By Garrick Hoffman

Liberal Arts Major

April seems like it’s teeming with significant historical events, birthdays…and tragedies. Every time it rolls around, my brain begins the slow process of exploding as I try to keep up with birthdays of friends and family while also trying to remember each day’s historical significance as they pass. You know you have a weird month when it contains the birthdays of a spiritual sage and a fascist dictator.

Here are just a few dates that distinguish April from the rest of the year:

[b]April 3:[b]

-Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan, a bill designed to aid European post-war recovery and combat communism. (1948)

-The Pony Express mail delivery service begins its first day of operation. The Pony Express, with delivery workers on horseback riding for up to a hundred miles, was a landmark means of communication from east to west. (1860)

[b] April 4:[b]

-MLK is fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee. His purported killer, James Earl Ray, died on April 23, 1998. (1968)

[b]April 6:

-The Olympics are held in Athens, Greece after a 1,500-year hiatus. (1896)

-The U.S. enters World War I in Europe. (1917)

-The plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundi presidents is shot down, thus igniting the Rwandan genocide the following day. Between 500,000 and 1 million Rwandans were killed in the 3+ month massacre. (1994)

April 7:

Prohibition in the United States comes to its end. Did you know Maine was one of the leading states to spearhead prohibition? (1933)

April 8:

-The Buddha is born (Between sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Date of celebration varies.)

April 9

-The American Civil War comes to an end at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, with Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendering to Union general Ulysses S. Grant. (1865)

April 11:

-The Civil Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon Johnson. (1968)

April 12:

-The American Civil War commences with the Battle of Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Strangely, there were no casualties. (1861)

-Russian Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space. (1961)

April 15:

-The RMS Titanic sinks. (1912)

April 20:

-Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold go on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, rendering the massacre the most deadly high school shooting in US history. (1999)

-Adolf Hitler is born. (1889)

-The unofficial pot smoker’s holiday, also known as 4/20. Following its legalization in Colorado, tens of thousands of cannabis-friendly folks turned out to celebrate the holiday in Denver.

April 26:

-The Chernobyl disaster occurs, known as one of worst nuclear power plant accidents in history, alongside the Fukushima disaster. (1986)

April 27:

Nelson Mandela is elected as the President of South Africa, a monumental day in which all South Africans were eligible to vote. (1994)

April 28:

Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, is executed by anti-fascist partisans. (1945)

April 29:

The Los Angeles Race Riots begin. (1992)

April 30:

George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States. (1789)