April in history
by kayla dawkins
April 1
1865- General George Pickett and Confederate troops were defeated and cut at Five Forks, Virginia. This lead to end of the war because
April 4
1887- Susanna M. Salter is mayor of Argonia, Kansas and becomes first female mayor elected in U.S.
1968- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Civil Rights leader, is shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
April 8
Buddhists celebrate the birthday of Buddha (563-483 B.C.).
1913- The 17th Amendment was ratified, direct popular election of U.S. senators.
1990- Ryan White, age 18, died of AIDs related pneumonia a month before his high school graduation. He had hemophilia and had a blood transplant that was contaminated with HIV.
April 11
1968- The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a week after Martin Luther King Jr. assassination.
1970- Apollo 13 is launched from Cape Kennedy at 2:13 pm.
1983- Harold Washington becomes first African American mayor of Chicago.
1794- Edward Everett, man who delivered the main address at the dedication of the Gettysburg Battlefield, is born in Dorchester Massachusetts.
April 12
1861- The American Civil War begins. Confederate troops opened fire at 4:30 am on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.
1961- Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, becomes first human in space.
1981- First space shuttle flight occurs with Columbia making 36 orbits and spending 54 hours in space.
April 14
1865- President Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford’s Theater in Washington. He died the following morning at 7:22 am.
1986- By orders of President Ronald Reagan, U.S. warplanes bomb cities Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya.
April 15
1817- First American school for the deaf was founded in Hartford Connecticut.
1912- Titanic sunk in the icy water off Newfoundland with 2,224 passengers on board at 2:27 am. More than 1,500 people drowned while 700 were rescued by Carpathia.
April 18
1775- Paul Revere and William Dawes did the Midnight Ride to warn patriots at Lexington and Concord the British “redcoats” were coming.
April 19
1775- In Massachusetts, around 70 militiamen stood on Lexington Green with a British advance guard unit. The “shot heard around the world” began the American Revolution.
1943- In Warsaw Ghetto, Jews staged an armed revolt against Nazi SS troops attempting to deport them to death camps.
April 20
1999- In Littleton, Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold stormed into their school, Columbine High School, at lunch with guns and explosives. They killed twelve classmates, a teacher, and wounded more than twenty others before killing themselves. The Columbine High School massacre is considered the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
1889- Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.
April 23
Israel’s Knesset established the day as Holocaust Day in remembrance of the six million Jews killed the Nazis.
1564- William Shakespeare, most influential writer in the English language, was born in Stratford-on-Avon, England.
April 26
1937- Ancient town of Guernica was attacked by German warplanes during the Spanish Civil War.
1986- An explosion took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It was caused by a meltdown of nuclear fuel and spread a radioactive cloud into the atmosphere.
1894- Rudolf Hess, Deputy Fuhrer of Nazi Germany and member of Hitler’s inner circle, was born in Alexandria, Egypt.
April 30
1789- George Washington becomes first President of United States of America.
1948- Palestinian Jews declare independence from British rule and established new state of Israel. The country became the destination for thousands of Nazi Holocaust survivors.
1967- Boxer Muhammad Ali is stripped of his world heavyweight boxing championship. He refused to be inducted into the military claiming religious exemption.
1865- General George Pickett and Confederate troops were defeated and cut at Five Forks, Virginia. This lead to end of the war because
April 4
1887- Susanna M. Salter is mayor of Argonia, Kansas and becomes first female mayor elected in U.S.
1968- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Civil Rights leader, is shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
April 8
Buddhists celebrate the birthday of Buddha (563-483 B.C.).
1913- The 17th Amendment was ratified, direct popular election of U.S. senators.
1990- Ryan White, age 18, died of AIDs related pneumonia a month before his high school graduation. He had hemophilia and had a blood transplant that was contaminated with HIV.
April 11
1968- The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, a week after Martin Luther King Jr. assassination.
1970- Apollo 13 is launched from Cape Kennedy at 2:13 pm.
1983- Harold Washington becomes first African American mayor of Chicago.
1794- Edward Everett, man who delivered the main address at the dedication of the Gettysburg Battlefield, is born in Dorchester Massachusetts.
April 12
1861- The American Civil War begins. Confederate troops opened fire at 4:30 am on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.
1961- Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, becomes first human in space.
1981- First space shuttle flight occurs with Columbia making 36 orbits and spending 54 hours in space.
April 14
1865- President Abraham Lincoln is shot at Ford’s Theater in Washington. He died the following morning at 7:22 am.
1986- By orders of President Ronald Reagan, U.S. warplanes bomb cities Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya.
April 15
1817- First American school for the deaf was founded in Hartford Connecticut.
1912- Titanic sunk in the icy water off Newfoundland with 2,224 passengers on board at 2:27 am. More than 1,500 people drowned while 700 were rescued by Carpathia.
April 18
1775- Paul Revere and William Dawes did the Midnight Ride to warn patriots at Lexington and Concord the British “redcoats” were coming.
April 19
1775- In Massachusetts, around 70 militiamen stood on Lexington Green with a British advance guard unit. The “shot heard around the world” began the American Revolution.
1943- In Warsaw Ghetto, Jews staged an armed revolt against Nazi SS troops attempting to deport them to death camps.
April 20
1999- In Littleton, Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold stormed into their school, Columbine High School, at lunch with guns and explosives. They killed twelve classmates, a teacher, and wounded more than twenty others before killing themselves. The Columbine High School massacre is considered the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
1889- Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.
April 23
Israel’s Knesset established the day as Holocaust Day in remembrance of the six million Jews killed the Nazis.
1564- William Shakespeare, most influential writer in the English language, was born in Stratford-on-Avon, England.
April 26
1937- Ancient town of Guernica was attacked by German warplanes during the Spanish Civil War.
1986- An explosion took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It was caused by a meltdown of nuclear fuel and spread a radioactive cloud into the atmosphere.
1894- Rudolf Hess, Deputy Fuhrer of Nazi Germany and member of Hitler’s inner circle, was born in Alexandria, Egypt.
April 30
1789- George Washington becomes first President of United States of America.
1948- Palestinian Jews declare independence from British rule and established new state of Israel. The country became the destination for thousands of Nazi Holocaust survivors.
1967- Boxer Muhammad Ali is stripped of his world heavyweight boxing championship. He refused to be inducted into the military claiming religious exemption.