From moments of triumph to tragedy, April has witnessed the unfolding of significant milestones that have influenced the course of nations and societies.
And so, without much ado, here are ten intriguing historical events that happened in the month of April.
April 12, 1861: The American Civil War began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
April 14, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.
April 15, 1912: The RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 people.
April 18, 1906: The San Francisco earthquake struck, causing widespread destruction and fires that devastated the city.
April 22, 1970: The first Earth Day was celebrated, marking the beginning of the modern environmental movement.
April 20, 1999: The Columbine High School massacre occurred in Colorado, USA, where two students carried out a shooting spree, resulting in the deaths of 13 people.
April 9, 1865: Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey into space when he orbited the Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, launched by the Soviet Union.
April 19, 1775: The American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, marking the start of the fight for American independence from British rule.
April 26, 1986: The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, when a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, releasing a large amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere.
