1775 Daniel Boone establishes the settlement and fort of Boonesborough on the Kentucky River.
1945 U.S. forces begin landings on the Pacific island of Okinawa.
1981 NASA launches the shuttle spacecraft "Columbia", which is the first reusable spacecraft.@
April 2
1718 The U.S. Congress holds its first meeting.
1902 America's first moving picture cinema opens in Los Angeles, California with the admission price of 10 cents.
1921 Professor Albert Einstein arrives in New York to give a lecture on his new theory of relativity.@
April 3
1860 The Pony Express's first riders leave Sacramento, California and St. Joseph, Missouri.
1944 The Supreme Court rules that a person cannot be denied the right to vote because of race.
1991 A cease-fire officially ends the Persian Gulf War between the United States, and its allies, and Iraq.@
April 4
1818 The number of stripes on the U.S. flag is limited to 13 by Congress, and new stars are to be added for each state.
1841 President Harrison dies after one month in office.
1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray.@
April 5
1614 Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
1621 The "Mayflower" sets sail on the return trip to England.
1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for giving top secret information on nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union.@
April 6
1830 Joseph Smith organizes the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church.
1909 American explorer Robert Perry and company become the first to reach the North Pole.
1917 The U.S. declares war on Germany.@
April 7
1923 The first operation for a brain tumor under local anesthetic is performed at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City by Dr. K. Winfield Ney.
1927 The first public demonstration of television is held.
1959 The first atomic generated electricity is produced in Los Alamos, New Mexico.@
April 8
1730 The first Jewish Synagogue in New York City is consecrated.
1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Confederate Army at Appomatox Court House in Virginia.
1994 Kurt Cobain, lead singer of the group Nirvana, committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in his Seattle, Washington home.@
April 9
1682 Explorer Sieur de La Salle claims the Mississippi River Valley for France.
1833 The first free public library in the U.S. is established in Peterboro, New Hampshire.
1992 A U.S. Federal court finds former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega guilty of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering. It is the first time the former head of state in another nation is convicted under United States law.@
April 10
1841 The New York "Tribune" begins publication under editor Horace Greeley, who has been referred to as the single greatest journalistic influence in America.
1866 The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded.
1869 Congress increases the number of Supreme Court judges from seven to nine.@
April 11
1783 Congress declares a formal end to the Revolutionary War.
1865 In his last public address, Lincoln urges a spirit of generous conciliation during the Reconstruction era.
1945 U.S. troops reach the Elbe River in central Europe.@
April 12
1861 South Carolina forces fire upon Fort Sumter, and the Civil War begins.
1887 The remains of ex-President Abraham Lincoln are moved from a secret burial lot and re-buried with his wife in Springfield, Illinois.
1945 President Roosevelt dies in Warm Springs, Georgia and is succeeded by Harry Truman.@
April 13
1920 Helen Hamilton is appointed the first woman U.S. Civil Service Commissioner.
1943 The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. is dedicated.
1964 Sidney Poitier, for his role in "Lilies of the Field", becomes the first African American actor to win an Oscar.@
April 14
1828 The first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language" is published.
1865 President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth and dies the next day.
1910 President Taft begins the custom of the President's throwing out the first ball of the baseball season.@
April 15
1861 President Lincoln declares a state of insurrection.
1912 The Titanic is struck by an iceberg and sinks; 1,502 people die, including many Americans, because of a lack of life boats.
1923 The first public sound-on-film performance is shown at the Rialto Theater in New York City.@
April 16
1789 George Washington begins an eight-day journey from Mt. Vernon to New York City to head the new government.
1813 The first mass production factory in the U.S. begins turning out pistols.
1972 Two giant Pandas arrive in the U.S. as a present from China to President Nixon.@
April 17
1524 Giovanni de Varrazano of France reaches New York Harbor and discovers the Hudson River.
1964 Jerrie Mock is the first woman to fly solo around the world, taking 29 days.
1991 Congress halts a one day railroad strike by appointing a three person panel to hear the differences of the railroads and the workers.@
April 18
1853 Vice President William R. King dies one month after his inauguration, and President Pierce will not have a Vice President during his term in office.
1906 San Francisco, California is devastated by earthquake and fire.
1956 Prince Ranier III of Monaco marries American actress Grace Kelly.@
April 19
1775 The American Revolutionary War begins in Concord, Massachusetts.
1782 The Netherlands recognizes America's independence from England.
1987 The last wild condor captured on a California wildlife reserve is named AC-9.@
April 20
1836 The Wisconsin Territory is established in the Western part of the Michigan Territory.
1971 The Supreme Court rules unanimously that busing is the primary means to achieve school integration.
1973 L. Patrick Gray, acting director of the FBI, resigns after admitting he destroyed evidence connected to Watergate.@
April 21
1856 The first railroad bridge is constructed across the Mississippi River.
1954 The U.S. Air Force flies a French battalion to Vietnam to defend that country against the Vietminh in North Vietnam.
1987 The Dow Jones industrial average soars 66.47 in the second biggest one-day gain in history.@
April 22
1864 In God We Trust" becomes the U.S. motto.
1892 The Winstar Institute, the first anatomy school in the U.S., opens.
1898 Congress passes the Volunteer Army Act which calls for the organization of a first Volunteer Cavalry, which later became known as the Rough Riders.@
April 23
1635 A boundary dispute between Maryland and Virginia causes a naval skirmish off the coast of Virginia.
1985 The House of Representatives rejects President Reagan's appeal for financial support for the Contra freedom fighters in Nicaragua.
1987 Chrysler Corporation buys the Italian automaker, Lamborghini.@
April 24
1704 The first regularly issued newspaper, the "Boston News-Letter", is published in the American colonies.
1800 The Library of Congress is established.
1814 The British burn Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812.@
April 25
1898 The U.S. declares that a state of war with Spain has existed since April 21st.
1954 The first solar battery is invented by Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City.
1987 100,000 people line up between the White House and the Capitol to protest against U.S. involvement in Central America.@
April 26
1826 Rensselaer School in Troy, New York is the first engineering college to be opened in the U.S.
1865 John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Lincoln, is shot near Bowling Green, Virginia.
1991 More than seventy tornadoes blow across seven midwestern states killing at least twenty people and leaving over 1,000 homeless.@
April 27
1850 The first U.S.-owned steamship begins commercial Atlantic crossings.
1865 Cornell University is incorporated.
1891 Ground is broken for Grant's Tomb in New York City.@
April 28
1788 Maryland is admitted to the Union as the 7th state.
1952 President Truman formally announces an end to the state of war between Japan and the U.S.
1956 New York Coliseum Exhibit Hall in New York City is opened.@
April 29
1900 Casey Jones has his famous train accident.
1957 The first nuclear power reactor is dedicated in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
1992 The worst riots in American history erupt in Los Angeles after four white police officers are aquitted of the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King.@
April 30
1788 George Washington is sworn in as the first President of the U.S.
1803 France sells the entire Louisiana Territory to the U.S. for $15 million dollars.
