forced to accept Christianity
1648 — (26th of Nisan, 5408) Ferdinand III. grants Bohemian Jews right of residence in all royal towns
1730 — (2th of Iyyar, 5490) In New York, the (first) Mill Street Synagogue which is known as Shearith Israel was consecrated. It was the first structure designed and built to be a synagogue in continental North America
1801 — (25th of Nisan, 5561) One hundred and twenty-eight Jews killed by soldiers and populace at Bucharest as the result of a blood accusation
1941 — (11 Nisan 5701). Shoah. A ghetto was established in Kielce, Poland.
1942 — (21 Nisan 5702). Shoah. In Jabłonów (Ivano‑Frankivsk Oblast), about 120 Jews were killed and 1 000 were deported to Kolomyia. Several hundred Jews were also deported from Pustyn to Kolomyia
1942 — (21th of Nisan, 5702) The Crimean Peninsula was declared Juednfrei or Jew Free
1943 — (3rd of Nisan, 5703) The Nazis began executing Jews near Ternopol in the Ukraine. By the time they finish on the following day, one thousand Jews will have been murdered
1944 — (15rd of Nisan, 5704) The Jewish Agency telegraphed from Istanbul to Jerusalem that the steamship Maritza carrying 244 Jewish refugees from Romania had arrived that day in the Turkish port and that the passenger would be leaving in two days’ time by train for Palestine
1944 — (15 Nisan 5704). The 3rd Plenum of the Jewish Anti‑Fascist Committee opened. At the meeting, P. Markish and I. Nusinov expressed strong dissatisfaction that the Committee was only engaged in anti‑fascist propaganda abroad. Ilya Ehrenburg argued that “there was no need to create an Anti‑Fascist Committee just for the sake of propaganda against fascism among Jews abroad… the main task should be the fight against fascism in our own country”
1945 — (25 Nisan 5705). Shoah. All Jewish prisoners of the Buchenwald concentration camp were forced on an exhausting death march to another notorious camp — Flossenbürg.
1948 — (28 Adar II 5708). War of Independence. Abdel‑Qader al‑Husseini, commander of the Arab Liberation Army in the Jerusalem area, was killed. He was a very popular and respected commander. He died from a random burst of fire from a sentry, Sergeant Meir Kamioli of the Etzioni Brigade, who was guarding positions on the hill. Unaware of the leader’s death, thousands of Arabs attacked Castel again that afternoon, forcing the two platoons guarding it to retreat. It was then that Squad Commander Shimon Alfasi issued the order that later became a principle in the IDF: “The privates retreat, the officers cover”.
1948 — (28 Adar II 5708). War of Independence. The Palmach counter‑offensive in the Mishmar HaEmek kibbutz area (see April 4). After several days of fighting, the Arabs retreated.
1948 — (28 Adar II 5708). War of Independence. Fighting for Tiberias began. The forces involved included a company of the Palmach’s Yiftach Brigade and two squads of the Golani Brigade. The fighting was especially fierce for the Old City and the surrounding heights, as well as for the Tiberiada Hotel, which housed the Arab headquarters. The battles lasted several days.
1948 — (28 Adar II 5708). War of Independence. The battle for Deir Yassin began.
1950 — (21 Nisan 5710). A bomb exploded in a Jewish café in Baghdad, prompting the Israeli government to step up efforts to evacuate all Jews from Iraq. However, at the time, the Israeli government was more concerned about the fate of Jews in Eastern Europe, fearing that authorities might close those countries to emigration. As a result, the active evacuation of Iraqi Jews had not yet begun.
1950 — (21rd of Nisan, 5710) In Tel Aviv, Australian Jack Harper won the singles title of Israel’s International Open Tennis Tournament
1952 — (13rd of Nisan, 5712) The Jerusalem Post reported that The IDF graduated 600 cadets of all services, the largest number ever trained to become officers
1956 — (27 Nisan 5716). Terrorist attacks by Egyptian saboteurs on this day:
In Ashkelon, hand grenades were thrown at a house and a car; one person was killed, three wounded.
In Ahuzam, two civilian vehicles were fired upon; one person was killed and two wounded.
In Shafir, hand grenades were thrown into a residential building, and another building was blown up; one person wounded.
In the kibbutz Gal‑On, a house was attacked with hand grenades and then fired upon with automatic weapons; one person wounded.
1964 — (26 Nisan 5724). During archaeological excavations at Masada, led by Yigael Yadin, 26 fragments of the work Wisdom of Ben Sira were discovered along the eastern wall of the fortress.
1969 — (20 Nisan 5729). Terrorist attack. Arabs fired Katyusha rockets from Aqaba at Eilat, wounding three residents. In response, the Israeli Air Force struck the port of Aqaba.
1978 — (1 Nisan 5738). In Israel, the Shalom Achshav (“Peace Now”) movement, which aims to promote a peaceful Israeli policy, began its public activities.
2002 — (26 Nisan 5762). Operation Defensive Shield: resistance in Nablus was broken; 150 militants surrendered.
2008 — (3 Nisan 5768). Israel’s first national painting competition concluded. An exhibition of the winning works was opened on March 28 at the Smadar Art Centre gallery, a professional painting school.
2015 — (19 Nisan 5775). Terrorist attack. An Arab armed with a knife attacked people near the settlement of Shilo in Samaria. One person was seriously injured, another lightly wounded. The attacker was killed.
2023 — (17 Nisan 5783). Northern Israel came under rocket fire from Syria. On April 9, Syrian territory again launched a rocket attack on Israeli territory. The IDF struck the launchers using artillery and UAVs.
2026 (21 Nissan 5786) — Within 10 minutes, simultaneous airstrikes were carried out by the Air Force in various regions of Lebanon, targeting the headquarters and military facilities of the Hezbollah organisation. This was the largest attack on its infrastructure since the start of Operation Lion’s Roar.
2026 (21 Nissan 5786) — A two‑week ceasefire was declared in the war between the USA and Israel against Iran
People
1094 — (19th of Nisan, 4854) Mathematician and astronomer Rabbi Isaac ben Baruch Albalia, author of “Kuppat ha-Rochlin, passed away
1790 — (24rd of Nisan, 5550) According to some sources, birthdate of Ruth Luzzatto, who gained fame as “Rachel Morpurgo: Queen of the Hebrew Sonnet.” Date of death — 1871
1888 — Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov, an American impresario who promoted classical music and ballet, was born. He introduced Efrem Zimbalist and Marian Anderson to the world, and collaborated with Anna Pavlova and Fyodor Chaliapin. He died on March 5, 1974.
1902 — (1 Nisan 5662) Günther Friedländer, pharmacologist, botanist, medical chemist, and entrepreneur, founder of the international corporation Teva, was born in Germany. He died on May 25, 1975.
1911 — Melvin Calvin, American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, was born. He died on January 8, 1997