What Happened in April?

The Battle of Neuwied takes place on, April 18, 1797, during the War of the First Coalition, resulting in a decisive French victory over the Austrian Empire.

The Library of Congress is established in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 1800, with an initial appropriation of $5,000 for books. President John Adams signed the law which included a removal of the government from Philadelphia to Washington and funds to establish an apartment for President Adams and his family.

French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand makes a surprising offer, on April 11, 1803, to Robert Livingston, the U.S. minister in France, to sell all of the Louisiana Territory to the United States. Livingston was trying to make a deal to purchase New Orleans, the gateway to the Mississippi River. Expand +

The agreement for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France is formally completed and signed on April 30, 1803, with the United States purchasing 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million, roughly 4 cents an acre, resulting in the United States doubling its size and expanding the nation westward. More

The Lewis and Clark expedition resumes its journey West, on April 7, 1805 leaving its camp after a harsh winter among the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes. in present day North Dakota. The departure marked the transition from what was then, known territory into the uncharted lands of the upper Missouri and the Rocky Mountains. More

Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, "Eroica," premieres on April 7,1805, in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, conducted by the composer. The work, dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, marked a major turning point in musical history, pioneering the Romantic era of the Opera.

The UK and Russia sign the Treaty of London, on April 11, 1805, forming an alliance against Napoleon.

The Battle of Derna, a key event in the First Barbary War takes place on April 27, 1805. It involved U.S. Marines, under the command of Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon, and other forces, ultimately capturing the city of Derna, then part of Tripolitania, now Libya. It was the first land battle of the United States on foreign soil after the American Revolutionary War. More

English poet William Wordsworth first publishes "Poems in Two Volumes." c. April.17, 1807

Louisiana is admitted to the Union becoming the 18th State.
The State of Louisiana consisted of the Territory of Orleans, as well as the Florida Parishes east of the Mississippi River, which had been annexed by the U.S. from Spain in 1810. View list of Admission

Zebulon Pike, U.S. army officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named, is killed during the war of 1812. More

Napoleon abdicates following the signing of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, on April 11, 1814, between Napoleon and representatives of Austria, Russia and Prussia. The agreement ended Napoleon's rule as emperor of the French and sent him into exile to the island of Elba, now an Italian island. More

Mount Tambora on the northern coast of Sumbawa island, Indonesia explodes in a violent blast, on April 10, 1815, which blew the mountain apart resulting in one of the most powerful eruptions in recorded human history.  Expand +

The Venus de Milo was discovered on April 8, 1820, on the Aegean island of Melos (now Milos) in Greece by a farmer named Yorgos Kentrotas. The statue was found in several pieces within a niche in an ancient wall ruins. It was later acquired by the French and presented to King Louis XVIII, reconstructed, and put on display in the Louvre in Paris in 1821. Expand +

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is officially organized on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York. The church was initially named the "Church of Christ" before later being officially named The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, Peter Whitmer Jr., Samuel H. Smith, and David Whitmer were among the key participants. More

The Battle of San Jacinto takes place on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas (near modern-day Houston). It was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution, where a smaller Texan army under General Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna leading to the Texan victory over Mexico and the capture of General Santa Anna.

William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States, died of pneumonia at the White House on April 4, 1841, after only 32 days in office, the shortest tenure in U.S. presidential history.

The modern safety pin is invented and patented on April 10, 1849, by Walter Hunt, a mechanic and independent inventor from New York, The design included a clasp to protect the point and a circular twist at the bend for a spring action.  Expand +

The first train crosses the Indian Peninsula from Bombay to Thane on April 16, 1853.

The Groundbreaking of the Suez Canal officially began on April 25, 1859, when French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps broke ground at Port Said, Egypt. Ten years later, on August 18, 1869, the water of the the Red Sea and the Mediterranean seas meet and a new world navigation path was established; after after digging out 74 million m3 of soil and spending 433 million Francs, double the original estimate. More