Portal:Military of the United States/Selected anniversaries/April

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Selected anniversaries in April

April 1

• 1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Five Forks - In Petersburg, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee begins his final offensive.
• 1893 - The United States Navy rank of Chief Petty Officer is created.
• 1944 - Accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. The bombers were lost.
• 1945 - World War II: Operation Iceberg - United States troops land on Okinawa in the last campaign of the war.
• 1948 - Cold War: Berlin Airlift - Military forces, under direction of the Soviet-controlled government in East Germany, set-up a land blockade of West Berlin.
• 1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
• 2001 - An EP-3E United States Navy plane collides with a Chinese People's Liberation Army fighter jet. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, People's Republic of China and is detained. See Hainan Island incident.

April 2

• 1865 - American Civil War: Siege of Petersburg broken - Union troops capture the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet flee the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.
• 1917 - World War I: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Easter Offensive begins - North Vietnamese soldiers of the 304th Division take the northern half of Quang Tri Province.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from the Quang Ngai Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.

April 3

• 1865 - American Civil War: Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
• 1942 - World War II: Japanese forces begin an assault on the United States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
• 1948 - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
• 1969 - Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort.
• 1996 - An United States Air Force airplane carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown crashes in Croatia, killing all 35 on-board.
• 2006 - At Dover AFB in Delaware, a C-5 Galaxy crashed after takeoff injuring 17 people onboard.

April 4

• 1812 - U.S. President James Madison enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.
• 1865 - American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.
• 1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme ends.
• 1945 - World War II: American troops liberate Ohrdruf death camp in Germany.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Operation Baby Lift - A United States Air Force C-5A Galaxy crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, transporting orphans - 172 die.
• 1984 - President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons.

April 5

• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Yorktown. The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
• 1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for performing espionage for the Soviet Union.
• 1969 - Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations are held in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the United States.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces invade Binh Long Province, launching a second front of the Nguyen Hue Offensive.

April 6

• 1832 - Indian Wars: Black Hawk War begins - The Sauk warrior Black Hawk enters into war with the United States.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh begins - In Tennessee, forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Sayler's Creek - Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia.
• 1917 - World War I: United States declares war on Germany.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Easter Offensive - American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.

April 7

• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends - Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeat the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
• 1945 - World War II: The Japanese battleship Yamato, the largest battleship ever constructed, is sunk 200 miles north of Okinawa while en-route on a suicide mission in Operation Ten-Go.
• 1954 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech during a news conference.
• 1980 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.
• 2003 - U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later.

April 8

• 1832 - Black Hawk War: Around 300 United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield - Union forces are thwarted by a Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
• 1918 - World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York, New York's financial district.

April 9

• 1865 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia (26,765 troops) to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, effectively ending the war.
• 1939 - Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial, after having been refused the right to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitution Hall.
• 1942 - World War II: Battle of Bataan/Bataan Death March - United States forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula.
• 1997 - Lockheed Martin unveils the F-22 Raptor Stealth air superiority fighter.
• 1998 - The National Prisoner of War Museum is located in Andersonville, Georgia, on the site of an old American Civil War POW camp.
• 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad, Iraq falls to American forces.

April 10

• 1865 - American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
• 1963 - The submarine USS Thresher is lost at sea, with all hands (129 officers, crewmen and civilian technicians).
• 1971 - Cold War: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967 American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.

April 11

• 1899 - Spain cedes Puerto Rico to the United States.
• 1945 - World War II: United States forces liberate Buchenwald concentration camp.
• 1951 - Korean War: President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of overall command in Korea.
• 2001 - The detained crew of a United States EP-3E aircraft that landed in Hainan, People's Republic of China after a collision with an J-8 fighter is released.

April 12

• 1861 - American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Fort Pillow massacre -- Confederate forces under General Nathan Bedford Forrest kill most of the African American soldiers who had surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.

April 13

• 1861 - American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to rebel forces.

April 14

• 1986 - In retaliation for the April 5 bombing of the La Belle Discotheque in West Berlin in which two U.S. servicemen were killed, Ronald Reagan orders major bombing raids against Tripoli and Benghazi, in Libya, which kills 60 people.
• 1988 - USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. U.S. retaliates against Iran on April 18 with Operation Praying Mantis, the world's largest naval battle since World War II.

April 15

• 1783 - Preliminary articles of peace ending Revolutionary War ratified.
• 1986 - The United States launch Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya.

April 16

• 1862 - American Civil War: Battle at Lee's Mills in Virginia.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg – ships led by Union Admiral David Dixon Porter move through heavy Confederate artillery fire on approach to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• 1945 - The United States Army liberates Nazi Sonderlager (high security) Prisoner of War camp Oflag IVc .
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.

April 17

• 1861 - American Civil War: Virginia secedes from the Union.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Plymouth begins – Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
• 1945 - In Strassfurt, Germany, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash seizes half a ton of uranium, in an attempt to foil Soviet Union plans to build an atomic bomb.
• 2002 - Four Canadian Forces soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two U.S. Air Force F-16s, the first deaths in a combat zone for Canada since the Korean War.

April 18

• 1775 - Two lanterns were hung in Boston, Massachusetts and Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott ride to warn of impending arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
• 1942 - World War II: The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo occurs.
• 1943 - World War II: "Operation Peacock", Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his aircraft is shot down by U.S. fighers over the Solomon Islands.
• 1945 - World War II: Over 1,000 bombers attack the small island of Heligoland, Germany, leaving nothing standing.
• 1988 - U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in retaliation for damage to the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58). The one-day action is the world's largest naval battle since World War II.

April 19

• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Lexington and Concord which began the American Revolutionary War.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861, a pro-Secession mob in Baltimore, Maryland, attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.
• 1951 - General Douglas MacArthur retires from the military.
• 1971 - Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in Washington, DC.
• 1989 - A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.

April 20

• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: the siege of Boston begins, which followed the first battles at Lexington and Concord.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.
• 1945 - World War II: US troops capture Leipzig, Germany, only to later cede the city to the Soviet Union.
• 1945 - World War II: U.S. B-29 bombers destroy the Musashi Aircraft plants. Halting production of the Nakajima Ki-84 fighter planes.
• 1999 - Largest bombing of Kosovo by the United States in the Kosovo War.

April 21

• 1863 - Quantrill's Raiders launch a reprisal raid Lawrence, Kansas in the Battle of Lawrence, killing a number of civilians.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

April 22

• 1863 - American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins – troops under Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
• 1930 - The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
• 1944 - World War II: Operation Persecution initiated – Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts antiwar protests in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

April 23

• 1968 - Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university. see main article Columbia University protests of 1968.

April 24

• 1862 - American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1967 - Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily."
• 1980 - Eight U.S. servicemen died in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempted to end the Iran hostage crisis.
• 1991 - Freddie Stowers is awarded the posthumous Medal of Honor for which he had been recommended in 1918.

April 25

• 1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Marks' Mills.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
• 1945 - Elbe Day: United States and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe.
• 1945 - The U.S. Army blows the swastika from the top of the Zeppelintribüne.

April 26

• 1805 - First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" part of the Marines' hymn).
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph Johnston surrenders his army to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina.
• 1865 - Union cavalry troopers corner and shoot dead John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin in Virginia.

April 27

• 1805 - United States Marines captured Derne, Tripoli under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
• 1813 - War of 1812: United States troops capture the capital of Ontario, York (present day Toronto, Ontario).

April 28

• 1862 - American Civil War: Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander of NATO.
• 1952 - Occupied Japan: The United States occupation of Japan ends.
• 1965 - United States troops land in the Dominican Republic to "forestall establishment of a Communist dictatorship" and to evacuate U.S. citizens.
• 1970 - Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
• 1986 - United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal to relieve USS Coral Sea, on station across the "Line of Death" off the coast of Libya. The transit began at 0300 and lasted 12 hours.
• 1987 - U.S. engineer Ben Linder is killed in an ambush by U.S.-funded Contras in northern Nicaragua.

April 29

• 1861 - American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.
• 1945 - World War II: The German Army in Italy unconditionally surrenders to the Allies.
• 1945 - The Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United States troops.
• 1967 - After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons), Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title.
• 1970 - Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong.
• 1975 - Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind – The last U.S. citizens begin evacuation from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover. United States involvement in the war comes to an end.

April 30

• 1871 - Camp Grant Massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.
• 1975 - Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gains control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.