April 2, 1513 – Near present-day St. Augustine, Florida, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon comes ashore and claims the territory for the Spanish crown. The Spanish explorer was on an ill-fated search for the “Fountain of Youth,” the fabled water source that was said to bring eternal youth. He named the peninsula he explored “La Florida” because his discovery came during the time of the Easter feast of the flowers, or Pascua Florida.
April 4, 1968 – Civil Rights leader Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. As head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he had championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
April 6, 1896 – After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece.
April 8, 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified requiring direct popular election of U.S. Senators instead of being chosen by state legislators.