🌷 April in the Time Tunnel

Every day of April: one big moment from history, famous birthdays and special days. Click a date for the full story and a quiz.

1. April 1🤡 April Fools’ Day1960: The weather satellite TIROS-1 sent the first TV picture of Earth from space🎂 Sergei Rachmaninoff
2. April 2📚 International Children’s Book Day1513: Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed on the coast he named Florida🎂 Hans Christian Andersen
3. April 31860: The first Pony Express riders set off, carrying mail on horseback across the American West🎂 Jane Goodall
4. April 41581: Francis Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for sailing around the world🎂 Maya Angelou
5. April 51621: The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth Colony back to England🎂 Akira Toriyama
6. April 61896: The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece🎂 James Watson
7. April 7🩺 World Health Day1348: Charles University in Prague, one of the oldest universities in Europe, was founded🎂 Jackie Chan
8. April 81730: Shearith Israel in New York dedicated the first synagogue building in North America🎂 Sonja Henie
9. April 91682: Explorer La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi River🎂 Jørn Utzon
10. April 10837: Halley’s Comet passed closer to Earth than at any other time in history🎂 Daisy Ridley
11. April 111881: Spelman College, a school for African American women, was founded in Atlanta🎂 Percy Lavon Julian
12. April 12🚀 International Day of Human Space Flight1934: A wind gust of 231 mph was measured on Mount Washington, New Hampshire — a world record at the time🎂 Herbie Hancock
13. April 131742: Handel’s "Messiah" was performed for the first time, in Dublin🎂 Thomas Jefferson
14. April 141894: The first commercial movie parlor opened in New York City🎂 Sarah Michelle Gellar
15. April 151755: Samuel Johnson’s famous Dictionary of the English Language was published🎂 Leonardo da Vinci
16. April 161853: India’s first passenger train ran, in Bombay (Mumbai)🎂 Wilbur Wright
17. April 171524: Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed into New York Harbor🎂 Victoria Beckham
18. April 181506: The first stone of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was laid🎂 Rick Moranis
19. April 191770: Captain James Cook first sighted the coast of Australia🎂 Maria Sharapova
20. April 201303: Sapienza University was founded in Rome🎂 George Takei
21. April 211782: Bangkok, today the capital of Thailand, was founded🎂 Charlotte Brontë
22. April 22🌍 Earth Day1500: Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral reached the coast of Brazil🎂 Yehudi Menuhin
23. April 23📖 World Book Day1635: Boston Latin School, the first public school in what is now the US, was founded🎂 Max Planck
24. April 241704: The "Boston News-Letter," the first regularly published newspaper in the American colonies, appeared🎂 Sachin Tendulkar
25. April 25🐧 World Penguin Day1859: Work began on the Suez Canal🎂 Guglielmo Marconi
26. April 261564: Playwright William Shakespeare was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon🎂 John James Audubon
27. April 271667: Poet John Milton sold his book "Paradise Lost" for just 10 pounds🎂 Samuel Morse
28. April 281869: Railroad workers laid 10 miles of track in a single day while building the first transcontinental railroad🎂 James Monroe
29. April 291770: James Cook landed at Botany Bay in Australia🎂 Duke Ellington
30. April 301789: George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States, in New York City🎂 Carl Friedrich Gauss