April 9, 1865 – General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox effectively ending the Civil War.
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.
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.