~So much history in such a short month!~
Lately I've taken notice of how much history occurred in the month of April. I don't believe there is another month that has had as many major American historical occurrences. Now, I'm not speaking of births or deaths of well-known people, but of events that most history books will, at the very least, mention.
Why the happy spring month of April?
Here...check it out (this may seem somewhat out of order for I have it written by date then by year, rather than by year then by date).
We'll begin with:
April 2, 1513 - Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon sighted Florida and claimed it for the Spanish Crown.
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| Ponce De Leon |
He named it La Florida in recognition of the verdant landscape, and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers).
The precise location of their landing on the Florida coast has been disputed for many years. Some historians believe it occurred at or near St. Augustine, but others prefer a more southerly landing at a small harbor now called Ponce de León Inlet. Some believe that he came ashore even farther south near the present location of Melbourne Beach, a hypothesis first proposed by an amateur historian (I absolutely hate that term!) who attempted to reconstruct the track of the voyage sailing in his 33-foot Bermuda-rigged sailboat.
According to a popular legend, Ponce de León "discovered" Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. Though stories of vitality-restoring waters were known on both sides of the Atlantic long before Ponce de León, the story of his searching for them was not attached to him until after his death.
For what it’s worth, Ponce died at age 47 after being wounded by an arrow in a fight with an Indian tribe in Florida.
~April 3 - 1860 - The Pony Express began it's run, going from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California
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| Are you a young, skinny, wiry fellow? Then I have the job for you! |
The Pony Express was in operation for only 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861. Nevertheless, the Pony Express has become synonymous with the Old West. In the era before easy mass communication, the Pony Express was the thread that tied East to West. Thousands of people moved west on the Oregon and California Trails starting in the 1840s, followed by the 1847 Mormon exodus to Utah, and the 1849 Gold Rush. The growing West needed fast mail communication beyond the Rocky Mountains. The relay system utilized along the Pony Express National Historic Trail crossing eight states was the most direct and practical means of east-west communications in 1860. The undertaking assembled 80 riders, 184 stations, and 400 horses. From Missouri to California the Pony Express riders could deliver a letter faster than ever before. With the Pony Express, mail could make 1,966 miles in 10 days!
On June 16, 1860, about ten weeks after the Pony Express began operations, Congress authorized a bill to subsidize a transcontinental telegraph line to connect the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast. While the telegraph lines were under construction, the Pony Express operated as usual. Letters and newspapers traveled the entire length of the line from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. The telegrams went only between the rapidly advancing wire ends.
It was on October 26, 1861 that San Francisco was in direct contact with New York City. The Pony Express was officially terminated. In November 1861, the last Pony Express letters completed their journey.
By the way, only a handful of riders—six, according to the National Park Service—died in the line of duty during the entire history of the Pony Express.
(information for this came directly from THIS site)
April 4, 1968 - Martin Luther King Assassinated
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| Dr. Martin Luther King |
Civil Rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. As head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he had championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression and had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He is best remembered for his I Have a Dream speech delivered at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. That march and King's other efforts helped the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1986, Congress established the third Monday in January as a national holiday in his honor.
Taken from THIS site.
~April 6 - 1917 - U.S. entered WWI
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| Scary times with uncertain futures. |
War broke out in Europe in the summer of 1914, with the Central Powers led by Germany and Austria-Hungary on one side, and the Allied countries led by Britain, France, and Russia on the other. At the start of the war, President Woodrow Wilson declared that the United States would be neutral. However, that neutrality was tested and fiercely debated in the U.S.; submarine warfare in the Atlantic kept tensions high, and Germany’s sinking of the British ocean liner Lusitania on May 7, 1915, killed more than 120 U.S. citizens and provoked outrage in the U.S. In 1917, Germany’s attacks on American ships and its attempts to meddle in U.S.-Mexican relations drew the U.S. into the war on the side of the Allies. The United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
Within a few months, thousands of U.S. men were being drafted into the military and sent to intensive training. Women, even many who had never worked outside the home before, took jobs in factories producing supplies needed for the war effort, as well as serving in ambulance corps and the American Red Cross at home and abroad. Children were enlisted to sell war bonds and plant victory gardens in support of the war effort.
The United States sent more than a million troops to Europe, where they encountered a war unlike any other—one waged in trenches and in the air, and one marked by the rise of such military technologies as the tank, the field telephone, and poison gas. At the same time, the war shaped the culture of the U.S. An Armistice agreement ended the fighting on November 11, 1918.
(information for this came directly from HERE)
~April 9 - 1865 - The Civil War ended
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| Grant and Lee - The War is Over! |
The Union won the American Civil War. The war effectively ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
Lee decided to surrender his army, in part, because he wanted to prevent unnecessary destruction to the South.
When it became clear to the Confederates that they were stretched too thinly to break through the Union lines, Lee observed that “there is nothing left me to do but to go and see Gen. Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths.” Not all his subordinates agreed with him; one such officer, Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander, suggested that Lee disperse the army and tell the men to regroup with Johnston’s army or return to their states to continue fighting. Lee rejected the idea, explaining that “if I took your advice, the men would be without rations and under no control of officers. They would be compelled to rob and steal in order to live. They would become mere bands of marauders…. We would bring on a state of affairs it would take the country years to recover from.”
The terms of the surrender were recorded in a document handwritten by Grant's adjutant Ely S. Parker, a Native American of the Seneca tribe, and completed around 4 p.m., April 9. Lee, upon discovering Parker to be a Seneca, remarked, "It is good to have one real American here." Parker replied, "Sir, we are all Americans." As Lee left the house and rode away, Grant's men began cheering in celebration, but Grant ordered an immediate stop. "I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped", he said. "The Confederates were now our countrymen, and we did not want to exult over their downfall," he said.
(this information came directly from THIS site)
~April 12 - 1861 - The Civil War began at Fort Sumter
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| The beginning of the Civil War |
On April 12, 1861, forces from the Confederate States of America attacked the United States military garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Less than two days later, the fort surrendered. No one was killed. The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War—a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage.
It began when President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, and Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Ultimately, it was Confederate President Jefferson Davis who decided to open fire on the fort before the resupply vessels could arrive. He did so mainly because he feared looking weak more than he feared civil war.
~April 14 - 1865 - President Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater
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| Booth shoots Lincoln. |
On the evening of April 14, 1865, while attending a special performance of the comedy, "Our American Cousin," President Abraham Lincoln was shot. Accompanying him at Ford's Theatre that night were his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, a twenty-eight year-old officer named Major Henry R. Rathbone, and Rathbone's fiancée, Clara Harris. After the play was in progress, a figure with a drawn derringer pistol stepped into the presidential box, aimed, and fired. The president slumped forward.
The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, dropped the pistol and waved a dagger. Rathbone lunged at him, and though slashed in the arm, forced the killer to the railing. Booth leapt from the balcony and caught the spur of his left boot on a flag draped over the rail, and broke a bone in his leg on landing. Though injured, he rushed out the back door, and disappeared into the night on horseback.
(information came directly from THIS page)
~April 15, 1861 - Civil War begins in earnest
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| Men willing to go fight for the United States |
On April 15, 1861, just three days after the attack on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling forth the state militias, to the sum of 75,000 troops, in order to suppress the rebellion.
At this point four more states joined the Confederacy.
Even with all the state militias, Lincoln needed still more soldiers. States began organizing volunteer regiments to supplement the regular army. They were different from the militia. They were organized by private citizens in each state. Regiments elected their own officers, outfitted the men (although volunteers had to supply their own horses and personal items), and then the request went to the governor for approval. If approved by the governor, the new regiment was offered up to the federal government for "mustering in," or officially joining the federal army
(I found bits and pieces on THIS page)
~April 15 - 1865 - President Lincoln died 7:22 a.m.
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| He now belongs to the ages. |
At the time, many people felt a theatre was not a proper place for a president to die. The White House was only six blocks away—but a bumpy carriage ride on Washington’s unpaved streets might kill Lincoln immediately.
Soldiers carried Lincoln down the stairs of the theatre and out onto Tenth Street.
Standing on the Petersen boarding house stoop across the street, Henry Safford had heard the commotion. He knew that Willie Clark, a fellow boarder, was out for the night—and his room was vacant. He yelled to the soldiers, “Bring him in here!”
In the front parlor, First Lady Mary Lincoln awaited word of her husband, occasionally venturing in to visit him. In the back parlor, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton interrogated witnesses and directed the investigation.
Outside, thousands of people crowded onto Tenth Street and kept vigil through the night.
President Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865. Mary Lincoln was not in the room with him. Soldiers quickly removed his body to the White House for an autopsy and to prepare for a funeral.
At 11:00 a.m., Vice President Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as the 17th president.
(This information came directly from THIS site)
~April 15 - 1912 - The Titanic sank after striking an iceburg in the Atlantic, killing over 1500 passengers. The survivors were brought to New York
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| The sinking of the Titanic. |
The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States.
The ship struck an iceberg near midnight on April 14, 1912 and sank into the Atlantic Ocean a little more than two hours later, at 2:20 a.m.
It is generally believed that of the ship’s approximately 2,200 passengers and crew members, some 1,500 people perished when the ship sank. According to the U.S. committee investigating the sinking, 1,517 lives were lost, and its British counterpart determined that 1,503 died. The crew suffered the most casualties, with about 700 fatalities. Third class also suffered greatly, as only 174 of its approximately 710 passengers survived.
(Info came mostly from HERE)
~April 18 - 1775 - Late night ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes (and, after midnight, Samuel Prescott) occurred.
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| "The Regulars are coming out!" Not "The British are coming!" |
On the night of April 18th, 1775, Patriot Revere made the most famous ride of his life, to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn patriot leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that the Regular Army (aka "The British") were on the march and it was thought they planned to arrest the two men, who were in hiding in Reverend Clark's house.
Both Revere and his compatriot, William Dawes, reached Lexington separately and were able to warn Hancock and Adams to flee. The two riders, together with Samuel Prescott, then started for Concord, but they were soon stopped by a British patrol, and only Prescott got through.
(Most of this info came from HERE)
~April 19 - 1775 - The Revolutionary War began in earnest with the Battle of Lexington & Concord
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| "The Rebels kept an incessant irregular fire..." |
The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, where the famous 'shot heard 'round the world' took place, marked the start of the American War of Independence (1775-83). Politically disastrous for the British, it persuaded many Americans to take up arms against the mother country.
In this first battle of the American Revolution, Massachusetts colonists/militia/Minutemen defied British authority, outnumbered and outfought the Redcoats, and embarked on a lengthy war to earn their independence.
As many as 3,500 militiamen kept a constant musketry blazing along about 18 miles of the road back to Lexington as the Redcoats retreated. Roughly 250 Redcoats were killed, compared to about 90 patriots killed and wounded.
(Much of the info came from THIS and other sources)
~April 27 - 1865 - Steamboat Sultana exploded, killing nearly 2000 passengers, most being recently freed Union prisoners of war
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| The deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history |
In the early hours of April 27th, 1865, mere days after the end of the Civil War, the steamboat Sultana burst into flames along the Mississippi River.
The Sultana was contracted by the U.S. Government to carry former Union prisoners of war from Confederate prisons, such as Andersonville and Cahaba, back into Northern territory. In order to fulfill the lucrative contract, J. Cass Mason, the Sultana’s captain, opted to patch the leaky boiler on the boat rather than complete more extensive and time-consuming repairs. Although it was designed to only hold 376 persons, more than 2,000 Union troops were crowded onto the steamboat - more than five times its legal carrying capacity.
The Sultana steamed north up the Mississippi, but the severe overcrowding and faster river current caused by the spring thaw put increased pressure on its newly patched boilers. Shortly after leaving Memphis, Tennessee on April 27th, the overstrained boilers exploded, blowing apart the center of the boat and starting an uncontrollable fire. Many of those who were not killed immediately perished as they tried to swim to shore. Of the initial survivors, 200 later died from burns sustained during the incident. Researchers indicate that 1,195 of the 2,200 passengers and crew died, making the Sultana incident the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history.
(Information came directly from THIS site)
~April 30 - 1789 - George Washington became our 1st President
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| Swearing in scene from HBO's John Adams |
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. “As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent,” he wrote James Madison, “it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”
To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second term. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.
(This info came directly from HERE)
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Now, you know I realize there were a number of other historical occurrences in April, but I kept the list to a selected well-known few.
I mean, I suppose I could include that I saw Led Zeppelin on April 30, 1977 at the Pontiac Silverdome - me along with 78,000 other fans, making it the largest paying audience for a single artist for that time.
I could also mention that April is not a kind month to my family:
my grandmother died April 2, 1973
my brother died April 6, 2014
my father died April 12, 1982
Yeah...a bit rough...but there is all kinds of other information in this post, of which I hope you found interesting - - -
Until next time, see you in time.
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