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This Day in History - April

Can you guess these things that happened in the month of April?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: August 14, 2020
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First submittedApril 25, 2012
Times taken42,706
Average score76.7%
Rating4.39
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Date
Year
Clue
Answer
April 1
1976
This company is founded by Jobs, Wozniak, and Wayne
Apple, Inc
April 2
742
This Frankish king is born
Charlemagne
April 3
1888
This London serial killer claims his first victim
Jack the Ripper
April 4
1581
This captain is knighted in honor of his circumnavigation of the globe
Francis Drake
April 5
1722
Europeans first make contact with this remote Pacific island,
now a part of Chile
Easter Island
April 6
1974
This Swedish group wins the Eurovision song contest
ABBA
April 7
1906
Naples is devastated by an eruption of this volcano
Mt. Vesuvius
April 8
1820
This armless sculpture is discovered on the island of Milos
Venus de Milo
April 9
1241
These steppe raiders decisively beat a Polish army at
the Battle of Legnica
Mongols
April 10
1971
To improve relations, China hosts American athletes in this sport
Table tennis
April 11
1814
This French leader abdicates
Napoleon
April 12
1861
This war begins at Fort Sumter
American Civil War
April 13
1204
Crusaders capture and loot this Christian capital
Constantinople
April 14
1865
This leader is shot at Ford's Theatre
Abraham Lincoln
April 15
1912
This ship sinks in the northern Atlantic
RMS Titanic
April 16
1943
Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic
effects of this drug
LSD
April 17
1961
The Bay of Pigs invasion begins in this country
Cuba
April 18
1980
This country, formerly known as Rhodesia, becomes independent
Zimbabwe
April 19
2005
This pope is elected
Benedict XVI
April 20
1889
This historical villain is born in Austria
Adolf Hitler
April 21
753 BC
This city is founded by twin brothers (according to legend)
Rome
April 22
1970
This environmental day is celebrated for the first time
Earth Day
April 23
1616
This writer dies at Stratford-upon-Avon
William Shakespeare
April 24
1898
The U.S. declares war on this country
Spain
April 25
404 BC
Athens is defeated by this city-state
Sparta
April 26
1986
This power plant has a catastrophic meltdown
Chernobyl
April 27
711
Moorish troops invade this European peninsula
Iberia
April 28
1945
This former leader is executed by firing squad
Benito Mussolini
April 29
2011
This woman marries Prince William
Kate Middleton
April 30
1803
The U.S. nearly doubles in size after purchasing this
territory from France
Louisiana Territory
56 Comments
+6
Level 15
Apr 24, 2012
im wondering how you could have left the Columbine shooting out of this.
+2
Level 48
Jun 2, 2014
Good point. It's a bit more memorable than the election of what's-his-name.
+15
Level 41
Apr 1, 2015
For America maybe
+10
Level 51
May 1, 2015
It was the birth of Hitler, not the election. And as I recall, there was evidence that Hitler's birthday is why the shooters at Columbine chose that day. So if you know enough to know what day the Columbine shooting happened, theoretically, you should also know Hitler's birthday.
+1
Level 38
Apr 2, 2024
Small correction, the intended date was April 19th, the day of the Oklahoma city bombing. They settled for the 20th after their logistics didn't work out.
+1
Level 58
Jan 22, 2017
I have a cousin who shares the birthdate with Hitler, the only reason I knew it.
+14
Level 75
Nov 8, 2017
Historical villain. Austria. About 50 years before WW2 started. Aren't they enough clues?
+1
Level 61
Apr 1, 2024
The date actually made it harder for me. I was trying to think of villains in 1889, not villains who would have been born in 1189.
+2
Level 66
Aug 21, 2020
I heard Hitler smoked a ton of weed.
+5
Level 89
Aug 25, 2020
@akwildrose, I think burntfrost was probably referring to the pope election question, not Hitler.

@mightythor Hitler actually had a pretty bad drug habit by the end of his life, but it was mostly opiates and cocaine. Check out the fascinating book Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler for more info.

+10
Level ∞
Jul 16, 2023
11 years later, and I'm wondering how anybody could ask for Columbine to be included. In terms of world historical events, it barely registers.
+2
Level 72
Mar 21, 2024
table tennis does??
+4
Level 72
Apr 1, 2024
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping-pong_diplomacy

Here are some other events that happened on April 10:

- The Great Gatsby is published

- Paul McCartney leaves the Beetles

- The 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora intensifies

- The Good Friday Agreement is signed

- The first image of the M87* black hole is published

+1
Level 37
Apr 24, 2012
Great quiz QM, I'm hoping there's more like it to come! Cannot for the life of me spell Mussolini
+5
Level 51
May 1, 2015
But you just did! *clapping*
+1
Level 90
Sep 2, 2018
Can you spell check?
+13
Level 75
Dec 3, 2018
C.H.E.Q.U.E.

dammit

+1
Level 72
Jun 8, 2019
haha
+2
Level 27
May 31, 2012
Thanks a lot, it's an interesting quiz.
+1
Level 8
Oct 1, 2012
i couldnt spell mussolinni
+2
Level 55
Apr 1, 2015
Although technically it's not a completely established fact, you should put April 23 1564/1616 He is born and dies at Stratford-upon-Avon.
+1
Level 55
Apr 1, 2015
Oh my God, is it really 10 years since Pope John Paul II died?
+1
Level 70
Apr 1, 2018
More like 13
+1
Level 79
Aug 31, 2020
More like 15. Funny how time flies.
+1
Level 59
Apr 5, 2021
More like 16.
+1
Level 61
Apr 1, 2024
More like 19.
+1
Level 30
Apr 2, 2015
Colombine wasn't on 4/20, same day as Hitler's birth. But the OKC bombing was on the 19th.
+2
Level 51
May 15, 2017
If it weren't for Apple, I'm willing to bet that Gmail would have been placed on the list - launched April 1, 2004, and considered by many an April Fools' joke because of the ludicrous gigabyte of storage.
+8
Level ∞
Aug 14, 2020
Remember when Google wasn't evil? Back in the early 2000s, they were an amazing company. Gmail was ridiculously better than existing options. Same for Google Maps.

Now they just leverage data for advertising dollars. Time to break up the monopoly.

+3
Level 51
May 18, 2021
Web services like Google, Facebook, and Twitter now simply have way too much power than they should have.
+1
Level 69
Apr 1, 2018
I totally misread "Austria" as "Australia" XD
+1
Level 71
Aug 15, 2020
So did I - and tried 'Ned Kelly' ...
+1
Level 28
Apr 1, 2018
the tsunami?
+2
Level 62
Apr 2, 2018
Such a happy month
+3
Level 63
Apr 2, 2018
Too France centric
+1
Level 96
Aug 14, 2020
Really enjoying this series.
+1
Level 85
Aug 14, 2020
Had trouble with the one for the 28th. Kept trying Nuremberg defendants but the date is too early. Was thinking trial and execution, not the quick partisan justice.
+2
Level 79
Aug 15, 2020
to be pedantic - and this is Jetpunk - he probably wasn't executed by a firing squad but by a single partisan.
+2
Level 21
Sep 6, 2020
That's why I didn`t go for him, Its hard to call a single guy ( Walter Audisio ) a firing squad.
+4
Level 66
Aug 21, 2020
Did you hear about the French chef who blew up his kitchen?

They called him Linoleum Blownapart.

+1
Level 66
Aug 21, 2020
TIL that Eurovision existed in 1974.
+3
Level 69
Apr 1, 2021
Actually started in 1956!
+1
Level 19
May 17, 2021
You should add the Virginia Tech shooting that happened on April 16, 2007, which ironically the day I was born and year!
+3
Level ∞
Jul 16, 2023
No.
+1
Level 61
Apr 1, 2024
What about KingKane's birthday?
+1
Level 80
Jul 25, 2023
Sadly the US has probably had a mass shooting event on every day of the calendar year by now.
+1
Level 64
May 21, 2021
Hitler a 'historical villain'? Villain? Like a baddy in a bad play? Wording there seriously double plus ungood
+1
Level 59
Sep 6, 2021
Wut?
+1
Level 78
Aug 1, 2024
Well, he certainly wasn't a historical hero, was he?
+4
Level 80
Oct 11, 2023
Is Istanbul not normally accepted regardless of historicalness of the quiz? Or am I imagining things?
+1
Level 64
Mar 19, 2024
Please accept Byzantium for Constantinople. This is the normal usage by historians of the period.
+1
Level 72
Apr 1, 2024
Interesting how Hitler was listed as a villain while the Mongols were not considering they killed more innocent people than the nazis did.
+1
Level 83
Apr 2, 2024
The Mongols should also be considered not so great, but a targeted, calculated and horrific genocide is usually thought of as on a different scale to an indiscriminate war.
+1
Level 57
Apr 2, 2024
How could you leave the Gallipoli landings that took place on the 25th of April 1915, out of this?
+1
Level 78
Aug 1, 2024
Because if they chose that, someone else would be saying "How could you leave the Spartan victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War out of this?"
+1
Level 38
Dec 3, 2024
I would have done "The shot heard round the world" for April 19th