April in History

History isn't some fancy subject or a bunch of useless facts.

Learning about history plays a key role in our everyday lives.

To shape the future, we need to understand what happened before.

History shows us not just who we should be and what we should do, but also what we should fight for and steer clear of.

Around the world, people make choices every day based on past events.

Here's a list of events that happened in April in history, both recent and long ago:

April 1 in History

April 1 of Every Year

* April Fool’s Day is being observed and celebrated.

April 1, 1986

* The first execution of drug traffickers took place in Nigeria at Kirikiri.

April 1, 1971

* The first execution of armed robbers took place in Nigeria.

April 1, 1962

* Nigeria Television Service Lagos started operation.

April 2 in History

April 2, 1972

* Nigeria changed driving from right-hand drives to left-hand drives.

April 2, 1960

* Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona was crowned the Awujale of Ijebuland.

April 3 in History

April 3, 1969

* Biafrans reoccupied Owerri.

April 3, 1944

* The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 that African Americans cannot be barred from voting.

* Oladipo Diya, former Chief of General Staff, was born.

April 3, 1942

* Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi (chief commander), Nigerian Juju legend, was born.

April 4 in History

April 4, 1968

* Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader, was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

April 4, 1960

* Senegal became an independent country. 

[Capital: Dakar; Ex-colonial master: France; Continent: Africa]

April 5 in History

April 5, 2005

* Dele Olojede became the first African-born journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize.

April 6 in History

April 6, 1956

* Gbenga Daniel, former Governor of Ogun State, was born.

April 6, 1935

* John Pepper Clark, a Nigerian poet and playwright, was born.

April 6, 1896

* The first Olympics of the modern era were held in Athens, Greece, after a break of 1500 years.

April 7 in History

April 7, 1948

* The World Health Organization (WHO) was established.

April 9 in History

April 9, 1991

* Georgia was founded. 

[Capital: Tbilisi; Continent: Europe]

April 9, 1940

* Germany struck Churchill of the post of British Chamberlain.

April 9, 1866

* The Civil Rights Bill was passed by Congress granting Blacks the right and privileges of U.S. citizenship.

April 10 in History

April 10, 1941

* Croatia was founded. 

[Capital: Zagreb; Continent: Europe]

April 10, 1912

* The British liner RMS Titanic set sailed from Southampton’s White Star Dock with 2,240 passengers and crew on board on her maiden voyage to New York.

April 12 in History

April 12, 2003

* The 2003 election for the National Assembly and House of Representatives came up and was conducted under the chairmanship of Dr. Abel Guobadia (INEC Chairman).

April 12, 1606

* The Union Jack became the official flag of Britain.

April 13 in History

April 13, 1978

* Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, the first female to drive a car in Nigeria, died at 77.

April 13, 1938

* Ola Rotimi, one of Nigeria’s leading playwrights and theatre directors, was born.

April 14 in History

April 14, 2014

* 276 female students were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.

April 14, 2012

* Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle was crowned the Olu of Ilaro and paramount ruler of Yewaland.

April 14, 2007

* Umaru Yar’Adua of the PDP was declared winner of the 2007 presidential election.

April 14, 1997

* Tiger Woods, at 21 years old, became the youngest ever golfer to win the Masters tournament.

April 14, 1990

* Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, former Governor of Ogun State, died at 63.

April 14, 1828

* The first Dictionary of American-style English was published by Noah Webster.

April 15 in History

April 15, 1969

* Umuahia fell to Nigerian forces.

April 15, 1912

* The British liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, broke apart, and sank to the bottom of the ocean during her maiden voyage.

April 16 in History

April 16, 1971

* The original specification for the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) was written by Abhay Bhushan and published as RFC 114.

April 17 in History

April 17, 1946

* Syria was founded. 

[Capital: Damascus; Continent: Asia]

April 17, 1921

* Chike Obi, the first Nigerian to hold a doctorate in mathematics, was born.

April 18 in History

April 18, 2018

* Thugs invaded the Nigerian National Assembly to snatch Senate Mace.

April 18, 1980

* Zimbabwe became an independent country. 

[Capital: Harare; Ex-colonial master: UK; Continent: Africa]

April 19 in History

April 19, 2003

* The 2003 presidential and governorship elections came up and were conducted under the chairmanship of Dr. Abel Guobadia (INEC Chairman).

April 21 in History

April 21, 1993

* The Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta came into existence.

April 21, 1926

* Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom and fifteen (15) other countries, was born.

April 22 in History

April 22 of Every Year

* Earth Day is being observed and celebrated.

April 22, 2003

* Olusegun Obasanjo won re-election as Nigeria’s president.

April 22, 1938

* Gani Fawehinmi SAN, a Nigerian human and civil rights lawyer, was born.

April 23 in History

April 23, 2010

* Oladapo Olaitan Olanipekun, a.k.a. Dagrin, an award-winning Nigerian rapper, died.

April 23, 1993

* Zambia lost its national football team in a plane crash when going to the 1994 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Senegal in Dakar. Zambia Air Force’s DHC-5 Buffalo transport aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Libreville, Gabon.

April 23, 1616

* William Shakespeare, the most influential writer in the English language, died.

April 24 in History

April 24 of Every Year

* African Malaria Day is being observed and celebrated. 

[The word “malaria” was first used in 1740]

April 24, 1945

* Lawrence Gordon Tesler (popularly known as Larry Tesler), the inventor of “cut, copy and paste,” was born in Bronx, New York.

April 24, 1921

* Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet and novelist, was born.

April 24, 1800

* The Library of Congress, the world’s largest library, was established in Washington, D.C., United States.

April 25 in History

April 25, 1960

* Abayomi Sobande, former Ogun State Head of Service, was born.

April 25, 1904

* Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, the first General Evangelist of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), was born.

April 25, 1935

* Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, the first General Evangelist of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and fountain man behind the Great 1930 Revival, got married to Madam Dorcas Babalola.

April 25, 1874

* Guglielmo Marconi, radio inventor, was born in Italy.

April 26 in History

April 26 of Every Year

* Tanzania Union Day is being observed and celebrated.

April 27 in History

April 27 of Every Year

* Sierra Leone National Day is being observed and celebrated.

* South Africa Freedom Day is being observed and celebrated.

April 27, 1994

* Nelson Mandela was voted as South Africa’s president.

April 27, 1961

* Sierra Leone became an independent country. 

[Capital: Freetown; Ex-colonial master: UK; Continent: Africa]

April 27, 1960

* Togo became an independent country. 

[Capital: Lome; Ex-colonial master: France; Continent: UK]

April 29 in History

April 29, 1953

* Mike Adenuga, a Nigerian business tycoon, was born.

April 30 in History

April 30, 2003

* Gbenga Adeboye, foremost Nigerian singer and comedian, died.

April 30, 2002

* Toba Opaleye, veteran radio presenter, producer, and poet, died.

April 30, 1976

* Muhammad Ali was stripped of his World Heavyweight Boxing Championship after refusing to be inducted into the American military.

April 30, 1789

* George Washington became the first U.S. president. 

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12 Inspiring Famous Quotes for April

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Peruse, pause, and ponder the following twelve (12) inspiring famous quotes to keep you inspired for your daily endeavours in the month of April:

#01

“I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I’m doing it myself.”

– Albert Einstein

#02

“Don't think you can act perfectly. A perfect person doesn't exist. Always strive to give your best effort, and that's it.”

– Eraldo Banovac

#03

“You can fool all the people sometime; you can fool some people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

– Abraham Lincoln

#04

“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

– Muhammad Ali

#05

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

– Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

#06

“Worry makes you weaker, regret makes you sadder, hate makes you angrier, but hope makes you stronger, and love makes you happier.”

– Matshona Dhliwayo

#07

“Power is within the grasp of even the mentally deficient, so, really, power is neither direction nor vision; it is simply an ambition.”

– Prof. Wole Soyinka

#08

“People who say that yesterday was better than today are ultimately devaluing their own existence.”

– Karl Lagerfeld

#09

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

#10

“It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.”

– Roy T. Bennett

#11

“Words may be false and full of art; sighs are the natural language of the heart.”

– Thomas Shadwell

#12

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”

– H. Jackson Brown Jr.

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