MB Civic

April 1
•Nazi Germany began its persecution of Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, 1933
•World War II invasion of Okinawa began, 1945
•United States launched its first weather satellite, 1960
•General Hospital premiered on ABC-TV, 1963
April 2
•Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, 1513
•Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized the establishment of the United States Mint, 1792
•Samuel F.B. Morse, telegraph developer, died in New York, 1872
•First Easter egg roll at the White House, 1877
April 3
•First Pony Express began its route between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, 1860
•American’s Creed accepted, 1918
•President Truman signed the Marshall Plan into law, 1948
•Jesse James, killed by Robert Ford, a member of his own gang, 1882
April 4
•President William Henry Harrison died, 1841
•Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, 1968
•Henry “Hank” Aaron tied Babe Ruth ‘s Home Run record of 714, 1974
April 5
•American Indian Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia, 1614
•Booker T. Washington was born in Franklin County, Virginia, 1856
•General Douglas MacArthur died in Washington, D.C., at age 84, 1964
•Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston at age 72, 1976
April 6
•Civil War Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, 1862
•Robert Perry & Matthew Hensen became the first men to reach the North Pole, 1909
•United States declared war on Germany, 1917
April 7
•Lee and Grant discussed terms for surrender, 1865
•Henry Ford, died at age 83, 1947
•”South Pacific” opened on Broadway, 1949
April 8
•Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain, 1513
•First Lady Betty Ford born, 1918
•Baseball’s Henry “Hank” Aaron hit his 715 home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking Babe Ruth’s record, 1974
•Frank Robinson, major league baseball’s first black manager, managed his first game for the Cleveland Indians, 1975
•Julian Lennon, the son of John Lennon, was born in Liverpool, England, 1963
April 9
•Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, 1865
•The American Civil War ended in the East, 1865
•Sir Winston Churchill was made an honorary United States citizen, 1963
April 10
•The first patent law was passed, 1790
•F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby ” was published, 1925
•Golda Meir resigned as Israel’s prime minister, 1974
•Stuart Sutcliffe, one of the original members of what would be the music group “The Beatles,” died of a brain hemorrhage, 1962
•The Beatles US album, The Beatles Second Album, was released, 1964
April 11
•Congress proclaimed the end of the Revolutionary War, 1783
•Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France, and was banished to the island of Elba, 1814
•Jackie Robinson, entered Major League Baseball,1947
•Apollo 13 mission began, 1970
April 12
•England adopted original Union Jack as its flag, 1606
•The bombing of Fort Sumter began, starting the Civil War, 1861
•The catcher’s mask was first used in a baseball game, 1877
•President Franklin D. Roosevelt died, 1945
April 13
•President Thomas Jefferson was born, 1743
•Pennsylvania Railroad received its charter, 1847
•Fort Sumter surrendered, 1861
•President Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial, 1943
•The Beatles began their seven week engagement at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962
April 14
•Composer George Frideric Handel died in London, 1759
•President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, at Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C., 1865, while watching a performance of Our American Cousin.
•First motion picture public showing, 1894
•”The Ballad of John and Yoko,” was recorded. Although released by the Beatles, it was recorded by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with the two playing all instruments, and doing all the vocals.
April 15
•President Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m., in Washington, D.C., 1865
•The Titanic struck and iceberg and sank, 1912
•President Roosevelt buried at Hyde Park, New York, 1945
April 16
•First Confederate Conscription (draft) Act enacted, 1862
•John Wilkes Booth & David Herold arrive at Richhill, Maryland, 1862
•A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law, 1862
•St. Bernadette, who described seeing visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, died in Nevers, France, 1879
April 17
•Benjamin Franklin died, 1790
•Yugoslavia surrendered to Germany, 1941
•Ford Motor Company unveiled its Mustang automobile, 1964
•Apollo 13 astronauts splashed down safely, 1970
April 18
•Midnight ride of Paul Revere & William Dawes in Boston, Massachusetts, 1775
•San Francisco earthquake & fire, 1906
•Paul McCartney of the Beatles, met Jane Asher, the sister of Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon Fame, 1963
April 19
•The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington & Concord, 1775
•Spanish-American War began, 1898
•First Lady Lucretia Garfield born, 1832
•A truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Bldg., in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 and injuring 500, 1995
April 20
•The Territory of Wisconsin was established by Congress, 1836
•The State Board of Education, first in United States, was established in Massachusetts, 1837
•Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria, 1889
•The Eleanor Roosevelt Foundation was created, 1963
April 21
•The Toleration Act passed the Maryland Assembly, 1649
•The first train crossed the Mississippi River, 1855
•Samuel Clemens, (Mark Twain), died in Connecticut, 1910
April 22
•The Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims, 1889
•U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated in Washington, 1993
•President Richard M. Nixon died, 1994
April 23
•William Shakespeare was born in1564. He died on the same day, 52 years later, in 1616
•President James Buchanan born, 1791
•Booth & Herold make their way to Port Conway, Virginia, 1862
April 24
•Library of Congress was established, 1800
•Spain declared war on the United States, 1898
•Space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Telescope, 1990
April 25
•Peloponnesian War ended, 404 B.C.
•The ground was broken for the Suez Canal, 1859
•Radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy, 1874
•Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow was born in Pole Creek, N.C., 1908
•St. Lawrence Seaway opened, 1959
April 26
•Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth was killed by Federal troops, near Bowling Green, Va., 1865
•The world’s worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union, 1986
•The African nations of Tanganyika & Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania, 1964
April 27
•Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph was born in Charlestown, Mass., 1791
•President Ulysses S. Grant was born, 1822
•The nation’s first Social Security checks were distributed, 1937
•Edward R. Murrow died in Pawling, New York. at age 57, 1965
April 28
•President James Monroe was born, 1758
•Maryland entered the Union, 1788 (7th)
•Benito Mussolini died, 1945
April 29
•Maryland’s House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union, 1861
•Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun were married, 1945
•United States forces freed 32,000 at Dachau Concentration Camp, 1945
April 30
•The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, 1803
•Louisiana entered Union, 1812 (18th)
•Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, 1945
•George Washington took office in New York as the first President of the United States, 1789