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.
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.
April 29
A devastating cyclone hits Bangladesh and kills more than 135,000 persons. This disaster was one of the worst of the 20th Century. – 1991.
In Los Angeles, Calif., four Los Angeles police officers who had been caught beating an unarmed African-American motorist in an amateur video are acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest. Hours after the verdicts are announced, outrage, and protest turned to violence, and a three-day riot erupted. The three days of disorder led to the deaths of 55 individuals, 2,000 injured, 7,000 arrests, and nearly $1 billion in property damage, including the burning of nearly 4,000 buildings. – 1994.
April 30
Representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France conclude negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, a massive land sale that doubles the size of the young American republic. What was known as Louisiana Territory comprised most of modern-day United States between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, with the exceptions of Texas, parts of New Mexico, and other pockets of land already controlled by the United States. – 1803.
An explosion at the Everettville mine in Everettville, W. Va., kills 109 miners, many of whom lie in unmarked graves to this day. – 1927.
Holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shoots himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces. – 1945.
May 1
New York City’s Empire State Building officially opens. Construction involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, and hundreds of Mohawk Native American iron workers. Five workers die during construction. – 1931.
A record-breaking wave of tornadoes begins across the southern and midwestern United States on this day in 2003. By the time the wave is over, more than 500 tornadoes are recorded for the month to shatter the previous record by more than 100. – 2003.