April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot and mortally wounded while watching a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.
April 15, 1947 – 28-year-old Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American player in Major League Baseball when he steps onto Ebbets Field to compete for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
April 15, 1912 – The supposedly unsinkable luxury ocean liner Titanic strikes an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic on its maiden voyage and tragically sinks with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.
April 18, 1906 – An early morning earthquake rocks San Francisco causing the deaths of over 4,000 people and destruction of 10,000 acres of property.