NewsInHistory Blog

Exactly 68 years later, the sheer horror of it remains as incomprehensible as ever. On April 29, 1945, U.S. troops liberated the Dachau concentration camp in southern Germany, where the Nazis murdered tens of thousands of prisoners. What the American troops found when they entered the camp shocked them and revolts us still, disturbing stories and images that can never be forgotten. read more...

After the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter began the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call on April 15, 1861, for 75,000 volunteers to serve for 90 days to end the Southern rebellion. The response was extraordinary, as men throughout the North rushed to their country’s aid. It was not only the men who rallied to Lincoln’s call, however; the women were zealous as well. read more...

Just five days after celebrating the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, euphoria in the North suddenly plunged into grief and despair when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. The murderer was John Wilkes Booth, a 26-year-old actor and fervent Southern sympathizer, who shot Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., while the president was enjoying a performance of Our American Cousin. read more...

On May 13, 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico, beginning the two-year Mexican-American War. The spark for this conflict began 18 days earlier, with a skirmish on April 25 called “the Thornton Affair.” From the Mexican perspective, the war was an act of American aggression, flimsily based on a pretext that Mexico began the hostilities. The United States, on the other hand, claimed that Mexico truly was the aggressor. Which nation is responsible for provoking the war’s bloodshed is disputed to this day. read more...

Although it was not unanimous, the majority of the American press and public approved Congress’ declaration on April 25, 1898, that a state of war existed with Spain. Animosity toward Spain had been growing throughout the 1890s as reports circulated in the American press about Spanish atrocities in its colony of Cuba, just 90 miles offshore of Florida. Here is a range of newspaper reactions at the beginning of the Spanish-American War. read more...

The U.S. rationale for the Spanish-American War was a desire to intervene in Spain’s harsh rule of its colony Cuba, just 90 miles offshore from Florida. The American public grew increasingly angry as stories of Spanish atrocities circulated in the U.S. press during the 1890s. When the U.S. battleship Maine sank in Havana harbor under mysterious circumstances on Feb. 15, 1898, American war fever grew to a crescendo, and the administration of President William McKinley knew it had to take action. read more...

After seven long years of frustrating delays—caused first by budget woes and technical difficulties, then by the fatalities of the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster—the Hubble Space Telescope was finally launched into space on April 24, 1990, carried aloft by the space shuttle Discovery. read more...

April 22 is Earth Day, a global celebration of the Earth’s intricacy, beauty and fertility, and a call for greater environmental awareness and protection. First held in 1970, this special event was instantly a rousing success, and has gained momentum and adherents ever since. Along with Earth Day, there is now an Earth Week, and a U.N.-sponsored World Environment Day. read more...