Historical Events
- Apr 1 Shenandoah Valley campaign, Jackson's Battle of Woodstock, Virginia
- Apr 4 Peninsular Campaign, launched in southeastern Virginia, aimed at capturing Richmond during US Civil War begins, Confederate victory (US Civil War)
- Apr 4 Siege of Yorktown, fought in York County and Newport News, Virginia begins (Yorktown campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
- Apr 5 Siege of Yorktown, fought in York County and Newport News, Virginia ends (Yorktown campaign), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
- Apr 6 Battle of Shiloh, Union defeats Confederacy near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee
- Apr 7 Grant defeats Confederates at Battle of Shiloh, Tenn, Island #10 falls
- Apr 8 John D. Lynde patents aerosol dispenser
- Apr 11 Confederates surrender at Fort Pulaski, Georgia
- Apr 12 James Andrews steals Confederate train (General) at Kennesaw, Georgia
- Apr 12 Union troops occupy Fort Pulaski, Georgia
- Apr 14 Battle of Fort Pillow, Tennessee
Dickinson, Higginson Correspondence
Apr 15 American poet Emily Dickinson first corresponds with author and future literary mentor Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a relationship that lasts the rest of her life
1st Pasteurization Test
Apr 20 First pasteurization test is completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
- Apr 21 Congress establishes US Mint in Denver, Colorodo
- Apr 21 Ellen Price Wood's "East Lynne" premieres in Boston
Capture of New Orleans
Apr 25 After the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Union forces under Flag Officer David Farragut request the surrender New Orleans, LA, despite being largely defenseless armed mobs reuse
Famous Birthdays
- Apr 2 Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher, diplomat (Nobel Peace Prize 1931), educator (Columbia University President), born in Elizabeth, New Jersey (d. 1947)
- Apr 5 Louis Ganne, French composer, born in Buxières-les-Mines (d. 1923)
- Apr 11 Charles Evans Hughes, American statesman, Republican politician and 11th Chief Justice of Supreme Court (1930-41), born in Glens Falls, New York (d. 1948)
- Apr 11 William Wallace Campbell, American astronomer and Director of Lick Observatory, born in Hancock County, Ohio (d. 1938)
- Apr 14 Pyotr Stolypin, 3rd Prime Minister of Russia (1906-11), born in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1911)
Edward Grey (1862-1933)
Apr 25 British Liberal statesman and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1905-16), born in London
Famous Weddings
Dmitri Mendeleev
Apr 27 Chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (28) weds Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva at Nikolaev Engineering Institute's church in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Famous Deaths
- Apr 3 James Clark Ross, British Royal Navy explorer (British Antarctic), dies at 61
- Apr 4 Harmen S Sytstra, Dutch poet/editor (Iduna), dies at 45
- Apr 6 Adley H. Gladden, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 51
- Apr 6 Albert Sidney Johnston, US Confederate general, dies in battle at 59
- Apr 7 Sydney Nelson, English song composer, dies at 62
- Apr 9 George W Johnson, US planter/Confederate (gov-Ky), dies at about 50
- Apr 10 William Harvey Lamb Wallace, American lawyer and Brigadier General, dies at 40
- Apr 19 Louis Powell Harvey, US governor of Wisconsin, drowns
- Apr 19 Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer and fur trader (explored the Fraser River), dies at 86
- Apr 25 Charles Ferguson Smith, US Union Gen-Maj, dies of infection at 55
