On April 28, 1971, a major new federal law took effect that changed how workplace safety was enforced in the United States. That date is now observed as Workers’ Memorial Day, a time to remember those lost at work and to renew the effort to prevent future tragedies.
On April 27, 1945, a boy named Frederick August Kittel Jr. was born in a two-room apartment in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. No one in that neighborhood could have guessed he would one day have a Broadway theater named after him. He would grow up to become August Wilson, one of the most celebrated playwrights in American history.
On April 26, 1777, a 16-year-old girl climbed onto her horse and rode 40 miles through a driving rainstorm in the dark, covering twice the distance of Paul Revere’s famous ride two years earlier. Her name was Sybil Ludington — and most Americans have never heard of her.
On April 25, 1988, a team of nine Soviet and four Canadian skiers reached the North Pole — on foot, carrying everything on their backs, after 54 days on the Arctic ice. It was the largest expedition ever to reach the Pole, and the first to ski the entire distance from Siberia to Canada via the North Pole without dogs, sleds, or motorized support.
On April 24, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was inaugurated as Pope Benedict XVI, becoming the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church before a crowd of more than 300,000 in St. Peter’s Square. The 78-year-old German theologian — once nicknamed “God’s Rottweiler” for his doctrinal rigor — surprised the world eight years later by becoming the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years.
On April 22, 1993, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened in Washington, DC — a building so deliberately unsettling in its design that its…
The first-ever Boson Marathon was run on April 19, 1897. It’s the world’s oldest annual marathon and is one of the six World Marathon Majors. While the first race included 15 runners, recent races have seen over 30,000 participants.
On April 18, 1783, General George Washington issued a proclamation announcing the end of hostilities in the American Revolutionary War. After eight years of fighting, the Continental Army was finally told to stand down, though the path to peace had already been set in motion months earlier.
On April 14, 1947, the court case of Mendez v. Westminster was decided in favor of Gonzalo Mendez, marking a clear legal victory against school segregation in California. Years before Brown v. Board of Education, this case showed that organized community action and careful legal strategy could challenge unequal treatment in public education.
On April 28, 1948, Fort Sumter National Monument was established to preserve the site where the opening shots of the Civil War were fired. Twelve years later, nearby Fort Moultrie was added to the protected area. Together, they honor and preserve generations of American seacoast defense from the American Revolution to World War II.
The Fifth International Philatelic Exhibition (FIPEX) opened its doors to a record 60,000 visitors on April 28, 1956.
On April 28, 1788, Maryland was the seventh state to ratify the US Constitution, an act that admitted it as America’s seventh state.
James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on April 28, 1758, to successful plantation owners. America’s fifth president, Monroe presided over the “Era of Good Feelings” and issued the Monroe Doctrine, a policy that was invoked by presidents well into the 20th century.
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