On April 9, ...... 1999, "in an apparent coup attempt" Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, Niger's President, was shot dead at the airport in Niamey, apparently while trying to flee the country. Days later a military junta seized control; it ruled until elections were held, following a grant of amnesty, at the end of the year.
... 1865, America's Civil War ended when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the courthouse at Appamattox, Virginia. (image credit)
