April 30

George Washington becomes first president of the US (1789); Louisiana Purchase land deal between US and France doubles the size of the US (1803); Adolf Hitler commits suicide in underground bunker (1945); HBD Gal Gadot (1985).

April 29

Jazz legend Duke Ellington born (1899); HBD singer-songwriter Willie Nelson (1933); RIP film director Alfred Hitchcock (1980); Los Angeles riots begin following acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King (1992); Prince William and Kate Middleton get married (2011).

April 28

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee born (1926); Italian dictator Benito Mussolini executed (1945); HBD US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (1960); Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France (1969).

April 27

Ferdinand Magellan dies (1521); RIP Ralph Waldo Emerson (1882); Coretta Scott King born (1927); Nelson Mandela wins election to become first Black president of South Africa (1994); New York City’s Freedom Tower construction begins (2006).

April 26

John Wilkes Booth killed 12 days after assassinating President Lincoln (1865); HBD former first lady Melania Trump (1970); RIP Lucille Ball (1989); Deadliest tornado in history kills 1,300 in Bangladesh (1989).

April 23

William Shakespeare born, dies (1564, 1616); Actress and diplomat Shirley Temple born (1928); Rhythm Club fire in Mississippi kills 209 (1940); RIP civil rights activist Cesar Chavez (1993); First YouTube video published (2005).

April 22

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Ellen Glasgow born (1873); Earth Day first celebrated in US (1970); RIP photographer Ansel Adams (1984); RIP President Richard Nixon (1994); Former NFL football player Pat Tillman killed during the war in Afghanistan (2004). 

April 21

RIP American author Mark Twain (1910); HBD Queen Elizabeth II (1926); 100,000 students begin protests at Tiananmen Square (1989); RIP singer-songwriter Nina Simone (2003); RIP legendary musician Prince (2016).

April 20

Thirteen people murdered in Columbine High School mass shooting (1999); Danica Patrick is first woman to win IndyCar race (2008); RIP Dorothy Height, civil and women’s rights activist (2010); Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes, killing 11 and starting months long oil spill (2010).

April 19

RIP Charles Darwin (1882); Battles of Lexington and Concord begin the American Revolutionary War (1775); HBD actress Ashley Judd (1968); Boston Marathon held for first time (1897); Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 (1995).

April 16

Actor Charlie Chaplin born (1889); Harriet Quimby is first woman to fly across English Channel (1912); HBD Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947); Singer-songwriter Selena Quintanilla-Pérez born (1971); 32 die, 17 injured in Virginia Tech mass shooting (2007).

April 15

RIP President Abraham Lincoln (1865); RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 (1912); Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier, becomes first Black major league baseball player (1947); HBD actress Emma Watson (1990); Two bombs explode at Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring 264 (2013).

April 14

 "Webster’s Dictionary" is first published (1828); President Abraham Lincoln is mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth, dies the next day (1865); RIP marine biologist and environmentalist Rachel Carson (1964); Human Genome Project is completed (2003).

April 13

President Thomas Jefferson born (1743); New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art founded (1870); Author Eudora Welty born (1909); Sidney Poitier becomes first Black male to win Best Actor at Oscars (1964).

April 12

 RIP American Red Cross founder Clara Barton (1912); RIP Franklin D. Roosevelt (1945); HBD David Letterman (1947); Yuri Gagarin becomes first person in space (1961); RIP boxing great Joe Louis (1981).

April 9

RIP Francis Bacon (1626); Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the Civil War (1865); Hugh Hefner born (1926); RIP architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1959); HBD “Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon (1966).

April 8

HBD actress Robin Wright (1966); RIP Pablo Picasso (1973); Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s home run record (1974); Frank Robinson becomes first Black manager of a major league baseball team (1975); RIP Margaret Thatcher (2013).

April 7

English poet William Wordsworth born (1770); Jazz singer Billie Holiday born (1915); Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford dies (1947); World Health Organization is established (1948); The US breaks diplomatic ties with Iran during Iran Hostage Crisis (1980).

April 6

Renaissance artist Raphael born and died (1483, 1520); First modern Olympics opens in Athens (1896); The US declares war on Germany in World War I (1917); RIP prolific science fiction author Isaac Asimov (1992); RIP country singer Tammy Wynette (1998).

April 5

Booker T. Washington born (1856); American Civil War Battle of Yorktown begins (1862); Actress Bette Davis born (1908); HBD Colin Powell (1937); RIP Kurt Cobain (1994).

Maya Angelou

Did you know...... that today, besides being Easter in many parts of the world, is the birthday of Maya Angelou? Born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, Maya was a civil rights activist, poet, and award-winning author known for her acclaimed 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and her numerous poetry and essay collections. Maya always believed that "we are more alike than unalike." Thank you, Maya.

April 2

Juan Ponce de León is first European in Florida (1513); Singer Marvin Gaye born (1939); HBD singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris (1947); Rita Johnston becomes first female premier of a Canadian province (1991); RIP Pope John Paul II (2005); RIP Winnie Mandela, activist and ex-wife of Nelson Mandela (2018)

April 1

Actress Debbie Reynolds born (1932); Apple Computer founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and don't forget Ronald Wayne (1976); Iran officially becomes an Islamic republic after the Shah is overthrown (1979); Singer Marvin Gaye shot and killed by his father (1984).

March 31

Eiffel Tower opens in Paris (1889); Workers’ rights leader Cesar Chavez born (1927); RIP American track legend Jesse Owens (1980); Singer-songwriter Selena murdered (1995); Rapper Nipsey Hussle murdered (2019).

March 30

Vincent van Gogh born (1853); Treaty of Paris ends Crimean War (1856); HBD Celine Dion (1968); President Ronald Reagan survives shooting by John Hinckley Jr. (1981); RIP American musician Bill Withers (2020).

John Tyler

Did you know...

... that today is the birthday of John Tyler? John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, was born on March 29, 1790, in Greenway, Virginia. Trivia buffs: Tyler was called The Accidental President because he was the first to succeed to the office following the death of a predecessor. And he had 15 children!

March 29

US President John Tyler born (1790); Baseball player Cy Young born (1867); Walmart founder Sam Walton born (1918); Dow Jones closes above 10,000 for the first time (1999); RIP actress Patty Duke (2016).

March 26

RIP Beethoven (1827); American poet Robert Frost born (1874); RIP American poet Walt Whitman (1892); HBD Diana Ross (1944); 39 die in Heaven’s Gate mass suicide (1997).