April 5, 1999 — M-Systems Patents USB Flash Drive
Kfar Saba-based M-Systems files a U.S. patent application for the first USB flash drive, which has a storage capacity of 8 megabytes, five times the memory of most floppy disks. The light, portable USB flash drive helps end the use of floppy disks. The patent is granted Nov. 14, 2000, and IBM begins selling M-Systems’ flash drives under its own brand a month later. Competitor SanDisk acquires M-Systems in 2006 for stock worth $1.55 billion.
April 6, 1999 — IDF Sends Medical Mission to Macedonia
An Israel Defense Forces medical mission flies to the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) to care for refugees fleeing violence in Kosovo. The 70-person mission includes 12 physicians, most of whom have participated in other relief operations. The Israeli field hospital treats more than 1,560 people in 16 days. Before the medical mission, Israel’s Foreign Ministry sent relief supplies for the refugees.
April 7, 1973 — Israel Finishes Fourth in First Eurovision Bid
Ilanit, Israel’s first entry in the annual Eurovision Song Contest, finishes fourth out of 17 countries with “Ey-sham,” a ballad featuring “the garden of love.” Her result is the best for a debut nation in the contest for the next 20 years. Ilanit again represents Israel in 1977. Israel wins Eurovision for the first time in 1978 with Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta’s “A-Ba-Ni-Bi,” then repeats the victory in 1979 with Gali Atari & Milk and Honey’s “Hallelujah.”
April 8, 1960 — U.N. Head Protests Egypt’s Seizure of Cargo
U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold for the first time publicly criticizes Egypt for confiscating Israeli cargo on ships using the Suez Canal. Israel fought Egypt in 1956 in large part because of the closure of the canal and the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Israel conditioned its Sinai withdrawal on the freedom of navigation, but Egypt began seizing cargo in 1959. Hammarskjold’s criticism and negotiations fail to restore Israel’s canal rights.
April 9, 1973 — Israeli Commandos Raid Beirut
Ehud Barak leads Sayeret Matkal commandos in a successful seaborne raid on Beirut to kill three PLO officials connected to the Munich Olympics massacre of September 1972: Mohammed Yousef al-Najjar (Abu Yousef), Kamal Adwan and Kamal Nasser. At the same time, a paratrooper team attacks the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine headquarters, killing dozens of PFLP militants, and other teams hit smaller PLO sites.
April 10, 1974 — Meir Resigns as Prime Minister
Prime Minister Gold Meir announces at a Labor Party meeting that she is resigning only a month after forming Israel’s 16th government. The resignation of Israel’s first (and so far only) female prime minister follows the release April 2 of the Agranat Commission’s interim report on why Israel was caught off-guard at the start of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. The report doesn’t directly blame Meir but propels public criticism.
April 11, 1909 — Tel Aviv Is Founded
Sixty-six families gather on the dunes outside Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast to claim their lots in the new neighborhood of Ahuzat Bayit (“Homestead”), marking the founding of the first modern Jewish city, Tel Aviv. The goal is to escape the overcrowding and rising rents of Jaffa. To assign the properties, Akiva Arieh Weiss writes the family names on 66 white seashells and the lot numbers on 66 gray shells, then pairs them at random.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.