April This Day in History, Historic Events
What Historic April Events Occurred on Your Birthday?
Our “This Day in History for April” section contains historical April events categorized by month and day. See what happened on your birthday, or any day of the year. Find out what happened on this day in April.
Major Historical April Events
April 1, 1778 – Oliver Pollack invents the dollar sign $.
April 1, 1/856 – Dexter Mason Ferry and partners found Gardener, Ferry & Church Seed Company, now called Ferry-Morse, the oldest seed company in America.
April 1, 1963 – Daytime soap opera General Hospital first airs on ABC.
April 1, 1976 – Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple computer from the garage of Job’s parents’ home in Cupertino, CA.
April 1, 2004 – Google introduces Gmail.
April 2, 1513 – Explorer Juan Ponce DeLeon, claims Florida for Spain.
April 2, 1792 – Congress passes the Coinage Act and the U.S. Mint is born.
April 2, 1823 – William Magear “Boss” Tweed, a corrupt NYC politician, U.S. Senator, and NY State Senator.
April 2, 1877 – The first Easter Egg Roll is held on the White House Lawn.
April 2, 1978 – The television series “Dallas” premieres.
April 3, 1860 – The Pony Express begins delivering the mail.
April 3, 1882 – American outlaw Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford in his home in St. Joseph.
April 3, 1968 – The movie “Planet of the Apes” premieres at theaters across America.
April 4, 1887 – Susanna Medora Salter is the first woman to be elected mayor in the nation in Argonia, Kansas.
April 4, 1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.
April 4, 1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is signed.
April 4, 1973 – In New York City, the World Trade Tower opens. At 110 stories, it is the tallest building in the world at the time.
April 4, 1975 – Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
April 5, 456 – Saint Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary Bishop.
April 5, 1964 – General Douglas MacArthur died in Washington, D.C. at the age of 84.
April 6, 1909 – Explorers Matthew A. Henson and Robert E. Perry are the first to reach the North Pole.
April 6, 1896 – The first modern Olympic games open in Athens, Greece.
April 6, 1930 – Twinkies hit the market. The first Twinkies were banana-filled.
April 6, 1938 – Teflon is invented by Roy J. Plunkett
April 7, 1948 – The World Health Organization (WHO) is founded.
April 7, 1949 – The musical South Pacific, by Rodgers and Hammerstein, opens on Broadway.
April 7, 1969 – The Internet’s symbolic birthday.
April 8, 1820 – The ancient Greek Statue Vincent di Milo is discovered on the Aegean Island of Milos.
April 8, 1879 – Milk is sold in glass bottles for the first time.
April 8, 1974 – Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 715th home run to surpass Babe Ruth’s 714 home run record.
April 9, 1865 – Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the Civil War.
April 9, 1950 – Bob Hope’s first appearance on television.
April 9, 1691 – French explorer LaSalle reaches the Mississippi River.
April 9, 1963 – The U.S. Senate passes a law making Winston Churchill the first honorary U.S. citizen.
April 10, 1849 – Walter Hunt of New York City patents the safety pin. He later sells the patent for $400. See Safety Pin Day.
April 10, 1866 – Do you love animals? The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was established.
April 10, 1912 – The “unsinkable” RMS Titanic departs on its maiden (and final) voyage from Southampton, England.
April 10, 1916 – The PGA was formed, and the first professional golf tournament was held.
April 10, 1970 – Paul McCartney officially announces that the Beatles have split up.
April Showers Bring May Flowers
April 11, 1900 – The U.S. Submarine Force was officially established.
April 11, 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
April 11, 1976 – Apple’s Steve Wozniak creates the Apple 1 computer.
April 11, 2003 – Fossilized dinosaur eggs with embryo is discovered in China.
April 12, 1862 – The Civil War begins when Confederate troops opened fire on the Union garrison at Fort Sumter, SC. 40,000 shells were fired before the Union troops surrendered. No one was killed.
April 12, 1900 – By an Act of Congress, Puerto Rico becomes a U.S., territory. (1900)
April 12, 1934 – Mount Washington Observatory records the highest surface wind ever measured, anywhere on earth— 231 miles per hour! See Big Wind Day
April 12, 1961 – Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space.
April 13, 1861 – After 34 hours of bombardment, Fort Sumter surrenders to the Confederates during the Civil War.
April 13, 1997 – Tiger Woods wins the Masters Golf Tournament, becoming the first African American and youngest person to win this premier golf event.
April 14, 1828 – Noah Webster produced the first American Dictionary.
April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. He died the next day.
April 14, 1939 – Author John Steinbeck publishes hid novel “The Grapes of Wrath”.
April 15, 1912 – The Titanic hits an iceberg in the Northern Atlantic Ocean as sinks.
April 15, 1955 – The first franchised McDonald’s restaurant opens in Des Plaines, IL.
April 15, 2002 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the use of Botox.
April 15, 2019 – A major fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, topples spire, destroys the roof, and more.
April 16, 1900- The U.S. Postal Service issues the first books of postage stamps.
April 16, 1945 – The battle of Berlin begins as Russian forces begin to attack the Nazi capital.
April 16, 1962 – Walter Cronkite begins as anchor of CBS Evening News.
April 17, 1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer tells “The Canterbury Tales” for the first time at the court of English King Richard II.
April 17, 1964 – The Ford Mustang is formally introduced to the marketplace. The base price: $2,368.
April 18, 1775 – Paul Revere makes his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Ma., shouting “the Red Coats are coming” as the American Revolutionary War begins.
April 18, 1783 – Fighting ended for the American Revolution, exactly 8 years to the day when it first started.
April 18, 1906 – The Great San Francisco earthquake hits, killing almost 4,000 people and destroying over 75% of the city.
April 18, 1981 – The longest game in professional baseball history: Pawtucket Red Sox tie the Rochester Red Wings 2-2 in 32 innings. The game was finished on June 23, Pawtucket won 3-2 in 33 innings.
April 19, 1775 – The Battle of Lexington and Concord. British troops fire “the shot heard ’round the world” and the Revolutionary War begins.
April 19, 1932 – President Herbert Hoover suggests a five-day work week.
April 19, 1993 – After a 51-day siege in Waco, Texas, the Branch Davidian compound goes up in flames, killing the cult members.
April 19, 1995 – Timothy McVeigh bombs the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, and injuring hundreds more.
April 20, 1611 – The first known performance of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth” is performed at Globe Theatre in London, England.
April 20, 1981 – The final episode of the television series “Soap” airs.
April 20, 1999 – Two teenage boys go on a shooting rampage in Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. One teacher and 12 students are killed.
Historic April Events - Administrative Professionals Day
April 21, 753 B.C. – The city of Rome, Italy was founded.
April 21, 1878- First Lady Lucy Hayes begins the tradition of holding an egg rolling contest on the White House lawn.
April 21, 1898 – The Spanish-American War begins.
April 21, 1918 – German WWI Air Ace Baron Manfred von Richtofen, “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme, France.
April 21, 1952 – Secretaries Day, now called “Administrative Professionals Day“, is first celebrated.
April 21, 1956 – Elvis Presley’s first hit record, “Heartbreak Hotel”, reaches #1 on the charts.
April 22, 1969 – The first human eye transplant is performed.
April 22, 1970 – The First Earth Day celebration is held, founded by Gaylord Nelson.
April 22, 1976 – Barbara Walters becomes the first female U.S. nightly news anchor (for ABC).
April 23, 1861 – Robert E. Lee is named the Commander of the Virginia Confederate forces.
April 23, 1954 – Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits the first of his 755 home runs.
April 24, 1184, B.C. – Greek forces enter Troy by using a Trojan Horse.
April 24, 1888 – Eastman Kodak Company is founded by George Eastman.
April 24, 1908 – Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Murdock are the first to travel across the U.S. in a car. They drove their Packard from LA to NYC in 32 days 5 hours and 25 minutes.
April 25, 1859 – Ground is broken for the Suez Canal.
April 25, 1901 – New York becomes the first state to require automobile license plates. The fee: $1.00.
April 25, 1945 – Delegates from 45 countries meet in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
April 25, 1952 – The American Bowling Congress approves the use of automated pinsetters.
April 26, 1514 – Copernicus makes his first observations of Saturn.
April 26, 1986 – The world’s worst nuclear power plant accident occurs in Chernobyl, Russia when reactor #4 explodes.
April 27, 1840 -The cornerstone is laid for the new Palace of Westminster.
April 27, 1937 – Senior citizens take note, the first Social Security checks were distributed.
April 28, 1789 – Mutiny on the HMS Bounty, the most famous naval mutiny in history.
April 28, 1967 – Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the army and is stripped of his world heavyweight title.
April 28, 1989 – Iran opposes the sale of “Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie.
April 29, 1851 – Elias Howe applies for a patent for the “Continuous Clothing Closure”, later called the Zipper. See National Zipper Day.
April 29, 1852 – The first edition of Peter Roget’s Thesaurus is published.
April 29, 1975 – U.S. forces begin withdrawal of its citizens from South Vietnam.
April 29, 1995 – The world record longest sausage is made in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It is 28.77 miles long!
April 30, 1789 – George Washington is inaugurated as the first president of the United States.
April 30, 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed in Paris, France. The price tag: $15M, about 4 cents per acre.
April 30, 1936 – Warner Brother’s “Bugs Bunny” debuts.
April 30, 1904 – The ice cream cone makes its debut at the St. Louis World’s Fair.
April 30, 1945 – Adolph Hitler commits suicide along with his new wife Eva Braun in his bunker in Berlin.
April 30, 1952 – Mr. Potato Head is marketed for the first time.
April 30, 1975 – The Vietnam War ends with the fall of Saigon (later renamed Ho Chi Minh City).
Additional Resources
Famous Birthdays Who else was born on your Birthday? Find out!
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