April 22
Adolf Hitler, learning from one of his generals that no German defense was offered to the Russian assault at Eberswalde, admits to all in his underground bunker that the war is lost and that suicide is his only recourse. – 1945.
Earth Day, an event to increase public awareness of the world’s environmental problems, is celebrated in the United States for the first time. – 1970.
April 23
Brian Boru, the high king of Ireland, is assassinated by a group of retreating Norsemen shortly after his Irish forces defeat them. – 1014.
Historians believe legendary English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare is born in Stratford-on-Avon on this day in 1564, the same day he died in 1616. – 1564.
April 24
A single tornado twists 150 miles through Louisiana and Mississippi and leaves 143 dead. In total, 311 lost their lives to twisters during the deadly month of April 1908 in the southeastern United States. Another 1,600 were seriously injured. – 1908.
On Easter Monday in Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization of Irish nationalists led by Patrick Pearse, launches the so-called Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule. They riot and attack British provincial government headquarters across Dublin and seize the Irish capital’s General Post Office. Later that day, however, British authorities launch a counteroffensive, and by April 29 the uprising was crushed. Nevertheless, the Easter Rebellion is considered a significant marker on the road to establishing an independent Irish republic. – 1916.
April 25
The New York Times declares the struggle for an eight-hour work-day to be “un-American” and calls public demonstrations for the shorter hours “labor disturbances brought about by foreigners.” Other publications declare that an eight-hour work-day day would bring about “loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery, and drunkenness.” – 1886.
The Soviet Union releases a letter that Russian leader Yuri Andropov wrote to Samantha Smith, an American fifth-grader from Manchester, Maine to invite her to visit his country. Andropov’s letter came in response to a note Smith had sent him in December 1982, asking if the Soviets were planning to start a nuclear war. – 1983.
The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. – 1990.
April 26
On the orders of president Franklin Roosevelt, the U.S. Army seizes the Chicago headquarters of the unionized Montgomery Ward & Co. after management defies the National Labor Relations Board. – 1944.
The world’s worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. The full toll from this disaster is still being tallied, but experts believe that thousands of residents died and as many as 70,000 suffered severe poisoning. In addition, a large area of land may not be livable for as long as 150 years. The 18-mile radius around Chernobyl was home to almost 150,000 residents who had to be permanently relocated. – 1986.
The Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 Million children, begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Va.. April 12, 1955. Researchers announced the vaccine was safe and effective and it quickly became a standard part of childhood immunizations in America. – 1954.
April 27
After going three-quarters of the way around the globe, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan is killed during a tribal skirmish on Mactan Island in the Philippines. Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow and left to die by his retreating comrades. – 1521.
Afghanistan president Sardar Mohammed Daoud is overthrown and murdered in a coup led by pro-communist rebels. The brutal action marks the beginning of political upheaval in Afghanistan that resulted in intervention by Soviet Union troops less than two years later. – 1978.
More than 22 Million South Africans turn out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections. An overwhelming majority chose anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to lead a new coalition government. – 1994.
April 28
Coal mine collapses at Eccles, W.Va., and kills 181 workers. – 1914.
One hundred-nineteen die in Benwood, W.Va. coal mine disaster. – 1924.
Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service. – 1967.
The first “Take Our Daughters to Work Day,” promoted by the Ms Foundation is held to boost self-esteem of girls with invitations to a parent’s workplace. – 1993.