The first Civil War deaths caused by fighting did not happen during the war’s first battle, the attack on Fort Sumter—but actually occurred in a federal city between Union troops and civilians, when the Baltimore Riot of April 19, 1861, killed 4 soldiers and 12 civilians, with dozens more wounded. The troops were marching through Baltimore to board a train for passage to Washington, D.C., when a pro-Southern mob gathered to obstruct them. read more...
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The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, with the firing of the first mortar at 4:30 on the morning of April 12, 1861, began the Civil War. Major Robert Anderson’s Union garrison in the embattled fort surrendered the next day, and men in both the North and South rushed forward to volunteer for military service. Enthusiasm was certainly not lacking in Louisiana, as the following letter shows. read more...
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Alone except for an attending nurse keeping vigil, the remarkable life of the great physicist Albert Einstein came to a quiet end in a Princeton hospital room early in the morning of April 18, 1955. In 1999 Time magazine named this brilliant scientist “Person of the Century.” His many groundbreaking scientific theories, especially his theory of relativity, dazzled his colleagues and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. The following two newspaper articles were published on the day of his death, providing many details of his full life and unprecedented career. read more...
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Early in the morning of April 18, 1955, the man Time magazine in 1999 named the “Person of the Century”—the great physicist, Albert Einstein—died in a hospital room in Princeton, New Jersey. The 76-year-old genius spent a remarkable lifetime unraveling the secrets of the universe, revolutionizing the world of physics with his groundbreaking theory of relativity. read more...
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It was early on a Wednesday morning, with most of the residents of San Francisco peacefully sleeping, when disaster suddenly struck the City by the Bay. At 5:13 a.m. on April 18, 1906, an earthquake tremor for about 20 seconds was followed by a major 7.9 magnitude earthquake that shook the city for over 40 seconds, jolting terrified residents awake as buildings collapsed around them. Worse still, the powerful quake twisted and broke gas and water lines. Huge fires erupted and burned continuously for three days. Without water, firefighters were helpless to stop the inferno. read more...
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After Fort Sumter surrendered to Confederate forces on April 13, 1861, President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to serve for 90 days to preserve the Union. The South scrambled to respond. Realizing the Confederacy lacked an effective navy, President Jefferson Davis issued a proclamation on April 17 offering to give sanction to any armed private vessel that was willing to attack Northern ships. read more...
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Hopes were high when Apollo 13 and its three astronauts blasted off April 11, 1970, intending to be the third mission to land on the moon. However, disaster struck two days later when an oxygen tank exploded 200,000 miles above the Earth. Suddenly astronauts Fred W. Haise, James A. Lovell and John L. Swigert were in a harrowing fight for their lives, with controllers back in Houston, Texas, desperately scrambling to come up with a way to get the men home. read more...
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When people think of American women pioneers in aviation, Amelia Earhart usually comes to mind. However, Harriet Quimby was the first woman to earn a pilot’s license in the United States, which she accomplished on Aug. 1, 1911—twelve years before Earhart. In September of that year she achieved another distinction: first woman to make a nighttime flight. read more...
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Opening day for the Chicago White Sox on April 16, 1940, was a raw, cold and windy day that kept most fans away—little more than 14,000 bothered to show up. Those that did, however, witnessed baseball history that day. The opponent was the Cleveland Indians, and their young flame-throwing phenom, Bob Feller, did something no one else has ever done: he pitched a no-hitter on opening day. read more...
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January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, decreed by the United Nations in 2005 to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust—a horrific program in which Nazi Germany murdered between 11 and 17 million people, approximately 6 million of them Jews. The date was chosen because Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz, the largest of the concentration camps, on Jan. 27, 1945. read more...
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I understand that when writing a blog, it’s necessary to show a picture and say a few words about yourself, so that people don’t think a nameless, faceless committee or advisory board is running the show. Here I am, a real person. My name is Tony Pettinato, and I live in Deerfield, Mass. I did my undergraduate studies in English at Oberlin College, my graduate work in Journalism at UC Berkeley, and have been a reporter for six newspapers. For the past fourteen years I have worked at NewsBank, six of those as a managing editor for the U.S. Congressional Serial Set project – NewsBank’s acclaimed effort that digitized and indexed twelve million pages of primary source documents – that gratified my lifelong interest in American history. And that led me to editing this history blog!
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