Picture History : Anniversaries

Anniversaries

To illustrate the depth one can access in our collections, we have compiled relevant archival imagery to frame a diverse cultural, political and chronological retrospective of noteworthy anniversaries. Be sure to bookmark this section as the calendar is a work in progress and will continue to expand.

April	Year	Anniversary	Event
1	1972	37th	North Vietnam launches an offensive to hurt Nixon's reelection chances
1	1987	22nd	Pres. Reagan announces that AIDS is "public health enemy No.1"
2	1792	217th	Congress passes the Coinage Act, founding the U.S. Mint
2	1872	137th	Samuel F. B. Morse, U.S. inventor, dies
2	1877	132nd	First White House Easter Egg Roll, under Rutherford Hayes
2	1917	92nd	Jeannette Rankin sworn in as first woman in the U.S. House of Representatives
2	1917	92nd	President Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany
3	1837	172nd	John Burroughs, U.S. nature writer, is born
3	1882	127th	Jesse James, notorious bank robber, dies, shot in back
3	1922	87th	Joseph Stalin named general secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR
4	1812	197th	President Madison slaps an embargo on Great Britain
4	1967	42nd	Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks against the Vietnam War, linking Civil Rights and pacifism
5	1792	217th	George Washington casts the first presidential veto (against apportioning representatives among states)
5	1827	182nd	James Hackett becomes the first U.S. actor to appear abroad - at Covent Garden
5	1862	147th	The Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, begins
6	1862	147th	Battle of Shiloh begins in Tennessee
6	1917	92nd	U.S. enters World War I, declaring war on Germany
6	1947	62nd	Henry Ford, early car manufacturer, dies
8	1892	117th	Mary Pickford, Academy-Award-winning actress, is born Gladys Smith
8	1942	67th	War Production Board orders a halt to all production not necessary to WWII
8	1952	57th	Pres. Truman takes control of the steel mills in Youngstown, Ohio
9	1682	327th	French explorer Robert la Salle reaches the lower Mississippi River
9	1942	67th	U.S. surrenders the Philippine island of Luzon to Japan
10	1847	162nd	Joseph Pulitzer, publisher and newspaperman, is born in Hungary
10	1912	97th	The RMS Titanic sets sail from Southhampton, England, on its ill-fated voyage
10	1932	77th	Adolf Hitler comes in second to German president von Hindenburg in national elections
11	1962	47th	JFK angrily criticizes steel industry for jacking up prices
11	1972	37th	U.S. B-52s begin bombing North Vietnam
11	1972	37th	Charlie Chaplin receives an Oscar at the Academy Awards
12	1777	232nd	Henry Clay, U.S. senator and statesman, born
12	1862	147th	Fort Pulaski, GA, falls to the Federals after two days of bombardment
12	1877	132nd	The catcher's mask first used in baseball
12	1937	72nd	U.S. Supreme Court upholds National Labor Relations Act, protecting workers' rights
13	1777	232nd	British attack the Continental Army at Bound Brook, New Jersey
13	1852	157th	F.W. Woolworth, merchant who founded a chain of stores, born.
14	1912	97th	The British RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic
15	1912	97th	The "unsinkable" RMS Titanic sinks and about 1,500 passengers and crew drown
15	1947	62nd	Jackie Robinson becomes baseball's first black major-league player
16	1862	147th	Pres. Lincoln abolishes slavery in the District of Columbia
16	1867	142nd	Wilbur Wright, aviator and inventor, born
16	1917	92nd	Vladimir Lenin returns to St. Petersburg to take control of the Russian Revolution
17	1492	517th	Christopher Columbus signs a contract to seek a new route to the Indies
17	1837	172nd	John Pierpont Morgan, industrialist and financier, born
18	1857	152nd	Clarence Darrow, attorney and champion of the underdog, born
18	1917	92nd	Leon Trotsky calls for the overthrow of Joseph Stalin
19	1782	227th	The Netherlands officially recognizes the U.S. as a nation
19	1882	127th	Charles Darwin, British scientist, dies
20	1777	232nd	New York adopts a state constitution
20	1902	107th	Marie and Pierre Curie isolate radium
20	1792	217th	France declares war on Austria and the French Revolutionary Wars begin
21	1777	232nd	The British attack Danbury, CT, and go on a rampage, nearly destroying the town
22	1972	37th	Antiwar demonstrations coordinated across America protest U.S. bombings of Vietnam
23	1867	142nd	The Zoetrope, forerunner of the motion picture projector, patented
23	1992	17th	Smithsonian Museum acquires the Miller racing car for display
24	1792	217th	France's national anthem, "La Marseillaise," is composed by Claude Rouget de Lisle
24	1862	147th	Union Admiral David Farragut leads a flotilla past two Confederate forts
24	1967	42nd	Gen. Westmoreland asserts the U.S. antiwar movement is encouraging North Vietnam
25	1792	217th	The guillotine is first used, in Paris
25	1862	147th	The Fall of New Orleans
26	1607	402nd	Captain John Smith and a group of British colonists go ashore at Cape Henry, Virginia
26	1822	187th	Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect who designed NY's Central Park, born
27	1667	342nd	John Milton sells the copyright to his famous epic, "Paradise Lost."
27	1822	187th	Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War general and 18th U.S. president, is born
28	1952	57th	Gen. Eisenhower resigns as supreme commander of U.S. armed forces
29	1862	147th	The Union Army occupies New Orleans
30	1917	92nd	The U.S. begins massive enlistment for World War I
30	1947	62nd	President Harry Truman changes the name of Boulder Dam to Hoover Dam