Historical Events
- Apr 4 Congress decides on the US flag: 13 red & white stripes & 20 stars
Battle of Maipú
Apr 5 Battle of Maipú: Chile's independence movement led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San Martín win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead
First Seminole War
Apr 7 General Andrew Jackson conquers Spanish Fort San Marcos (St Marks), in Spanish Florida during his pursuit of the Native American Seminole Tribe, in what would become known as the First Seminole War
- Apr 21 Franz Grillparzer's "Sappho" premieres in Vienna
US-Canada Border Treaty
Apr 28 Rush-Bagot treaty signed between US President James Monroe and Great Britain, demilitarizing the US-Canada border [1]
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 4 Thomas Mayne Reid, Irish-American novelist (The Headless Horseman), born in Ballyroney, County Down, Ireland (d. 1883)
- Apr 5 Lewis Baldwin Parsons, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Perry, New York (d. 1907)
- Apr 6 Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian poet (d. 1870)
- Apr 6 Francis Henry Brown, American teacher and composer (popular pre civil war composer), born in Newburyport, Massachusetts (d. 1891)
- Apr 8 Christian IX, King of Denmark (1863-1906), born in Gottorf Castle, Schleswig, Duchy of Schleswig (d. 1906)
- Apr 14 Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen of Hanover, born in Hildburghausen, Saxe-Hildburghausen (d. 1907)
- Apr 20 Heinrich Göbel, German-American mechanic and inventor (incandescent lamps), born in Springe, Germany (d. 1893)
- Apr 22 Cadwallader Colden Washburn, American Major General (Union Army), born in Livermore, Maine (d. 1882)
- Apr 23 James Anthony Froude, English historian and novelist (The Nemesis of Faith), born in Dartington Rectory, Devon (d. 1894)
- Apr 23 John Gill Shorter, American politician (17th Governor of Alabama), born in Monticello, Georgia (d. 1872)
- Apr 25 Marek Konrad Sokolowski, Polish guitarist and composer, born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine (d. 1883)
Alexander II (1818-1881)
Apr 29 Tsar of Russia (1855-81), born in the Moscow Kremlin in Russia
Famous Deaths
- Apr 18 Quint Ondaatje, Dutch jurist and politician, dies at 59