April in History

1976

Technology

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne found the Apple Computer Company in California.

The third co-founder, Ronald Wayne, sold back his 10 per cent stake within two weeks for $800. The company, later renamed Apple Inc., became one of the most valuable in the world.

Sources: Wikipedia — Apple Inc. · Wikidata — Q312

1968

Culture

Stanley Kubrick's space epic, featuring the computer HAL 9000, premieres in Washington, D.C.

Stanley Kubrick's film, written with Arthur C. Clarke, premiered in 1968. Its realistic space effects won an Academy Award, and it is often ranked among the greatest films ever made.

Sources: Wikipedia — 2001: A Space Odyssey · Wikidata — Q103474

1905

Sports

Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's most famous football clubs, is founded in Buenos Aires.

Boca's rivalry with River Plate, the Superclásico, is one of the fiercest in world football. The club has won the Copa Libertadores six times, and its stadium, La Bombonera, is known for stands that seem to shake.

Meanwhile in art: Post-Impressionism, Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Boca Juniors · Wikidata — Q170703

1975

Technology

Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Microsoft was founded in 1975 and moved to the Seattle area in 1979. Its MS-DOS and Windows systems came to run most of the world's personal computers.

Sources: Wikipedia — Microsoft · Wikidata — Q2283

1991

Science

Space Shuttle Atlantis launches the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the second of NASA's Great Observatories.

The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was launched in 1991 and mapped mysterious gamma-ray bursts across the sky. It was deliberately brought down into the Pacific in 2000.

Sources: Wikipedia — Compton Gamma Ray Observatory · Wikidata — Q41519

1869

Science

The American Museum of Natural History is founded in New York City.

The museum grew into one of the largest in the world, with tens of millions of specimens and artifacts. Its scientists have led expeditions around the globe, and its dinosaur halls are among the most famous anywhere.

Meanwhile in art: Realism, Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — American Museum of Natural History · Wikidata — Q217717

2001

Exploration

NASA launches the Mars Odyssey orbiter, which becomes the longest-working spacecraft at Mars.

2001 Mars Odyssey launched in April 2001 and reached Mars that October. It kept working for more than two decades, longer than any other spacecraft at Mars.

Sources: Wikipedia — 2001 Mars Odyssey · Wikidata — Q207164

1990

Culture

Twin Peaks premieres on ABC, David Lynch's mystery about a murdered homecoming queen.

Twin Peaks premiered in 1990 and ran for two seasons. It influenced many later TV dramas and returned for a third season in 2017.

Sources: Wikipedia — Twin Peaks · Wikidata — Q2085

1967

Technology

The Boeing 737 makes its first flight, beginning the best-selling jet airliner family in history.

The 737 first flew in 1967 and entered service in 1968. More than 10,000 have been built, and new versions are still produced.

Sources: Wikipedia — Boeing 737 · Wikidata — Q6387

1925

Culture

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is published.

The Great Gatsby sold poorly when it came out in 1925. After Fitzgerald's death it became one of the most famous American novels.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — The Great Gatsby · Wikidata — Q214371

1970

Exploration

Apollo 13 launches for the Moon; an explosion two days later turns it into a rescue mission.

Apollo 13 launched in 1970. An oxygen tank failed on the way, and the crew looped around the Moon and returned safely, a story later told in the film Apollo 13.

Sources: Wikipedia — Apollo 13 · Wikidata — Q182252

1992

Culture

Euro Disneyland, now Disneyland Paris, opens east of Paris.

Disneyland Paris opened in 1992 and at first struggled financially. It became the most visited tourist attraction in Europe.

Sources: Wikipedia — Disneyland Paris · Wikidata — Q206521

1953

Culture

Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel, is published.

Casino Royale was published in 1953. Fleming wrote 12 Bond novels, and the films began with Dr. No in 1962.

Sources: Wikipedia — Casino Royale (novel) · Wikidata — Q1047711

1927

Technology

The first series-built Volvo car, the ÖV 4, drives out of the factory in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Volvo began as a subsidiary of the bearing maker SKF. It became known for sturdy cars and safety features, above all the three-point seat belt, whose design it made freely available to other carmakers.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Volvo Cars · Wikidata — Q215293

1983

Culture

Tokyo Disneyland opens, the first Disney theme park outside the United States.

Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983 and is owned by a Japanese company that licenses the Disney name. It is one of the most visited theme parks in the world.

Sources: Wikipedia — Tokyo Disneyland · Wikidata — Q843997

1972

Exploration

Apollo 16 launches, the first Moon landing mission to explore the lunar highlands.

Apollo 16 launched in 1972 and brought back about 95 kilograms of lunar samples. Charlie Duke, aged 36, became the youngest person to walk on the Moon.

Sources: Wikipedia — Apollo 16 · Wikidata — Q188168

2011

Culture

Game of Thrones premieres on HBO, adapting George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels.

Game of Thrones ran for eight seasons from 2011 and won 59 Emmy Awards, a record for a drama. It was filmed largely in Northern Ireland, Croatia and Iceland.

Sources: Wikipedia — Game of Thrones · Wikidata — Q23572

2018

Science

NASA launches TESS, a space telescope that searches for planets around nearby bright stars.

TESS launched in 2018 and has found hundreds of confirmed planets, many close enough for further study. It surveys almost the whole sky.

Sources: Wikipedia — Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite · Wikidata — Q1323537

1925

Sports

The football club Colo-Colo is founded in Santiago, Chile.

Colo-Colo has won more Chilean league titles than any other club. In 1991 it became the first Chilean team to win the Copa Libertadores, and its stadium is named after David Arellano.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Colo-Colo · Wikidata — Q207373

1964

Culture

BBC Two begins broadcasting, but a power cut in London blacks out its opening night.

BBC Two launched in 1964, with its first full programmes going out the next day. In 1967 it started regular colour broadcasts.

Sources: Wikipedia — BBC Two · Wikidata — Q216108

1989

Technology

Nintendo releases the Game Boy handheld console in Japan.

The Game Boy launched in 1989 and, with its successor, sold more than 118 million units. Pokémon Red and Green were released on it.

Sources: Wikipedia — Game Boy · Wikidata — Q186437

1889

Society

At noon a gunshot starts the Oklahoma Land Run, as about 50,000 settlers race to claim homesteads.

The Land Run of 1889 opened about two million acres in what became Oklahoma. The land had been taken from Native American nations, and the state's nickname, the Sooner State, comes from the run.

Meanwhile in art: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — Land Rush of 1889 · Wikidata — Q631498

1971

Culture

The Rolling Stones release Sticky Fingers, with Andy Warhol's working-zipper cover.

Sticky Fingers came out in 1971 and topped the charts in the UK and US. It was the first album to use the band's famous tongue-and-lips logo.

Sources: Wikipedia — Sticky Fingers · Wikidata — Q745850

1800

Society

The Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs a bill moving the capital to Washington.

The Library of Congress was founded in 1800. It holds well over 170 million items and is the research library of the US Congress.

Meanwhile in art: Neoclassicism, Romanticism

Sources: Wikipedia — Library of Congress · Wikidata — Q131454

1953

Science

Watson and Crick publish their double-helix model of DNA in the journal Nature.

The DNA paper appeared in Nature in 1953. Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in 1962; Rosalind Franklin had died in 1958.

Sources: Wikipedia — Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid · Wikidata — Q1895685

1964

Society

Tanganyika and Zanzibar unite to form a new country, soon named Tanzania.

The union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar took place in 1964 and the country was named Tanzania that October. Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti lie within it.

Sources: Wikipedia — Tanzania · Wikidata — Q924

2005

Technology

The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, makes its first flight from Toulouse.

The A380 first flew in 2005 and entered service with Singapore Airlines in 2007. Production ended in 2021 after 251 were built.

Sources: Wikipedia — Airbus A380 · Wikidata — Q5830

1923

Sports

Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham in the first FA Cup Final at Wembley, remembered as the "White Horse Final."

The 1923 FA Cup final was the first at Wembley Stadium. Bolton won 2–0, and a footbridge at the new Wembley is named the White Horse Bridge.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — 1923 FA Cup final · Wikidata — Q1345035

1961

Nature

The World Wildlife Fund is founded to raise money for nature conservation.

WWF was founded in 1961 and is now called the World Wide Fund for Nature in most countries. It has become one of the largest conservation organisations in the world.

Sources: Wikipedia — World Wildlife Fund · Wikidata — Q117892

1789

Society

George Washington is sworn in as the first president of the United States in New York City.

Washington's first inauguration took place in 1789. He served two terms, setting the tradition that presidents step down after eight years.

Meanwhile in art: Neoclassicism

Sources: Wikipedia — First inauguration of George Washington · Wikidata — Q5454184