April 1, 2004 – Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, known for jokingly publicizing over-the-top products or plans on April Fool’s Day, announce a free email service with what was then the largest amount of storage available. It was up to an Associated Press reporter to verify Gmail was for real in a dispatch sent to news outlets nationwide. Gmail now boasts over 1.8 billion active users worldwide.
April 1, 1973 – American Rock Band Cheap Trick is formed in Rockford, Illinois. They have sold more than 20 million albums and done over 5,000 live performances. The Illinois Legislature designated April 1 “Cheap Trick Day” in 2007. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
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.