1828 – First American Dictionary: Its author, Noah Webster, registers its copyright for publication.
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington. He dies a day later.
1896 – US Patent Office issues Patent No. 558,393 to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan for “flaked cereal, and process of making same.”
1902 – James Cash Penney opens his first store, The Golden Rule Store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1912 – RMS Titanic, the world’s largest ocean liner, hits an iceberg at 11:30 p.m. off Newfoundland, sinks in the early hours of April 15.
1914 – Head of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Stacy G. Carkhuff, patents non-skid tire pattern.
1928 – Maddux Airlines starts first regular passenger flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
1935 – Black Sunday dust storm ravages the Midwest, leading to the region being named the “Dust Bowl.”
1944 – First Jews transported from Athens arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
1945 – World War II: US 7th Army and Allied forces capture Nuremberg and Stuttgart in Germany.
1955 – 26-year-old catcher/outfielder Elston Howard becomes first African-American to play for the New York Yankees. He hits a single and drives in a run in an 8-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
1960 – American record company Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr., is incorporated as Motown Record Company in Detroit, Michigan.
1969 – 41st Academy Awards: “Oliver”, Cliff Robertson and Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand win (first tie for best actress).
1981 – The first Space Shuttle, Columbia 1, returns to Earth after 2 days and 6 hours in space.
1983 – President Ronald Reagan signs $165 billion Social Security rescue plan.
1989 – 1.1 billionth Chinese born.
2002 – 66th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National: Tiger Woods becomes the third player to claim back-to-back Masters, 3 strokes ahead of Retief Goosen of South Africa.
2018 – Beyonce is the first black woman to headline the Coachella Music Festival. Her performance on this day is the most watched performance ever on YouTube.
2019 – 11 tornadoes hit southern states, killing eight in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.
2020 – President Donald Trump freezes funding for the World Health Organization, pending a review, for mistakes in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and for being “China-centric”, prompting international criticism.
2021 – President Joe Biden says “It’s time to end America’s longest war” confirming his decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11.
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