This was an interesting month…well known historical events seem to come in waves. There is some good ones in April.
This is why April Fools Day started…
01 April 1700
English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day BUT DID YOU KNOW this may have started in 1582, when France switched to the Gregorian calendar to the Julian calendar, which started in April.
The first woman elected to Congress was…
02 April 1917
Jeannette Pickering Rankin, the first woman ever elected to Congress, takes her seat in the U.S. Capitol as a representative from Montana…BUT DID YOU KNOW she was a passionate pacifist and voted against entering both world war i and world war ii.
This movie beat out Star Wars for best picture…
03 April 1978
“Annie Hall” beats out “Star Wars” for Best Picture BUT DID YOU KNOW that Yoda was almost played by a monkey?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed…
04 April 1968
Just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee BUT DID YOU KNOW that his birth name was Michael…not Martin.
Pocahontas married an Englishman today…
05 April 1614
Pocahontas, married John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia BUT DID YOU KNOW that Pocahontas was a nickname meaning “the naughty one”.
How many letters were sent during WWII…
06 April 1917
Two days after the U.S. Senate voted 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the U.S. House of Representatives endorses the declaration by a vote of 373 to 50, and America formally enters World War I BUT DID YOU KNOW 12 million letters were delivered to the frontline every week.
John Wayne won this many Oscars…
07 April 1970
John Wayne won his first—and only—Academy Award, for his role in the Western True Grit BUT DID YOU KNOW that his last words were “Of course, I know who you are. You’re my girl. I love you.”
Hank Aaron almost played with Willie Mays…
08 April 1974
Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record BUT DID YOU KNOW Hank played alongside his brother, Tommie, for seven seasons.
Rita Moreno was the first Hispanic woman to do this…
09 April 1962
Rita Moreno becomes the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar BUT DID YOU KNOW She is the only female performer to win all four of entertainment’s most prestigious awards – the Oscar, the Emmy, the Tony and the Grammy.
Paul McCartney said this about the Beatles breakup…
10 April 1970
Paul McCartney announced the breakup of the Beatles BUT DID YOU KNOW that in 2017 the ex-Beatle finally secured the rights to his own music from that golden era.
THIS was the first live sporting event broadcast on radio…
11 April 1921
KDKA, in Pittsburgh broadcasts the first live sporting event on the radio, a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee BUT DID YOU KNOW that this was only about four months before KDKA’s Harold Arlin announced the first Major League Baseball game.
The invention of Baseball and the Civil War are linked…
12 April 1861
Civil War begins as Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter with Captain Abner Doubleday returning the first Union canon shot BUT DID YOU KNOW that Doubleday is credited with the inventing baseball and may be the reason the Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, New York…even though historians question this.
Yup! Tiger Woods did this…
13 April 1997
Tiger Woods wins the Masters Tournament for the first time BUT DID YOU KNOW His margin of victory–12 strokes–was the largest in the 20th century.
John Wilkes Booth was…
14 April 1865
John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln BUT DID YOU KNOW Booth was a well-regarded actor who was particularly loved in the South before the Civil War.
Jackie Robinson was the first…
15 April 1947
Jackie Robinson, age 28, becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers BUT DID YOU KNOW Robinson attended UCLA where he was the first athlete to letter in four varsity sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.
Why are there numbers on baseball uniforms…
16 April 1929
New York Yankees became first MLB team to permanently feature numbers on backs of uniforms BUT DID YOU KNOW they were the last MLB team to put names on the back of jerseys?
Jon Snow got this from Ikea…
17 April 2011
“Game of Thrones“, premieres on HBO BUT DID YOU KNOW Jon Snow’s cape from the Night’s Watch was made from an IKEA rug.
The Yankees used to be…
18 April 1923
Yankee Stadium opens with Babe Ruth hitting a three-run homer as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-1 BUT DID YOU KNOW the Yankees played their first game ever in 1903 as the New York “Highlanders”.
Wyatt Earp was fired because…
19 April 1876
A Wichita, Kansas, commission votes not to re-hire policeman Wyatt Earp after he beats up a candidate for county sheriff BUT DID YOU KNOW He was arrested for murder after the gunfight at OK Corral…but never indicted.
Danica Patrick did this first…
20 April 2008
Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Indy race BUT DID YOU KNOW she has Most Top 10 Finishes For A Female in NASCAR.
Farewell to Prince…
21 April 2016
Legendary musician and megawatt star Prince dies at 57 BUT DID YOU KNOW he created more than 30 albums and won seven Grammy Awards over a 40-year career.
Earth Day started what..?
22 April 1970
Earth Day, is celebrated for the first time BUT DID YOU KNOW that this celebration led the creation of NOAA and the EPA later that year.
Shakespeare cursed his own grave because…
23 April 1564
William Shakespeare was born BUT DID YOU KNOW that he penned a curse on his grave that read:
“ Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.”
Winston Churchill crashed a plane once…
24 April 1953
Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. BUT DID YOU KNOW Churchill was extremely accident-prone but still lived to age 90.
Ella Fitzgerald was the first…
25 April 1917
Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald is born BUT DID YOU KNOW she was the first African American female to win a GRAMMY and eventually won a total of 13.
It might be a while till you can live in Chernobyl…
26 April 1986
The world’s worst nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl power plant in the Soviet Union BUT DID YOU KNOW that Chernobyl will be habitable again in about 20,000 years.
A General and President was born this day…
27 April 1822
Ulysses S. Grant, Union general during the American Civil War, 18th President of the United States was born.
Glenn Miller beat Elvis and The Beatles in this…
28 April 1940
Glenn Miller records “Pennsylvania 6-5000” BUT DID YOU KNOW that in just 4 years he scored 16 number-one records and 69 top-10 hits—more than Elvis Presley (38 top 10s) and the Beatles (33 top 10s) during their careers.
4,048 Gold Stars for…
29 April 2004
The World War II monument opens in Washington, D.C. BUT DID YOU KNOW there is a total of 4,048 gold stars at the Memorial, with each star representing 100 American military deaths.
44 million people did this in 1939…
30 April 1939
New York World’s Fair opens BUT DID YOU KNOW that over over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons.
